A young woman has died of a blood clot soon after she first started taking a contraceptive pill while her parents were overseas.
Lauren Johnson, 23, was found semi-conscious in bed at home on September 3, 2015. She was rushed to hospital, but died four days later from a blood clot and associated haemorrhage in the brain, The Sun reports.
An inquest has been launched to determine whether the young Irish woman’s death was brought on by the contraceptive pill.
Ms Johnsons had been suffering from persistent headaches in the weeks leading up to her death, the Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.
“She complained a lot about this headache that wouldn’t go away,” her friend, Kevin Gannon, said.
When Mr Gannon found her in bed on September 3rd, he said she was “groggy and couldn’t string a sentence together”.
On September 1st, she had been hospitalised after complaining of headaches and trouble seeing properly. A packet of paracetamol with 16 tablets missing was found at the house and family members said that she had been taking them to try combat her headaches.
Paramedics wrote on handover notes to hospital staff that they believed she had suffered a paracetamol overdose.
Her parents were in Portugal at the time.
Ms Johnson’s blood clot entered the brain through the jugular vein, Beaumont Hospital consultant neurologist Dr Lisa Costello told the court.
Dr Costello said that type of haemorrhage is very rare – she only sees two or three similar cases a year.
Blood clots in the vein are a known risk factor for the contraceptive pill, but Ms Johnson’s mother Sandra said the brand her daughter had been taking had a high associated risk.
The inquest was adjourned for additional pharmalogical evidence for those claims.
