AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Up to 27 Dutch women have died from side effects of Diane-35, a pill often used as a contraceptive, the television show Zembla said it had learned.
The toll is nine above the number of deaths the pill's maker reported earlier this year, the current affairs program said.
Zembla's report was to be aired Thursday night on Nederland 2, stating that most of the women died of a pulmonary lung embolism, DutchNews.nl reported.
Diane-35, which has been available in the Netherlands since 1987, is usually prescribed to treat acne and excessive facial hair but is widely used as a contraceptive, the report said.
Lareb laboratory, the Dutch producer of Diane-35, reported earlier this year that 18 women had died from side effects caused by the drug, but Zembla said the toll rose as more reports were investigated.
Zembla said most of the victims were under the age of 30.
