Concerns raised by French watchdogs Paris - Arabstoday The use of contraceptive pills causes around 2,500 blood clots and 20 deaths every year in France, according to the country's health watchdog. The National Agency for the Safety of Drugs and Health Products (ANSM) undertook a study that found the pill was linked to thrombosis - blood clots that lodge in the heart and cause strokes and heart attacks. A total of 14 of 20 deaths were caused by third and fourth generation pills, while the remaining six were blamed on first and second generation pills, reports the Daily Telegraph. The third and fourth generation pills are currently under scrutiny because of the case of 25-year-old Marion Larat, who has filed a lawsuit claiming that a later generation pill left her seriously handicapped following a stroke. “The risk of venous thromboembolism applies to the population as a whole, but the risk is low,” ANSM said. “It increases with age for all women, regardless of whether they use oral contraceptives or not.” “It is higher for users of third and fourth generation contraceptives than for users of first and second generation contraceptives.” The ANSM study was based on a statistical model. In France the use of contraceptive pills is among the highest in the world. In 2011, nearly 4.27million women were on the pill. However, after the health ministry decided to more strictly regulate the prescriptions of these pills, the sales of the third and fourth generation of pills fell sharply. The third generation pill was introduced in the 1990s and the fourth generation pill was approved within the last ten years.