Bayer’s new birth control pill contains the exact same blood clot-causing ingredient that Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella have. Drug Watch article brought to you by Yaz injury lawyers Greenberg and Bederman.
It’s no secret that every birth control pill has a small element of risk. One of the acting ingredients in almost every birth control pill on the market is a hormone called progestin, which works in combination with estrogen to both prevent the egg from dropping and to prevent sperm from moving into the uterus.
The use of progestin in birth control pills has been shown in some rare cases to increase the risk of blood clots among some women who use them. The numbers of these cases have been small enough over the years to make the use of progestin an acceptable risk. But the Bayer Corporation has not only put an oral contraceptive on the market that dramatically increases the odds of blood clots, but has also engaged in advertising that downplayed the serious side effects and risks involved.
The pills in question are sold under the names Yaz, Yasmin, and a generic version called Oscella. These birth control pills were marketed as pills that can not only prevent pregnancy, but can also prevent acne and symptoms of PMS. The FDA cited Bayer this year for running misleading television commercials and last month for not following proper quality-control procedures at a plant that makes hormone ingredients. But the significant problem with Yaz, Yasmin and Oscella is that the key ingredient is a synthetic variation of progestin called drospirenone, which has been shown to increase the level of potassium in the blood and therefore increases the risks of blood clots.
Yaz and Yasmin have received a litany of complaints about the serious and dangerous side effects from users and sanctions and penalties from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Between 2004 and 2008, the FDA has received fifty separate reports of deaths, injuries, which include stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, DVT, among women who were using either Yaz or Yasmin. The FDA has forced Bayer to change its advertising for these birth control pills because they failed to adequately mention the higher risks of blood clots and other very real medical dangers as side effects from taking these birth control pills. These reports of deaths and injuries have caused the FDA to start a study comparing the side effects and risks of blood clots and strokes between Bayer’s line of contraceptives and other birth control pills that are on the market, mainly because they believe Bayer’s initial study of yaz, yasmin, and oscella to be faulty.
It isn’t only in America where these birth control pills are having a dangerous side effects on the lives of the women who use yaz. The medical regulatory board in Switzerland is currently investigating Yaz and Yasmin due to the death of a young woman who died of a pulmonary embolism. She had been taking Yaz for ten months.
Since yaz, yasmin, and oscella birth control pills have been put on the market, more and more women who use these pills have come forward to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with stories of severe injuries and deaths from the side effects due to strokes, pulmonary embolisms and heart attacks. The frequency of these reports has increased to the point where they can’t be ignored or written off as simple birth control side effects.”and we believe the fact that Bayer advertised these birth control products so heavily without properly warning potential users of these very real dangerous birth control pill side effects was reckless and irresponsible.
If you or a loved one has been injured by yaz, yasmin, or oscella, please contact Greenberg & Bederman for a free yaz legal consultation at 1-800-800-1144, or fill out a free legal consultation form online.