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Drug Interactions : Dangerous Blood Clot Case Resulting From Grapefruit And Oral Contraceptive Pills

A 42-year old woman who had difficulty in breathing, feeling dizzy and has a swollen purple colored left leg was rushed into the emergency department in Olympia. After undergoing ultrasound, doctors diagnosed a deep-vien thrombosis blood clot in her leg. Because of this, doctors worried that the women might develop irreversible gangrene, which may result into an amputation. Luckily, they reacted fast enough to place clog-busting drugs directly into the blockage so that the blood clot could be dissolved; they then inserted a stent in the vein in-order to widen it. Because of the fast action, the woman’s leg was back to normal by the end of the day.

Three days before the incident, the woman who took an oral contraceptive and rarely eat grapefruit started a weight loss diet aggressively which includes eating a 225-gram grapefruits every morning. Doctor Lucida Grande, medical resident at Providence St. Peter Hospital think that the grapefruit was the one that tipped the balance.

Doctor Grande advised the women not to take oral contraceptive pill anymore. This is because estrogen content of the pill may cause an increased risk of blood clots. Grande also did further research with the case and found out many references on how a grapefruit can interact with medications, like statins that lowered cholesterol, antihistamines and drugs that are used to treat irregular heart conditions.

Doctor Grande told the press that the woman’s case is an isolated one and people should not be discouraged from eating grapefruit. She also claims that grapefruits are not dangerous.

20 years ago, Doctor David Bailey, a Canadian pharmacologist has reported about how grapefruit can interact with drugs. He agreed that a combination of factors including genetic, contraceptive pills and grapefruit diet may have tipped that balance in the woman’s case, but he assured that the fruit normally does not have much effect on estrogen.

The Florida Department of Citrus, after reviewing the case said that there is no valid evidence that grapefruit affect oral contraceptive. Thus, they are still safe to eat.