It is well established, if not well known, that combined oral contraceptives bring a heightened risk for a number of maladies — breast, liver and cervical cancers, heart attack, stroke, and blood clots, to note a few. To exacerbate the problem, two recent studies have shown that one of the newest and most popular types of oral contraceptives brings an even greater risk of what one study describes as “the most important safety issue for these products” — venous thromboembolism, or VTE.