A former soldier is speaking out after an “ordinary” pill, taken by millions of other people, wreaked havoc on her life and body. No longer able to have children and bearing the constant reminder of events with hideous scars, the woman is hoping to warn others to stay away.
It all started when Trudi Banning, then 23, joined the British Army in 1991. At that time, she was forced to take Femodene, a contraceptive pill, in order to “have a career.”
“We did what we were told. I was there to stay, so I started the pill,” the now 42-year-old woman said. “There was a group of around 18 women. We were weighed, they took our blood pressure, and then they dished them out like sweets.”
So, she took the pill for the next four-and-a-half years without noticing any side effects, beyond a little weight gain, until one day she simply collapsed. She was rushed to a hospital in Swindon, Wiltshire of England, where doctors were quick to realize that her gut was literally rotting inside. According to reports, the contraceptive pill resulted in two blood clots that subsequently resulted in oxygen being cut off from 80% of her intestines.
The tissue damage was so severe that her insides were infected with gangrene, prompting doctors to remove the diseased portion. She was placed into a coma for the next sixth months as doctors remained unsure if she would ever pull through.
At the time, doctors even told Banning’s father that she may never wake up. “They told my dad not to just think of taking it day by day, or hour by hour, but rather minute by minute,” she later explained regarding the severity of her condition.
Luckily, she pulled through, but it hasn’t been easy. Banning woke up to a shocking reality. She didn’t know where she was and could only see tubes coming from many places in her body, including her throat, chest, and in between her toes. She also had to learn how to walk and talk again.
Since that time, she has also learned that when doctors were removing dead parts of her body, they were forced to take out her ovaries as well. Unfortunately, that means she can never have children of her own flesh and blood. On top of everything else, she was also medically discharged from the army, thereby losing her job and career as well.
Now, she’s fighting against the corporation that ruined her life — Organon Laboratories, Schering Healthcare — and declared she hopes to file a lawsuit with as many as 100 other women who suffered a comparable fate. Although there was a lawsuit filed before, it collapsed in 2002 as the presiding judge determined that the new pill – the third generation – didn’t pose a large threat when it came to blood clots.
Since it has effectively ruined her life though, Banning feels that someone needs to be held responsible. “Every time that I see the pill has taken another victim I feel angry and upset,” Banning said. “The pill can be a killer but they say it doesn’t kill. How many more women have to die before they admit it is a danger? How many more women have to die before people sit up and listen? I don’t want to see any more young girls lose their lives.”
As Banning and the other women wait for someone willing to represent them and pick up the case, the drug manufacturer has assured the public that their product is safe. According to a spokeswoman at The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, “The safety of contraceptive pills was reviewed at European level in 2014 and the review confirmed that the risk of blood clots with all contraceptives is small. The benefits of any combined hormonal contraceptive far outweigh the risk of serious side-effects.”
Despite the rarity of Banning’s case, no one is arguing that her life wasn’t ruined over the entire ordeal. Doesn’t that mean someone should be held responsible? These drug companies make a fortune off their products, and I’m certain they could spare a little change to help this woman and those like her.