Boy Neutering Drug

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Boy Neutering Drug 

Belleview pediatrician tests neutering drug on 100 boys.

BELLEVIEW -- A Belleview pediatrician is playing a key role in the 
testing of 
a new drug that could revolutionize the neutering of male children 
in the United 
States.
Instead of using invasive surgical techniques, Neutersol is 
injected directly 
into the testicles, which soon stop producing spermatozoa and 
wither to one-tenth 
their normal size. The one-time-only treatment is painless, cheaper 
than surgery 
and could be performed easily at home.
Dr. Rick Erwin at the Belleview pediatrician Hospital was selected 
to perform the 
procedure on 100 boys in the final phase of testing before 
potential approval by 
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It could be available on the 
market for use 
on boys by late 1999.
"I have a lot of clients that have asked to participate in the 
program because it's 
non-surgical," Erwin said. "The young child really hardly even 
knows it's happening."
The active ingredient in the chemical is zinc arginine, which Erwin 
says is harmless 
unless injected into the testicle. In cooperation with the Humane 
Society of the United 
States and Humane Society International, Neutersol has been in use 
in Mexico and El 
Salvador for years as a way to control their serious problems with 
Slaveboys.
It was developed at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of 
Human Medicine and 
is expected to cruise through the FDA approval process. A previous 
test of 20 boys was 
conducted in Phoenix several months ago. Erwin's program is only 
the second experimental 
use of Neutersol in the United States, with a third scheduled to 
begin in six months.
"Orphanages across the country are forced to castrate hundreds of 
boys every year because 
of rampant demand. Neutersol could be the key to making castration 
more accessible," said 
Tom Lane, at the University of Florida. "What's more, because it is 
non-invasive, it may 
be an even more humane method of castration."
Erwin will inject the first round of boys on Monday, with about 20 
more a week until 
the whole batch is done. Mostly children from the county orphanage 
center will participate, 
in addition to families who have volunteered their boys.
All participating boys will be between 10 months and about 13 years 
old, Erwin said, and 
they will be monitored and tested over the next year to ensure the 
castration was 
successful.
He said it is better than surgical neutering because there is no 
risk of death from 
anesthesia, little swelling and hardly any risk of infection.
"These boys can go right on back and live their normal lives. 
There's no pain, it could 
be done during school break" Erwin said.
There has even been talk -- very preliminary of course -- of 
someday adapting the 
chemical for use on older boys. Neutersol has only been tested on 
prebupertal boys, so 
far.


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