§ 57. Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many communications he has received about death or disability resulting from the contraceptive pill.
§ Mr. MoyleSince 1964, when the Committee on Safety of Drugs—now the Committee on Safety of Medicines—began to collect information about suspected adverse reaction to drugs, approximately 9,000 reports from doctors have mentioned the oral contraceptive. Of these, about 500 have described fatal events. However, it does not follow that there is in all cases a causal relationship between use of the pill and the reported conditions, since these may occur spontaneously. Many women who have been reported to have developed cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and strokes while on the contraceptive pill have other predisposing conditions, particularly cigarette smoking, which has been shown to be the most important risk factor affecting the incidence of arterial thrombosis. In the great majority of women the reported side effects tend to be both minor and temporary.
In addition to doctors' reports to the Committee on Safety of Medicines, correspondence about oral contraceptives is also received from hon. Members and the general public. Information on the numbers of communications is not readily available.