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This information bought to you by the CPTwomens "Tubal Ligation: Campaign to Inform"
Can Tubal Ligation Cause Menopause?
"The Campaign to Inform"
 
The better informed we are, the healthier we'll be!
Educational Issues/Topics:
- Tubal Ligation (AKA "tying the tubes") The Untold Risks
- Post Tubal Syndrome (PTS)
- Women's Health Rights, Medical Rights, Human Rights, Civil Rights
- Hormone Health, Hormone Shock, Early Menopause, Menopause
FACT: Tubal ligation is the number one method of birth control used by women over the age of 30 in the United States.
FACT: All forms of birth control list and disclose both risks and benefits of each expect for tubal ligation. Information that is withheld from women regarding the side effects of tubal ligation include information about long term physical and hormonal side effects known by the medical community as Post Tubal Syndrome (PTS) or Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome (PTLS).
FACT: Post tubal syndrome (PTS) is known and understood by the medical community, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and their 40,000+ obgyn members, but as a policy of ACOG standards, this information is withheld from women.
FACT: Withholding information in order to manipulate and compel a decision constitutes forced or fraudulent consent.
The CPTwomen is NOT anti-tubal. We believe that tubal ligations should be made a choice to women as a form of birth control but with FULL informed consent.
Our mission is
- To educate, inform and provide accurate information to women considering tubal ligation.
- To educate, inform, assist, and create a support network for post tubal ligation women in their quest for answers and proper follow-up care.
- To bring forth the needed change which would require doctors to properly and fully inform women prior to sterilization/tubal ligation surgery.
The Coalition for Post Tubal Women (CPTwomen) is a grassroots organization.
We need YOUR help in "The Campaign to Inform".
Together we can make a difference!
Issues:
Women's Health Rights, Medical Rights, Human Rights, Civil Rights
Tubal ligation is a surgical procedure done for permanent birth control. It is promoted by the American Medical Association (AMA), the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and by OB-GYN's who perform the surgery as being without known serious side effects, but this is NOT true.
The CPTwomen has gained the support of IL NOW (National Organization of Women) by their passing of the 1999 Tubal Ligation Resolution. (See below)
The issue of non-consent and information being withheld is very serious. The CPTwomen has gotten much media attention with the "Campaign to Inform" and will continue to do so, as this is a women's health/consumer rights/human rights issue.
Key issues are:
- The ACOG publicly denies that tubal ligations cause such conditions as post tubal syndrome (PTS), bleeding disorders, or hormonal imbalances.
This issue can be directly compared to the tobacco companies withholding information from the public. The only difference is people who developed health problems from smoking they were not required to return directly the tobacco people for help and health treatment. When women develop PTS they have no choice but to return back to an obgyn doctor, and their organization (the ACOG) that withheld the information from them initially. Women are denied proper testing, diagnosis, and treatment. The code of silence is very strong.
- Tubal ligations are known by the ACOG and their members to cause hormonal imbalances and other side effects. These side effects have been proven through clinical research and studies, and have been reported by health professionals and victims who have witnessed and experienced side effects first hand.
The Freedom of Information Act has allowed us to access studies proving. The ACOG is well aware of these studies, and writes and discusses these studies in their technical bulletins to their members. The ACOG in their bulletins directs their members to withhold the information, and the ACOG withholds this information in the patient information brochures that they provide to the public and to their members (obgyn doctors) to disperse among potential tubal ligation candidates.
The ACOG has conspired with malicious and wanton recklessness to keep this known information from the public for fear of the litigation that would ensue. They publicly refuse to acknowledge the scientific findings that prove such side effects are true and publicly state that tubal ligations do not cause such conditions. The ACOG and their members withhold this information from the public at large and no one is informed before or afterwards. Women are told afterwards that their current health condition could in no way have been caused by the tubal ligation surgery when there is no other cause. Post Tubal Women are denied testing, diagnosis, and treatment.
- It is documented that after tubal ligation women are at higher rates for bleeding disorders, and hysterectomies. The ACOG and their members know that when tubal ligation surgeries are performed that many of the women will be returning for second and third surgeries such as D&C's and hysterectomies because of side effects from the TL, yet women are not informed of this risk at the time of consent.
The (ACOG) and their members withhold information and profit by doing so. They first profit when they perform the TL. They then go on to profit again from the original consumer fraud when performing second and third surgeries due to the result of the first surgery.
Women are not informed at the time of their TL that the surgery could create such conditions that would necessitate such treatments as D&Cs and hysterectomy. Women are told at the time of these second and third surgical producers that their tubal ligation surgery had in no way caused their health condition that necessitated such radical procedures.
Legal Issues include:
- Consumer Fraud
- Conspiracy
- Anti-Trust (RICO)
- Medical Tort/Battery
- Surgical Abuse
- Gross Negligence
- Volition of Civil Human Rights
- Discrimination
- And more
1999 ILLINOIS NOW - TUBAL LIGATION RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, tubal ligation is the number one method of birth control used by women over the age of 30 in the united states; and,
WHEREAS, all forms of birth control list and disclose both risks and benefits of each expect for tubal ligation. Information that is withheld from women regarding the side effects of tubal ligation include information about long term hormonal side effects; and,
WHEREAS, this information is known by the medical community but routinely this information is withheld from women. This constitutes forced or fraudulent consent.
BE IT RESOLVED, that IL NOW support and work with IL Will County NOW in educating the public and other state chapters; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESLOVED, that IL NOW actively recruit and solicit input and activism from post tubal women; and,
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that IL NOW lead the way for other states by lobbying their (IL) state representatives and legislative bodies to put in place proper laws that would protect women when consenting to a tubal ligation.
Respectfully submitted, Susan J Bucher, Will County IL NOW chapter
Submitted on 9-25-99 Joliet, Illinois
Resolution passed with unanimous vote.
NOW contact for this issue is Susan J Bucher
Info@tubal.org
http://www.tubal.org
815-834-0987
fax 815 328-0445
Information that was presented at the time of the NOW IL Tubal Resolution:
TITLE: Risk and contraception: what women are not told about tubal ligation.
AUTHORS: Turney L
SOURCE: WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNATIONAL FORUM. 1993 Sep-Oct;16(5):471-86.
SECONDARY SOURCE ID: PIP/091715
ABSTRACT: The most common method of fertility control is tubal ligation. Physicians and some women promote tubal sterilization as an extremely safe and very effective method of permanent fertility control. Yet the medical profession has known since 1930 that significant numbers of women suffer serious and irreversible complications from tubal ligations; women have died from tubal ligation. Its mortality rates in Bangladesh, the UK, and US, are 1/5000, 1/10,000, and 1/25,000, respectively. Women experience complications both during and after surgery (e.g., twisting of the tube, sometimes accompanied by gangrene, and accumulation of fluid in a tube). After tubal ligation, many women develop endometriosis.
Torsion, hydrosalpinx, and/or endometriosis contribute to increased menstrual pain. Disturbance of the local flora can cause sepsis (e.g., toxic shock syndrome). Some women have a severe inflammatory reaction to the silicone in clips and rings. Tubal ligation may be linked to an increased risk of cervical cancer. Many sterilized women eventually undergo hysterectomy. Many women experience excessive bleeding during menstruation, but many physicians discount this as women not knowing their own bodies and subjective estimates of blood loss. Impaired ovarian blood supply and altered nerve supply to the tube and/or ovary are possible causes for post-tubal ligation menstruation problems. Many women experience memory loss, general decline in feeling of well-being, lethargy, and loss of libido after tubal ligation, indicating a spontaneous iatrogenic menopause. Yet physicians often attribute these symptoms to psychological problems, thereby denying women knowledge of their own bodies. Tubal ligation-induced problems should not be limited to the medical profession. We need to seriously examine the processes that keep this information from women.
TITLE: Sterilisation of women [letter]
AUTHORS: Dickon S
SOURCE: NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL. 1987 Dec 9;100(837):755.
SECONDARY SOURCE ID: PIP/057531
ABSTRACT: There is some evidence that women who undergo tubal sterilization, especially with cautery techniques, are at greater risk of subsequent hysterectomy. The tubal surgery apparently interferes with the ovary's blood supply, leading to decreased hormonal output, irregular ovulation, and an abnormal pattern of uterine bleeding that becomes the basis for the need for hysterectomy. Given this evidence, it is appalling to find that New Zealand women are being encouraged to undergo tubal ligation without any counseling regarding the chance of heavy bleeding problems within 5-10 years. Moreover, the alternative of having the male partner seek vasectomy is rarely presented. It is the duty of gynecologists to give this problem more attention in pre-sterilization counseling sessions. Useful toward this end would be a leaflet that could be given to patients at the time of their 1st consultation outlining the risks and benefits of tubal ligation.
Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome (PTLS)
This syndrome was first described by Dr. Vicki Hufnagel, MD
Dr. Hufnagel defined and reported on this syndrome to peer review medical associations. She also wrote the first papers describing a need to change the informed consent to inform women about this condition. She has continued to provide the latest in clinical research and knowledge in the international health care arena for over 20 years.
Dr. Hufnagel’s clinical work has linked PTLS with:
- Increased Risk of Heart Disease
- Bone Loss and Osteoporosis
- Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding
- Misplacement of Female Organs
- Decreased Lactating Ability
Ovarian Isolation: Described by Dr. Hufnagel, MD, is the condition when an ovary (or both ovaries) becomes isolated from its life giving blood supply. The affected ovary(s) become atrophic and non-functional due do being isolated and amputated from its blood supply. In case of both ovaries being affected, female castration/surgical menopause occurs without the removal of the ovaries. Ovarian isolation (the ovary(s) failing) is spoken about as a possible side effect of hysterectomy (when the ovaries are not removed), but women are never informed that this is also a common side effect of tubal ligation.
Symptoms of severe hormonal imbalance include:
- Loss of libido and sex drive
- Depression anxiety, feeling ill at ease, feelings of dread/apprehension/doom,
- Crashing fatigue/chronic fatigue (CF)
Mimics chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
- Bouts of rapid heart beat,
- Dry vagina, itchy vagina with the absence of yeast infections,
color change in vaginal area,
- Itchy/crawly skin sensations
- Gastrointestinal distress, nausea, bouts of bloat
Mimics irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance.
- Memory loss, confusion, irritability, out bursts of rage
(uncontrollable PMS),
- Disorientation, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating,
disturbing memory lapses.
In severe cases can affect rational judgment.
- Loss/decrease of female hormones, continued elevated FSH levels
Note: Some symptoms listed above also relate to other serious health conditions such as diabetes, and thyroid condition. Hormonal imbalance, as with all health conditions can only be ruled out by consult and proper testing by your physician.
Dr. Vikki Hufnagel is working with the Coalition for Post Tubal Women (CPTwomen) to bring froth the needed change (laws) that would require doctors to inform women of the risks of tubal ligation before sterilization.
Dr. Hufnagel is a MD, a women's health rights activist, an "Insider", and a "Whistle Blower". She has exposed and written about number of abuses in women's health including unnecessary hysterectomies, uterine ablation, uterine artery embolization (UAE), the true risk of HRTs (hormone replacement therapy), the Africa Nestles Baby Formula Scandal, and the withholding of information about post tubal syndrome to women and the public by her peers.
She is the only doctor in the United States to write and lobby for informed consent laws to protect women (Informed consent to hysterectomy, law passed in CA, NY, and TX). These laws were publicly opposed by the ACOG, the medical community, and her peers. It was their opinion that women did not need to be informed that they might wake up after surgery and find that their uterus had been removed.
 She is the author of 'No More Hysterectomies' published By Plume 1989 in which the book states: Many post-tubal patients who come to her office seeking relief complain bitterly of more severe cramps, heavier, longer periods, dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB), pain with intercourse, and pelvic pain or pressure. Three theories explain why these problems occur; 1.Tubal ligation destroys the blood supply to the ovaries…
This book alone blew the whistle on her peers for performing unnecessary hysterectomies. While women and the public embraced the book, her peers were outraged and angered that she had written it. The book and her proactive advocate work writing and lobbing for laws in the 80's caused the medical community and her peers to wage a smear campaign to silence her. Ultimately in 96' the California Medical Board (CMB) in kangaroo court fashion revoked her medical license for what boils down to as "refusing to perform a hysterectomy". NY followed suit, but HI has allowed her to retain her license, as they understand the issues and have protected Dr. Hufnagel's rights in what has been and still is being played out.
Currently Dr. Hufnagel speaks publicly, does radio and TV interviews, writes, provides women's health right testimonies to the FDA, Senators, and other authorities, provides educational consults and legal reviews of past medical histories, creates products and services to inform, educate, and help women, (all of which is not the practice of medicine). She is near completion of her newest book, "No More Menopause" which will, as did "No More Hysterectomies", change the course of women's health care.
Since '97 on Dr. Hufnagel's home has been robed on multiple occasions (her private office/business being targeted), her private office was burnt to the ground (the fire was ruled an arson). Businesses are threatened with lawsuit if they associate with or provide service to her. Protests and treats have been made and waged to block her from public speaking. She has had direct threats made to her by her peers to stop her proactive activities of "informing women" and to end her association with Susan Bucher and the CPTwomen.
The "Campaign to Inform" is real. Women are not informed. The covert activities and actions taken to silence, destroy, and to make an example of me to other MDs who dare speak out on these issues are real. Dr. VGH
For more information or to join the "Campaign to Inform"
go to: www.Tubal.org
Or contact: Susan J Bucher- Founder
The Coalition for Post Tubal Women (CPTwomen):
1629 S. Hamilton, Suite 200
Lockport, IL 60441
(815) 834-0987
Fax: (815) 328-0445
Dr. Vikki Hufnagel, MD
(323) 874-5530
Fax: (323) 874-5535
Note: Diagnosis of health/medical conditions are not made by, www.tubal.org, the Coalition for Post Tubal Women (CPTwomen) or by any of its associates. The "Campaign to Inform", is an informational and educational program only. No treatment or prescribing is provided.
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