France may curb use of riskier oral contraceptives
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A person shows third-generation contraceptive pills in a pharmacy on Jan 2, 2013 in Lille, in northern France. France's national drug agency ANSM started consultations with prescribers of third-generation contraception pills on Jan 2 to try to limit the use of such pills which are subject to complaints, after a French woman attributed her stroke to her contraception pill in mid-December 2012. Some 13,500 complaints were also lodged in the United States against Bayer's four-generation Yaz contraceptive pill. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A grab taken from an AFP video shows Marion Larat, 25, on Dec 14, 2012 in her lawyers' office in Bordeaux, south-western France. Victim of a stroke, that she attributes to her so-called third generation contraception pill, Ms Marion Larat, disabled at 65 per cent since her stroke, decided to lodge a complaint against the chief executive officer of German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer for "unintentional violation of integrity of the human person". -- PHOTO: AFP
A person shows third-generation contraceptive pills in a pharmacy on Jan 2, 2013 in Lille, in northern France. France's national drug agency ANSM started consultations with prescribers of third-generation contraception pills on Jan 2 to try to limit the use of such pills which are subject to complaints, after a French woman attributed her stroke to her contraception pill in mid-December 2012. Some 13,500 complaints were also lodged in the United States against Bayer's four-generation Yaz contraceptive pill. -- PHOTO: AFP
A grab taken from an AFP video shows Marion Larat, 25, on Dec 14, 2012 in her lawyers' office in Bordeaux, south-western France. Victim of a stroke, that she attributes to her so-called third generation contraception pill, Ms Marion Larat, disabled at 65 per cent since her stroke, decided to lodge a complaint against the chief executive officer of German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer for "unintentional violation of integrity of the human person". -- PHOTO: AFP
PARIS (REUTERS) - French health regulators are studying limiting the use of contraceptive pills that carry health risks and will stop reimbursing prescription costs of some types from March, after a woman sued drugmaker Bayer over alleged side-effects.
An inquiry launched this week by the ANSM health regulator will review prescription practices by doctors, whom it says may be over-prescribing higher-risk third and fourth-generation pills.
While all oral contraceptives are associated with a risk of blood clots, a number of studies suggest the most recent brands, known as third and fourth-generation pills, carry a higher risk than their predecessors.
The European Medicines Agency says the risk of an embolism, or blood clot, is twice as high for women using third and fourth-generation pills than for those using earlier versions, although it remains low. The risk of a stroke is the same.
