Originally published in 2015
By Rita Diller
She died after 25 days on the pill. She was only 21. As in so many blood clot cases caused by birth control, she was misdiagnosed when she went to the hospital struggling to breathe and experiencing pain in her legs and ribs. She was sent home diagnosed with a bruised sternum. Four days later, she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. On May 14, three days after arriving at the hospital, she was pronounced dead. According to an article in Cosmopolitan, tests revealed a large blood clot on her lung.
Her name was Fallan Kurek, and she worked with disabled children in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. She had started taking the pill—a combination oral contraceptive—to regulate her menstrual cycle. Why wasn’t Fallan warned about the possibility of blood clots that accompany pill use? Why did the hospital not immediately connect her symptoms to the contraceptive she had just started taking?
Fallan’s devastated mother was quoted in the Birmingham Mail, “She was only on it to regulate her periods. I couldn’t believe nobody had said the pill could do this. It should say it on the pack that they can kill and the label.”
Annually, one in every 3000 women taking birth control pills will develop blood clots. It is well known all across the medical community that the pill increases the risk for deadly blood clots. And that information is indeed printed on the very lengthy packet insert, which most women never read. But it is not displayed on the packet, the label, or any other prominent place. And even knowing of the possibility of blood clots, medical personnel didn’t connect the dots for Fallan Kurek.
Fallan’s mother, Julia, wants to let the world know about the dangers of taking the pill. “This is all because of 25 days,” she said. Twenty-five days on the pill and another precious life was lost.
American Life League’s The Pill Kills project has been working for almost a decade to expose the dangers of the pill. Yet tragedies continue to amass as one woman after another dies or suffers profound health consequences because of the pill.
Over the past two weeks, American Life League has received multiple heartrending e-mails from those who have seen our reports on the dangers of the pill. Here is a sample:
I have a DVT [deep vein thrombosis] in my right leg from 20 years ago. It broke and went to my lungs. My leg is now hard as a rock and I live in pain every time I walk. I have COPD [because of] the clot in my lungs. All this caused by the birth control pill. It kills. Thanks, Donna.
Colleen writes that her 29-year-old daughter went blind after four to five years on massive doses of Provera and the insertion of a Mirena IUD, all given to her for the purpose of stopping bleeding. “She now has approximately 10 percent tunnel vision in her left eye, and has five stents inserted in her brain,” Colleen says. “I have no doubt whatsoever that Provera caused her blindness,” she goes on to say. “Women should not only be warned about death from clots, etc., but also that they can and do lose their eyesight.”
Joanie writes: “My 18-year-old daughter had a stroke six years ago and has aphasia.” Aphasia is a communication disorder that results from damage or injury to language parts of the brain. Joanie’s daughter had been on Yasmin for three months when she suffered the stroke and her nightmare began. She was only 12 years old.
News reports are continually popping up about young women killed or injured by the pill. You can read some of the most recent reports on The Pill Kills Facebook page. Yet we are told over and over that this is extremely rare.
Women need to know the truth about the pill and other contraceptives. Young girls must be protected from contraceptive pushers. For more information and to get involved, visit our website, ThePillKills.org.
Rita Diller is the former national director of American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood International.