Schoolgirl 'died of pulmonary embolism after being prescribed contraceptive pill'
A schoolgirl died eight months after being prescribed a new contraceptive pill, a court has heard.
Charlotte Lockwood, 15, collapsed after suffering a pulmonary embolism at home in August 2014, an inquest heard.
Her mother Emma Cruickshank said in a statement read out at Norfolk Coroner's Court that Charlotte had been on Cerelle, a progestogen-only pill, prescribed for her period problems but this was ineffective.
Mrs Cruickshank said she requested a face-to-face appointment at the Grove GP surgery to have her daughter's medication changed.
She was called that day by the on-call GP and they discussed changing Charlotte's prescription.
As a result she was put on Millinette, a combined oral contraceptive.
However, Mrs Cruickshank said he did not inform her that he was changing the type of pill and didn’t warn her about the possible risks.
One of the reported risks of the combined pill, such as Millenette, is that it can increase a woman’s risk of developing a blood clot.
The family had history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the court heard.
Dr Riddell told the hearing he did discuss potential risks.
He told the inquest on Friday: "There is no reason I would not have mentioned it (change of drug) it was an important decision to go onto the new medication and I would have had done the best I could to inform her (Mrs Cruickshank) about it."
He added that he had told Charlotte’s mother to bring her in for a check up one or two months after but she didn’t.
The court heard evidence from Dr Dennis Cox, an independent expert who found that Dr Riddell's prescription was acceptable under the circumstances.
Norfolk Coroner Jacqueline Lake recorded a conclusion of death by natural causes.
She added: ‘No definitive cause for Charlotte’s catastrophic pulmonary embolism was found, her weight and going on the contraceptive pill and her family history increased the likelihood of clots but it could not be certain this is a direct cause.’
The medical cause of death was listed as severe hypoxic ischemic brain injury caused by a cardiac arrest.