A GP said he would be "more anxious" prescribing the contraceptive pill to the overweight after a Cinderford woman suddenly died from a blood clot on the lung, an inquest heard.
Elizabeth Waite, 36, had been taking the Yasmin pill for five years but collapsed and died at home in Trinity Way, in June 2013 from the undiagnosed clot caused by a Deep Vein Thrombosis.
The inquest heard that national medical advice to GPs on prescribing the Yasmin pill differs but one authority recommends it is not given to women over 35, especially if they are overweight. Mrs Waite was at the low end of the obesity scale just over 30.
But Gloucestershire coroner Katy Skerrett said she was satisfied that Mrs Waite had received the correct care from the GP practice as far as contraception was concerned.
A month before her death she had been examined in hospital after complaining of chest pain, breathlessness and a cough and was diagnosed with pneumonia.
She was prescribed antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory and painkillers and by May 9 she told her GP at the Drybrook Surgery she was feeling better.
That was the last time she was seen by a doctor before she collapsed at home on June 1st and could not be revived.
At the end of a three-hour inquest Gloucestershire coroner Katie Skerrett ruled that the hospital diagnoses of pneumonia was probably correct.
"It is more probable than not that she presented with a mild pneumonia at that stage and so I do not find that there was a missed diagnosis or a missed opportunity," she said.
"The only appropriate conclusion, therefore, is natural causes. It was a very tragic and sad death."
The coroner had been told that UKMEC, the UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, says it is acceptable for women up to 40 years old to use the Yasmin pill. But the BNF, the British National Formulary, recommends 35 as the upper age limit.
Dr Christopher Good, of Drybrook Surgery, said: "In the practice, after her death, we had a significant event analysis. We looked at what had happened and we looked at the guidelines.
"We are now slightly more anxious about ladies who are overweight. If she were to come to us today we would talk to her more severely about stopping the Combined Pill.
"My nurses still follow the UKMEC guidelines but we are now aware of the disparity.
"The UKMEC guidelines are quite clear – but the BNF guidelines are also clear, and they are different. They give a different view of the safety or risk."
The coroner asked him "Could anything have been done differently for her care?"
Dr Good replied: "In retrospect, if she came to us now we would probably be saying 'stop the pill at 35 and go onto the mini pill'. That is what we have learned from her death."
Pathologist Dr Linmarie Ludeman gave Mrs Waite's cause of death as a pulmonary thrombosis embolism due to deep vein thrombosis.
At her funeral her family asked mourners to wear bright colours.
