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MDICcALJOURNAL acetate appears to be the only available oral contraceptive which does not produce rises in blood clotting factors and increased platelet aggregation.'2 Abnormal levels of clotting factors and platelet aggregation arising from the taking of combined preparations do in fact return to normal when chlormadinone acetate is substituted. The harmful element in all the other oral contraceptives appears to be oestrogen, and we found no difference in clotting response between the high and low dose oestrogen combinations. Inman and Vessey4 showed a mortality of 3-4 women in the 35 to 44 year and 1-3 per 100,000 in the 20 to 34 year age groups resulted from conventional oestrogenprogestogen contraception. To this must be added the much greater numbers of non-fatal thromboembolisms.Though chlormadinone acetate in some respects may not be ideal, it does appear to represent a considerable advance. The correct procedure, surely, for the manufacturers should have been to report the experimental findings to the Committee on Safety of Drugs. Doctors could then have been made aware of a possible hazard and the ultimate decision on the advisability of withdrawal could then have been left in the hands of Professor Scowen's committee.By wishing to be seen to do "the right thing" the manufacturers may, from the clinical standpoint, be making a tragic mistake, as it must of necessity be a considerable time before other progestogen preparations are developed for clinical use.-I am, etc., L. POLLER.

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