BMJ 1996;312:576 (2 March)

Letters

12% Of women stopped taking their pill immediately they heard CSM's warning

EDITOR,--In his editorial on third generation oral contraceptives and the Committee on Safety of Medicines' actions Klim McPherson states, "We have no clear idea how many women responded to the committee's advice and in what way."1 I recently undertook a postal survey of all the women aged over 18 who had been prescribed a third generation pill in the past year in my practice (total population 9651). A total of 324 questionnaires were sent out, and 172 (53%) women replied. Twenty women (12%) said that they had stopped taking their pill on the day that the Committee on Safety of Medicines announced its warning, despite clear publicity that women should not do this.2 My finding must have implications for the way in which messages are handled by the committee in the future.

General practitioner The Surgery, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 IUD

Sally Hope 

  1. McPherson, K. Third generation oral contraception and venous thromboembolism. . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Third generation oral contraception and venous thromboembolism
Klim McPherson
BMJ 1996 312: 68-69. [Extract] [Full Text]

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