Fwd: Pill 'causes long-term damage'

[Guest guest]

Re: Fwd: Pill 'causes long-term damage'

 

 

My neice, now 31 yrs. used the norplant for birth control. It shut

down her ovaries and the result was no progesterone

production....estrogen dominance, endo, fibroids and a hysterectomy

6 months ago. Do they care what they do to us? I think not.

 

Francie

 

Monday, 4 March, 2002, 15:30 GMT

 

Pill 'caused long-term damage

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1848000/1848697.stm

 

The women say they were not warned of the risks

 

A test case involving more than 100 women who say they were

exposed to potentially lethal side effects of the third generation

contraceptive pill has started at the High Court.

 

Lawyers representing the families are taking action against three

pharmaceutical companies, saying the women were not warned of the

possible dangers of the Pill.

 

They claim the third generation Pill caused the women to develop

blood clots which led to long-term damage to their health, and in

around 10% of cases proved fatal

 

 

The companies say they will vigorously defend the claims and

reject suggestions that the third generation Pill, introduced in the

80s, is slightly riskier than its predecessors.

They say there is no link between the women's problems and their

products. The case is the first of its type and, if successful,

could lead to massive compensation payouts, expected to total about

£10m.

 

The legal challenge, being brought under the Consumer Protection

Act, is expected to last many months.

 

The companies being sued are Schering Healthcare, Organon

Laboratories and Wyeth.

 

Third generation Pills include Femodene, Femodette, Marvelon,

Mercilon, Minulet, Triadene and Tri-Minulet.

 

'Disastrous injury'

Pill history

First generation: high dose of oestrogen and one of two

progesterones

Second generation: lower dose of oestrogen, same progesterones

Third generation: same lower dose of oestrogen, different

progesterones

Lord Brennan QC told Mr Justice Mackay the group included those

who had conditions including deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary

embolism, strokes and cerebral vein thrombosis.

 

He said: " Some are moderately injured. Several of them are the

victims of disastrous injury which will incapacitate them

throughout their lives. "

 

The litigation, involving some claims brought on behalf of women

who have died, will focus on seven individual cases.

 

Lord Brennan said the Consumer Protection Act provided for all

consumers, such as the women in the case, to have a legitimate

expectation that they would be warned of the kind of risk he had

described.

 

" A product that carries such a risk, but doesn't carry a warning

about it is, we submit, a defective product under that statute. "

 

Thromboembolism risks-

 

In women not taking the Pill or who are not pregnant - five per

100,000

In women using 'second generation' Pills - 15 per 100,000

In women using 'third generation' Pills - 25 per 100,000

In women who are pregnant - 60 per 100,000

Source: Department of Health

 

Organon insists there is no difference in risk of thrombosis

between second and third generation Pills, and this will form the

backbone of its case.

 

Organon's medical director in the UK, Dr Rob Kaper, said: " The

Pills are safe. " Based on the latest studies, we can say our Pills

are not associated with any greater risk than any other Pill

available today or before today.

 

" The association between Pills and thrombosis has been known

since the late 60s and all Pill packets have contained the warning

and that's for any type of Pill. "

 

The Department of Health has issued guidelines on the risks

associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) - blood clots in the

veins - and

third generation oral contraceptives.

'Unfounded' claims

 

It says VTE is " very rare and may occur in any woman whether she

is taking the Pill or not " .

However, it suggests the risk of VTE is slightly higher in women

taking any combined oral contraceptive Pill, compared with those

not on the Pill.

But this risk is " very small and far lower than the risk in

pregnancy " .

 

It says there is no reason for women to stop taking the pill.

Schering, which makes Femodene, has issued a statement saying the

women's claims are " unfounded " .

Dr Peter Longthorne, medical director of Schering Health Care

Ltd, said: " In some cases, the claimants have had tragic

experiences, and we have a great deal of sympathy for them.

" This is why we feel it particularly important that a conclusion

be drawn for the benefit of everybody involved.

 

" However, the claimants have not established that there is a link

between their problems and our products or put forward a good case

that Schering are legally responsible to compensate them. "

 

Lord Brennan told the court the increased risk of third generation

products had featured in a major debate among epidemiology experts

as well as among regulatory authorities such as the World Health

Organisation.

 

The seven claimants' details were outlined in court:

 

Carol Ann Townsend, 31, of Oxford, who was taking Femodene

suffered a deep vein thrombosis in August 1993

 

Debra Jones, 31, of Aberdare, south Wales, who was taking

Femodene, suffered a cerebral venous thrombosis in December 1994

 

Andrea Massey, 25, of Wrexham, north Wales, who was taking

Femodene, suffered a stroke in July 1995

 

Karen Roberts, 39, of Denbigh, north Wales, whowas taking

Femodene suffered a deep vein thrombosis in August 1995

 

Jacqueline Diplock-Webb, 43, of Ferndown, Poole, Dorset, who was

taking Marvelon, suffered a deep vein thrombosis in August 1993

 

Nicola Moores, 35, of Fulham, south-west London, who was taking

Mercilon, suffered a pulmonary embolism in November 1993 and August

1995

Ellen Silcock, 24, of Corby, Northamptonshire, who was taking

Minulet, suffered a pulmonary embolism in October 1995.

 

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