A forgotten founding father of the Pill: Ferdinand Peeters, MD

Ferdinand Peeters, a practising gynaecologist from Turnhout, near Antwerp (Belgium), had a pivotal role in the development of a practical and viable modality of oral contraception, striking the balance between efficacy and an acceptably low incidence and severity of side effects. While, with regard to the origin of oral contraception, names like those of Pincus, Rock, and Djerassi come immediately to the fore, the work of Peeters has to a large extent faded from public memory. Still, it was Peeters who proposed to Schering AG in Berlin that a combination of 4 mg norethisterone acetate and 0.05 mg ethinylestradiol be used for ovulation suppression. He convinced the scientific staff of Schering of the potential benefits of what, after clinical trials, would finally emerge as Anovlar.