ogestrel

Ogestrel is a combined hormonal birth control pill that contains two hormones, ethinyl estradiol (an estrogen) and norgestrel (a progestin), that work together to prevent pregnancy. It's a monophasic birth control and is taken by mouth every day.

One thing that makes Ogestrel different from other birth control pills is that it contain a higher dose of estrogen compared with newer birth control pills. Higher doses of estrogen can lead to more side effects, and raise your risk for blood clots. Today, many combined hormonal birth control pills contain a lower dose of estrogen (10 mcg to 35 mcg).

No, Ogestrel has been discontinued and is no longer available in the United States.

It isn't clear why Ogestrel was discontinued. But, it wasn't due to safety reasons or because it didn't work well to prevent pregnancy. Generally, people are moving away from using combination birth control pills with an ethinyl estradiol dose of 50 mcg or higher, possibility because of the higher risk of clots. Today, most birth control pills in the United States contain less that 50 mcg of ethinyl estradiol.