French doctors are told to restrict use of third and fourth generation oral contraceptives

France is taking steps to stop the overprescription of third and fourth generation oral contraceptives after a legal case highlighted the fact that many women are running an increased risk of serious side effects by taking the pills when alternatives are available.

In the first case of its kind in France, Marion Larat, 25, sued the German drug company Bayer and the head of the French drug regulatory board, the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM), in December after she had a stroke while taking Bayer’s third generation …