Woman with clotting history died after nine years on the pill

A woman predisposed to blood clots had been taking the contraceptive pill for nine years before she collapsed and died, an inquest has heard.

Jennifer O’Connell, 33, a civil servant from Ballyvolane, Cork, died after developing a blood clot that reached her lungs.

A non-smoker, she had been taking Mercilon, a third-generation contraception pill that carries a higher risk of clotting, particularly in the first year of use.

At a resumed inquest into her death yesterday, Cork City Coroner’s Court heard that Ms O’Connell complained of breathlessness, pain in her lungs, and swelling of the leg in the months leading up to her death.

On the morning of Feb 23, she phoned her mother to say she felt unwell.

“Ten minutes later she had collapsed. She crawled to the door to let me in. I noticed her lips had gone black,” said her mother, Carmel O’Connell.

She was taken to Mercy University Hospital where resuscitation attempts failed and she was later pronounced dead.

Ms O’Connell had been taking the pill since she was 24. She visited her doctor complaining of breathing problems and a swollen leg seven months previously, after a trip to Lanzarote.

“She thought she’d pulled a muscle in her leg,” said her mother. “It was swollen. She went to her doctor in September, the leg got better but she felt she couldn’t catch her breath. It was on and off like that until she died.”

Ms O’Connell’s GP, Niamh Coffey, said she was unaware of Ms O’Connell’s family history and that a colleague had started her on the pill.

She said her patient had been advised of the risk of thrombosis, adding that a patient could stay on the pill safely until the age of 50, provided no problems arose.

When Ms O’Connell visited her GP five weeks before her death, she was diagnosed with a chest infection and asked was to return for a chest X-ray if she experienced further problems.

On Feb 21, she returned to her GP, complaining of pain in her lungs and trouble breathing. She was scheduled to have an chest X-ray the following week.

In her autopsy report, assistant state pathologist Margaret Bolster said Ms O’Connell died of a pulmonary venous thromboembolism in association with a third-generation contraceptive pill.

Dr Bolster traced evidence of older, smaller clots that may have been in the body for up to two months before the death, which originated in her leg or pelvis. Genetics played a major factor. The pill was an environmental factor, Dr Bolster said.

“The pill is a known risk factor for the development of venous thromboembolism,” said Dr Bolster, adding that this was “a rare event”.

Coroner Myra Cullinane returned a narrative verdict incorporating the cause of death. Extending her sympathies to family members present, she said the case was particularly tragic because of Ms O’Connell’s young age.