The beauty of contraceptive implants is that, once a doctor has tucked one under a woman’s skin, she shouldn’t have to worry about birth control for several years. At least, that’s the theory. But hundreds of British women who were using an implant called Implanon nevertheless wound up pregnant last year and — after visiting doctors to have the implants removed — discovered that the implants were nowhere to be found. What’s behind this deeply troubling mystery, and what are the consequences?

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