A woman with no significant personal or family history of thrombosis asked her internist to obtain a thrombophilia work-up prior to starting the combined oral contraceptive for dysmenorrhoea, after another physician advised her to have the test. The case was sent to an international email discussion group where the consensus was that testing should not be done. The responses of the group and review of this controversial topic are presented.
Keywords: factor V Leiden; oral contraceptives; thrombophilia.