An athletic young woman who died from a freak side

An athletic young woman who died from a freak side affect
of the contraceptive pill had planned to start a family with her
boyfriend.

Clerical officer, Diane Layne, 28, collapsed after developing
a fatal blood clot in her leg an inquest heard today (Thurs).

Pathologist Dr David Rouse said clot had most probably been
caused by the low dosage contraceptive pill.

But he said it was
a very rare complication and that there are only a handful of
similar cases a year in the UK.

He said: ‘The risk of dying from pregnancy are far greater
than those from taking the pill.

It is very, very rare and there
are no more than 10 or 15 cases in this country a year.

‘
The pathologist said he personally had only seen one such
case this year.

He added: ‘It is 80 per cent likely that Miss Layne died as
a result of taking the pill, but we cannot be 100 per cent sure.

‘
Southwark Coroners Court was told Miss Layne who lived with
her fiance at (24) Melville Court, Croft Street, Deptford, se
London, had been using oral contraceptives since 1986.

She had a gap for six months and then had been prescribed
a five months course of the low dosage contraceptive Logynon.

Her GP, Dr Makkar of (50) Sandrock Road, Lewisham, se London
said there had been no complications as a result of her taking
the pill at anytime.

‘She was a very healthy and fit person.

She had no complications
at all.

‘
But the inquest heard that about a year before her death Miss
Layne, who attended aerobics classes at least twice a week, began
to suffer from back pain.

She was seen by both her GP and at Greenwich hospital.

And although the pain was at times ‘excrutiating,’ it was
believed to be caused by muscle spasm.

However, Dr Rouse said the pain could have been triggered
by the pill.

Fiance Steven Ford told how Miss Layne developed pain in her
leg the evening before she tragically died.

‘Diane said she had cramp in her leg and said it was swollen.

She decided to go to the doctor’s the next morning.

‘
But at 7am on July 19, this year, Diane leapt out of bed and
vomited.

They made an appointment to go to the doctor’s and
had planned to pick up Diane’s mother on way.

At around 9am: ‘Diane had washed but was still limping and
complaining that her leg was hurting.

She said she could not
breathe properly.

‘
Mr Ford went to get their car from the garage and arranged
to meet his fiancee on the steps outside their home.

‘But when I got there she was not outside.

I ran upstairs
and found her lying on the passageway.

She was struggling to
breathe.

I scooped her up and rushed her to the car.

I drove
like a bat out of hell to the hospital,’ recalled Mr Ford his
voicing breaking with emotion.

Miss Layne was given prolonged rescucitation but sadly died
at 10.

35am at Greenwich Hospital.

Recording a verdict of death from misadventure the coroner
Sir Montague Levine said: ‘On the balance of probabilities
Miss Layne had died from a complication of the contraceptive
pill.

‘It is very rare, but it happens.

It is a hazard of taking
the pill.

‘However there are many people who take the pill for many,
many years and have no problems at all.

‘
Cause of death was pulmonory embolism (blood clot in the
lungs) and secondly the oral contraceptive pill.

Dr Rouse had earlier told the hearing that the pain Miss
Layne suffered in her leg bore ‘the classic hallmarks of a
blood clot.

‘
But he expalined: ‘There is no test on earth that you could
use to see that a person is at risk from developing a clot because
of the pill.

‘
He added that blood clots arising from use of the pill
seemed to be more common amongst black people, although he repeated
that it was an extremely rare complication.

Outside court Mr Ford said he and Miss Layne had been planning
to start a family next year.

‘She was going to come off the pill next year.

We planned to
move to a bigger house and then start a family.

You hear about
the risks of taking the pill, but you never believe it can be so
devastating.

‘
ends