BMJ 1995;311:1162 (28 October)

Letters

Data from transnational study of oral contraceptives have been misused

EDITOR,--The unpublished data from the transnational study of oral contraceptives have been misused and misinterpreted in Britain because of inexplicable haste and urgency not thought necessary by other major regulatory agencies. My colleagues and I do not agree that our findings justify the drastic actions taken in Britian, whereby a "Dear Doctor" letter was sent to doctors, warning that oral contraceptives containing desogestrel and gestodene are associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism (pp 1112, 1117, and 1172).1 Doctors should be vigilant but not stampeded. Patients need not panic. In particular, the risk estimates in Britain are systematically lower than those in the four other European countries that participated in the study.

On 8 October my colleagues and I completed the analysis of venous thromboembolism in this study (the two other components examine myocadial infarction and stroke). Voluntarily, we briefed medical officers at the Medicines Control Agency and a subcommittee . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Donnelly, R J (1995). Studies implicate only gestodene and desogestrel. BMJ 311: 1639b-1639 [Full text]  
  • Wynn, V., Godsland, I. F, Crook, D., Stevenson, J. C (1995). Committee's action will undermine further research and development. BMJ 311: 1639c-1640 [Full text]  
  • Rawlins, M. (1995). Combined oral contraceptives and thromboembolism. BMJ 311: 1232a-1232 [Full text]  
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