Doctor says teen died after taking hormonal pills to delay period

In a recent podcast, a doctor shared the heartbreaking story of a teenage girl who died from a massive blood clot after she took hormonal pills to delay her period for a religious ritual.

Key Takeaways:

• During an episode of Rebooting The Brain Podcast, Dr. Vivekanand shared the story of an 18-year-old who presented at the hospital with a large blood clot.

• The clot had been caused by hormonal pills, which she had been taking for three days for a religious ritual called a puja.

• Dr. Vivekanand told her parents that she had to be admitted, but they said they would wait to talk to him in the morning.

• The girl was brought to the hospital at two o'clock in the morning, not breathing. She did not survive.

• Hormonal pills such as birth control increase a woman's risk of developing blood clots.

The Details:

In the August 14 episode of Rebooting The Brain Podcast, Dr. Vivekanand, a vascular surgeon, spoke with Dr. Sharan Srinivasan, a neurosurgeon, about deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is a condition in which a blood clot forms in one of the deep veins of the body, typically in the legs.

The risk of developing DVT increases with certain medical conditions, an injury to the vein, slow blood flow due to extended inactivity, and the use of cigarettes and hormonal contraceptives.

Dr. Vivekanand recalled a tragic case in which an 18-year-old girl was brought to the hospital by her friends, complaining of severe leg pain and swelling. He asked her when the symptoms started. She said she had been taking hormonal pills for three days for a puja, a Hindu worship ritual performed to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honour a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event.

She said, "I had to take some hormonal pills to stop my periods because there was a puja." And this is one of the conditions that causes a deep vein thrombosis, one of the risk factors, happens once in a while. And we got a scan done. The clot was almost to the level of the umbilicus [the navel], that is, the common iliac vein [large veins in the pelvis]. [She was taking the pills for] three days.

The doctor spoke with the teen's father and told him that she had to be admitted to the hospital for care. The father said that the mother did not want her admitted, and that they would come to the hospital in the morning to meet with him. However, at about two in the morning, he received a call that she had been brought into the hospital, not breathing. She did not survive.

"I felt so miserable," said Dr. Vivekanand. He felt he should have insisted on the girl being admitted to the hospital.

Reality Check:

A Swedish study published on February 12, 2025 in the British Medical Journal found that current hormonal contraceptive use doubles — and even triples— the risk of heart attack and stroke. Another study found, "Users of HC [hormonal contraception] have a significant increased risk of VT [Venous Thromboembolism] compared to nonusers. Current risks would project at least 300–400 healthy young women dying yearly in the United States due to HC. Women should be informed of these risks and offered education in fertility-awareness-based methods with comparable efficacy for family planning."

Genetic factors can further increase the risk.