A study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine shows intra-uterine birth control devices are much safer than previously thought. In the 1980's, a Minnesota law firm led a legal battle against the makers of an I-U-D called the Dalkon Shield... which caused pelvic infections that made many women sterile. The Dalkon shield was taken off the market in the early 1980's...and I-U-D use plummeted in the United States. David Hubacher is an epidemiologist at Family Health International and lead author of the study. He says his research on women in Mexico-- where modern I-U-D's are popular-- shows the devices don't pose an increase risk of infection: