Birth control pills are safe and do not cause medical complications such as blood clots and infertility, according to doctors who attended a medical seminar here recently. Dr. Hisham Arab, secretary general of the Saudi Obstetrics and Gynecology Society (SOGS), said that studies conducted over the last six months by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) showed that there is no relationship between the pills and blood clots. He added that other family planning pills on the Saudi market are also safe. Dr. Abdul Hafiz Khoja, a family medicine consultant, said rumors about the safety of certain products were the result of a “dirty trade war” between rival pharmaceutical companies. Khoja said that SOGS had recently issued a medical bulletin to all obstetricians and gynecologists in the Kingdom confirming the integrity of such pills and outlining supporting scientific evidence. “All the latest experiments and research conducted by many research centers and scientific bodies around the world have revealed and confirmed that family planning pills are 99.99 percent safe. These medicines are also known to prevent women from contracting some diseases especially cancer.” Khoja said that research from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that these pills are safer than other forms of contraception such as intrauterine devices (IUD) and injections. The FDA also rejected rumors that using such pills for long periods may cause infertility. Dr. E'etedal Idrees, a faculty member at Dar Al-Hekma College, said the medical rumors are dangerous. “We should verify the news we receive from unknown sources especially from the Internet.” He said that he tested birth controls pills such as Jasmine and found it to be safe. “I also talked to the SFDA here and asked them if they ordered the withdrawal of such pills from the Saudi market. Their response was negative.” __
