1954

Harvard gynecologist John Rock and Gregory Pincus begin first trials of new progestin in Boston (Enovid, developed by Frank Colton for Searle as a menstrual-cycle regulator) as a blocker of ovulation (though cloaking their trials under the cover story of Rock’s studies in fertility, in which the drug “rested” the reproductive system to get a fertility “rebound.” They announced their findings in 1955 (Asbell, 132-37). Ensuing field trials involved 20,000 women in Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Mexico (143-155).