PILL SIDE-EFFECTS CASE THROWN OUT

LONDON, England, July 29, 2002 (LSN.ca) – A British High Court judge threw out the test case brought by more than 100 women who suffered damaging side-effects, including life-threatening blood clots, from taking the third generation contraceptive pill commonly prescribed in the 1980s.  Claiming that his trial was “almost certainly the most exhaustive examination that this question has yet received,” Mr. Justice Mackay expected the ruling would be a “serious disappointment” to the victims.  The women’s lawyers told the court the pill carried an “increased risk of blood clots” when compared with the previous generation, and that the companies should have issued warnings. Scientists estimated that healthy women not taking oral contraceptives have a five in 100,000 chance of developing blood clots, but that the chances increased to 15 in 100,000 when taking the “second generation” pill and 25 in 100,000 when taking the “third generation” pill.  But Mackay based his ruling on evidence from ten epidemiological experts, the BBC reports, including a complex statistical analysis presented by two experts which concluded there was no increased risk. The three pharmaceutical companies under attack—Organon Laboratories, Schering Healthcare and Wyeth—were delighted.  To read BBC News coverage see:  https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2158628.stm