Woman dies after taking banned contraceptive pills

Mr George Ssendagala, a resident of Kampala, is still mourning his wife, Barbara Atwine, who died on March 21 due to suspected effects of contraceptive pills, which have been banned by the National Drug Authority (NDA).

Ms Atwine, a mother of three, collapsed and died suddenly at the police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala, where she was delivering food supplements, according to the husband and another witness.

“My wife has always been healthy. But after a little bit of research, we realised that it [the death] could have been caused by a drug she was using,” he told this newspaper yesterday.

“I remembered that she told me she had been using a banned contraceptive pill. It is sold in black market. The pill is taken once a month,” he added.

The news about Ms Atwine’s death is coming six months after the National Drug Authority (NDA) banned the “Chinese” contraceptive pill, warning that it can cause blood clots.

However, a postmortem report from Kampala City Mortuary police, which this publication saw, indicates that the death was caused by “hypoxia following bilateral pulmonary embolism.”

Hypoxia refers to low oxygen in the body while bilateral pulmonary embolism refers to blockage of air pathways in both lungs due to (blood) clot, according to Dr Okwadi Tukei, the medical personnel who tried to rescue Ms Atwine when she collapsed.

The postmortem report is undersigned by Dr Moses Byaruhanga, a forensic pathologist and Dr Julius Muhwezi, a medical officer at city mortuary.

Dr Okwadi said the pathologist is still investigating to determine whether or not there is a link between the contraceptive and the embolism (blood clot) which blocked the lungs, resulting in death. The pathologist was not available to give comments by press time.

NDA said in October last year that the banned “Chinese contraceptive pill was found to contain a high dose of the hormone above recommended dosage and the risks associated with the use of this product include among others; prolonged bleeding and irregular menstrual periods.”

Mr Ssendagala revealed that the late Atwine had been using the pill for two months. He said she started experiencing a little dizziness ever since she started using it.   “She thought the dizziness was caused by fasting and going to the gym,’’ he said.

NDA view    

Mr Abiaz Rwamwiri, the spokesperson of NDA, said they are doing enough to shield the public from dangerous drugs.

“As a regulator, our role is to warn the public and to give accurate information about drug safety. We will tell you not to use a particular drug because it was not authorised,” he explained.