WITHIN a month of being prescribed a contraceptive pill, Yvonne Berry's lively 16-year-old daughter Nancy had died as a result of a blood clot in her lung.

Now, Mrs Berry, from Bexley, has joined more than 100 women who claim their lives were ruined by taking similar pills in a ground-breaking case at the High Court.

They are suing three drug companies who manufacture the so called "third generation" contraceptives, claiming the pills caused deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolisms and cerebral vein thrombosis.

They are claiming £10m in compensation.

The case is one of the first brought under the Consumer Protections Act, which says companies which make "defective" products can be held liable for any problems which occur.

There are seven lead cases involving women who claim their lives were badly affected by taking one of the several brands of pills manufactured by Schering Health Care, Organon Laboratories and John Wyeth and Brother.

Opening the case for the women, Lord Brennan QC said following a number of studies carried out in 1995, it is known there is an increased risk of thrombosis associated with third generation pills.

He told Mr Justice Mackay: "Despite the complexity of the scientific debate, the nature of the claimants' case remains simple: the product they received was defective and that defect caused them injury."

He said the results from four different sets of data showed an increased relative risk from using third generation pills and the pharmaceutical companies failed to give any warnings.

Lord Brennan also claimed there were no significant new benefits from the third generation of pills, despite claims from the manufacturers.

He said part of the companies' defence would involve each woman proving, had she received a warning, she would have stopped taking the pill.

But Lord Brennan said the type of pill was usually chosen by the woman's GP and if the GPs had been warned about the pill they would have prescribed a second generation pill. The case is expected to last five months.