Dr. Tony WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths of women have been caused by use of a combined oral contraceptive in the last 10 years; and in each case what was(a) the reaction that caused the death and (b) the product. [85038]
§ Mr. DenhamIn the last ten years, between 20 May 1989 and 20 May 1999, there have been a total of 2,408 adverse reactions suspected to be associated with the combined oral contraceptive pill received through the United Kingdom's Yellow Card adverse drug reaction reporting scheme. A fatal outcome was reported in 104 of these reports as listed in the table. The 104 deaths reported over ten years need to be taken in the context of around three million women taking the Pill each year in the UK.
Not all deaths suspected to be related to the use of the combined oral contraceptives are reported to the Medicine Control Agency/Committee on Safety of Medicines via the Yellow Card spontaneous adverse drug reaction scheme; we therefore cannot provide the total number of deaths. It is also essential to bear in mind that a report of a suspected adverse drug reaction does not mean that the reaction/death was caused by the medicine concerned. Many other factors are likely to contribute.
The Pill is highly effective in preventing pregnancy. The risks of fatal adverse reactions associated with combined oral contraceptive Pills are very small; and are much smaller than those associated with pregnancy.
The product information on the Pill provided for doctors, as well as the patient information leaflet in each pack, give advice on the contraindications, side effects, warnings and precautions for use of the Pill which should be strictly adhered to.
Suspected reaction Number of cases with a fatal outcome Cardiac failure 1 Sudden death unexplained 1 Left ventricular failure 1 Myocardial infarction 5 Pulmonary embolism 84 Subarachnoidhemorrhage 1 Cerebral vein thrombosis 1 Brain stem infarction 1 Cerebral infarction 2 Cerebrovascular accident 1 Cerebral thrombosis 2 Chest pain 1 Pelvic venous thrombosis 1 Respiratory arrest 1 Ovarian Carcinoma 1 Products associated with the suspected adverse reactions include: Binovum; Brevinor; Cilest; Conova; Diane; Dianette; Eugynon; Femodene; Femodene ED; Gynovlar; Loestrin; Logynon; Logynon ED; Marvelon; Mercilon; Microgynon; Minilyn; Minulet; Norimin; Ovran; Ovran 30; Ovranette; Ovulen; Ovysmen; Synphase; Tri-minulet; Trinordiol and Trinovum.