Oral contraceptives and fatal pulmonary embolism.

In a national case-control study of fatal pulmonary embolism in New Zealand women of childbearing age, we estimated that current users of combined oral contraceptives had a relative risk of 9.6 (95% CI 3.1-29.1). From national distribution data, the absolute risk of death from pulmonary embolism in current users was estimated to be 10.5 per million woman-years.