High Court rules third-generation Pill is safe to use

More than 100 women who claimed the third-generation contraceptive Pill had led to deaths and damaging side-effects lost their case for compensation yesterday.

Mr Justice Mackay ruled at the High Court in London that the new versions of the Pill were not defective and were no riskier that previous versions.

The case had been brought against the makers of third-generation Pills, introduced in the 1980s as a supposedly safer alternative to the older brands.

The court was told that seven women who had been prescribed the contraceptive had died and others had suffered permanent disability from deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, strokes and cerebral venous thrombosis.

Mr Justice Mackay dismissed seven lead actions in a group litigation against Schering Health Care, Organon Laboratories and John Wyeth and Brother. His ruling followed 44 days of legal argument and evidence given by 10 epidemiological experts.

The judge told the women: "I find that there is not as a matter of probability any increased relative risk of venous thrombosis embolism carried by any of the third-generation oral contraceptives supplied to these claimants by the defendants as compared with second-generation products."

Martyn Day, the solicitor acting for the women, said he was shocked by the judge's decision, which he said was "based on one complex study unsupported in the literature, or by any independent scientific body and a study that the regulatory authorities have clearly rejected".

Yvonne Berry, whose daughter Nancy died aged 16 after taking the Pill for a month, said: "We are very, very sorry for the next generation of women taking the Pill. Do we have to wait another 10 years for the next case to come to trial?"

Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said the combined oral contraceptive Pill was one of the best researched drugs of all time. "Women ... can take confidence from the judgment that it remains a highly safe and effective method of contraception when appropriately prescribed," she said.

Mr Day said the women would consider an appeal.