Teen Suffers Stroke on the Pill

Q. My daughter was switched to generic birth control pills (norgestimate & ethinyl estradiol) by our pharmacy. The same week she started the new generic, she had massive head pain and began vomiting uncontrollably.
We got her to the emergency room promptly, where she was diagnosed with multiple blood clots in her brain. She had no risk factors. She does not smoke, drink alcohol or take illegal drugs. She is sixteen years old. How could this happen?
A. We are so sorry to hear of your daughter’s nightmare with generic birth control pills. We have no way of knowing whether the blood clots were triggered by her medicine, but oral contraceptives may on rare occasions cause strokes even in young healthy women.
The unresolved question is whether the generic formulation posed an added risk. Another reader reported that after being switched from the brand name Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo to a generic product she had a “terrible experience.”
Side effects from the Pill seem to be related to the dose of hormones in the formula. Since the initial introduction of oral contraceptives 50 years ago, the dose has dropped dramatically. We can only hope that generic products are being monitored to ensure that the hormone dose is not excessive.