A woman suffered a stroke aged 25 after developing a blood clot just two months after she started taking a combined contraceptive pill. Holly McComish is now calling for tougher screening for women before they are given the pill.
Holly, a theatre producer, collapsed during a business meeting in October 2021 just weeks after being prescribed oral contraceptive Microgynon 30 over the telephone. She was rushed to A&E by ambulance where doctors later found a blood clot had travelled to her brain via an undiagnosed hole in her heart.
She was told to stop taking the contraceptive pill immediately and placed on blood thinning medication. Later she underwent surgery to repair the hole in her heart and has now fully recovered.
