Barr's LoSeasonique approved in the USA

The USA's Barr Pharmaceuticals says that the Food and Drug Administration has approved its subsidiary Duramed Pharmaceuticals' LoSeasonique (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol tablets 0.10mg/0.02mg and ethinyl estradiol tablets 0.01mg), the first lower-dose, extended-cycle oral contraceptive. Under the drug's regimen, women take combination tablets containing 0.10mg levonorgestrel/0.02mg of ethinyl estradiol daily for 84 consecutive days, followed by 0.01mg ethinyl estradiol tablets for seven days. The dosing schedule is designed to reduce the number of withdrawal bleeding periods from 13 to four per year, followed by seven days of placebo.