Letters to the Editor
Oral contraceptives
can kill
2003 was a year of “firsts” for our daughter: her first job,
first car and first boyfriend. Even her first bout with the chicken pox.
But the greatest of these “firsts” occurred during admissions
day when Erin learned she had been granted admission to Fresno State for
the 2004 fall semester.
This once-shy child, now a determined young woman, was on her way to obtaining
a degree in kinesiology, bringing her one step closer to her dream career
in the field of sports medicine.
Yet, as it turned out, Erin never returned to the Bulldog campus.
Instead, our family experienced another first when just two weeks following
her 17th birthday Erin became a victim of a pulmonary embolism triggered
by a silent killer known as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).
In researching my daughter’s death, I have learned that complications
from DVT (blood clots in the veins) contribute to more fatalities each
year than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
I learned Erin’s death was 100 percent preventable. The autopsy
revealed blood clots had entered into Erin’s lungs where they blocked
her oxygen supply, leading to heart failure.
The coroner attributed these clots to the blood-thickening side effect
of estrogens, which are found in oral contraceptives.
Five months prior to Erin’s death, she had begun using “the
pill” for treatment of mild acne.
Oral contraceptives are commonly used to manage girls’ menstrual
cycles and to correct an array of complaints, including acne, mood swings,
cramps, heavy flow and irregularity. The number of potential victims is,
therefore, alarming.
One manufacturer states that four in 10 American women between the ages
of 18 and 24 are currently taking the pill and eight of 10 women in the
United States will take the pill at some time in their life.
Manufacturers would have you believe that oral contraceptives are safe.
Doctors are also likely to say the risks are negligible.
My hope in sharing Erin’s story is that it would sound an alarm
for all women to reconsider their use of drugs containing estrogens.
The Internet has hundreds of studies and reports to refer to. Each one
that I have read links estrogens to blood clots.
Take the time to educate yourself so you can make an informed decision.
And as you make your decision, be objective and weigh the benefits against
the risks because the risks can be fatal.
Laurie Scott
mother of the late kinesiology major
Erin Scott
Newspaper on campus is against greeks
Your main headline in the Halloween edition of The Collegian (Oct. 31),
“Frat brawl puts 2 in hospital” screams bias towards the Greek
system.
Most people seeing that headline would assume the worst, namely that a
bunch of “frat boys” had way too much too drink and got into
a nasty brawl over some minor issue.
Actually, according to the text of your article as well as that in The
Fresno Bee, the situation was quite different. The men of Delta Upsilon
were only trying to protect their place of residence from interlopers,
one of whom had a gun.
In America, it is legal to defend yourself and your property and we should
be proud of the DU guys for standing up for themselves. It is terrible
that people were hurt and that a gun was fired, but we should make sure
to blame those who deserve it and not inadvertently or by design blame
the easy target by allowing a yellow journalistic headline to pass editorial
review.
Are fraternities and sororities perfect? Of course not, but they do provide
a lot of good, which is often overlooked by others.
If you, the editorial staff of The Collegian, have negative things to
say about the Greek system, then by all means put together an editorial
stating your reasons.
Just make sure it is clearly an opinion piece, and not an opinion disguised
as the objective headline to a news story.
Jim Prince
Biology professor
Faculty adviser, Pi Kappa Alpha
Comment
on this story in the Opinion forum >>
|
