Former veejay speaks on women's health care

Karen Duffy, in a FLASH-sponsored talk last night at Hill College House, emphasized the need for birth control. As a veejay called "Duff," she was the face of MTV for a generation. Her image has graced hundreds of fashion magazines as an Almay model and Revlon spokesperson. And she has appeared in several feature films. Though known best for these glamorous roles, Karen Duffy spoke at Penn last night not as a star, but as an advocate for women's health. In a program presented by Organon Pharmaceuticals, entitled "The Pill 101 -- Real Time Answers to Real Time Questions," Duffy stressed the importance of birth control to approximately 50 students at Hill College House, spending a lot of time promoting Organon's own contraceptive, sold under the name Mircette. The program is part of the company's two-year "A New Age in Women's Health Care" campaign to educate women about contraceptives, fertility, depression, menopause and osteoporosis. Duffy, along with Hester Sonder, an instructor at the Temple University School of Medicine, informed women and men alike about oral contraceptives, stressing added benefits like the strengthening of bones and the lessening of symptoms associated with pre-menstrual syndrome. The event was part of Facilitated Learning about Sexual Health's weekly "Sex at Seven" program, which regularly hosts speakers and provides free condoms to University students. An integral part of Organon's campaign for its new drug is promoting the mechanism it provides to remind users to take the oral contraceptive every day at the same time. "It is so 21st century because it comes with a reminder card that beeps at the same time each day," Sonder said. Organon is the first drug company to offer such an option. Sonder tackled the discussion from a medical perspective. Faced with a barrage of questions from both male and female members of the audience, the doctor spoke openly about menstruation, birth control and safe sex. She noted that "medicine is not a recipe; it is a lot of art and judgement? Contraceptives are not for everyone." Sonder encouraged women to utilize their doctor's knowledge, to ask questions and to be their own best advocates. The question and answer period soon turned to a more controversial topic, guided by a comment from Duffy. "Most major insurance companies do not cover contraceptives," she said. "But they do cover Viagra," Sonder added, noting the gender bias that exists in insurance coverage. Duffy encouraged women to "use your voices? I am always giving my insurance company a hard time." Being an advocate of women's healthcare is not a new role for Duffy. She experienced many personal health problems and was forced to be her own best health-care advocate. "Lying in bed all that time I knew I wanted to get to work, and I had experience in the field of women's health advocacy," she said. Some audience members felt the talk was worthwhile. "I felt that the program was very informative," said College sophomore Jason Chan, a member of FLASH. "It really clarified some issues I think people are unclear about." But others in attendance said the program was too commercialized. "The information [Sonder] dispensed was targeted solely at the promotion of her product," Wharton junior Michael Rogan said. The talk served as the inaugural presentation of Organon's program. Duffy is scheduled to travel to 20 colleges and universities.