Women taking at-risk contraceptive pills

Gynaecologists are still prescribing contraceptive pills with a heightened risk of thrombosis. Research by Swiss public television, SRF, shows little has been learnt from high-profile cases of women suffering severe side-effects, and even death. Last autumn a 27-year-old woman who had been taking the Yasminelle contraceptive pill for six months died from a blood clot in the vein. She’s not the first. Generally speaking, the authorities now recommend a ‘second generation’ pill that only has half of the risk of thrombosis compared with a more recently introduced pill. This is a reaction to research studies and the case in 2009 of a young woman called Celine. A 16-year-old, she had been taking the pill Yasmin, and was left severely disabled after developing a blood clot in the lung. Yasmin and Yasminelle were no longer among the top ten most-prescribed pills (and hormone patches) in Switzerland according to 2015 statistics from Interpharma, the association of ...