Women boycott third-generation pill

Up to 40,000 New Zealand women appear to have stopped taking the controversial third-generation oral contraceptive pills since these were linked to at least nine deaths.

New Pharmac figures show that in the two months after the link was publicly revealed use of the pills dropped dramatically.

New Zealand women swallowed 2.9 million of the Marvelon, Mercilon, Femodene and Minulet third-generation pill brands in January, the month the deaths were revealed. Two months later, a million fewer pills were being taken. Between 103,000 and 138,000 women were taking the third-generation brands in January, compared with between 65,000 and 86,000 at the end of March. Exact numbers are unknown because the Pharmac figures relate to the number of pills taken, not the number of women taking them.

Correspondingly, the number of older-brand pills being taken increased by 1.1 million during the period.

At the height of their popularity, in January 1996, 4.3 million third-generation pills were taken - representing between 150,000 and 200,000 women.

John Cameron, spokesman for one of the manufacturers, Pharmaco, said his firm's biggest concern was the damage done to the reputation of the pill, which had "proven itself over many decades, and in many studies, to be a particularly effective and acceptable method of contraception."

However, Women's Health Action spokeswoman Sandra Coney said she was delighted with the decrease.

"Informing women through the media has been successful and I'm glad they've had the chance to get all the facts and make up their own minds.

"This seems like a common-sense change and I would like to think it will save lives and prevent some of the injuries women have been suffering."

The Ministry of Health has commissioned research into the nine deaths since 1992, a rate almost double the expected rate of one death every 12 to 18 months.

Eight of the nine who died had risk factors and should not have been prescribed the third-generation pills.

A further 50 women have been injured from blood clots associated with taking the pill, and they intend suing the drug companies, the ministry and their prescribers.

The ministry's prescribing advice has also been criticised. After UK studies in 1996 showed the pills had double the blood-clot risks of older types, it advised doctors to "preferentially prescribe" other brands.

However, that was changed to "consider prescribing" other brands in the face of opposition from the Family Planning Association and the Royal New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, which feared a pill scare. - NZPA