Woman claims Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella caused her stroke

February 3rd, 2010 by Jennifer Walker-Journey

From April 2009 until July 2009, Adrienne Cechura of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took Ocella, the generic band of the oral contraceptive known by the brand names Yaz or Yasmin. Yaz is the top-selling birth control pill in the United States, generating more than $600 million in sales. The pill offers a different formula than typical birth control pills. It contains drospirenone, a diuretic. The combination drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol is touted as a treatment for acne and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, a premenstrual condition marked by severe emotional and physical symptoms.

What Adrienne didn’t know was that while the combination birth control pill had benefits, it also increased users’ risk of serious side effects such as heart attack, cardiac arrhythmias, stroke, pulmonary embolism, blood clots, kidney failure, seizures, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder disease, hepaic adenomas and sudden death. Adrienne believes Ocella caused her to suffer from a stroke and other serious side effects. She claims it also left her at an increased risk of developing additional side effects such as blood clots in the deep veins and lungs.

On December 28, 2009, Adrienne and her husband Kenneth, filed a lawsuit against Bayer HealthCare, the manufacturer of Yaz, and other manufacturers and distributors, seeking $75,000 from each defendant, as well as punitive damages and compensation for medical care, pain, suffering, and mental anguish.

Adrienne’s lawsuit is one of hundreds from women who say they have suffered serious side effects from Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that between 2004 and 2008, more than 50 deaths have been attributed to the drugs.

  • 17 years old

    This solves many, many questions for me. December 23, 2009 my perfectly healthy 17 year old child had her gallbladder removed. She was a top athlete and slated to go to a division 1 college to play vball on full scholarship and began to have abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea and began to loose a rapid amount of weight. She lost 32 lbs by the time all was said and done.
    She took yaz from May 09 to August 09 and began to have abdominal pains for three months prior to removal. She spent 9 days in the hospital, underwent MANY painful tests, missed school, had to stop playing vball and lost every bit of muscle mass she had built up as a top vball player. After 9 day hospital stay they could find nothing wrong so I took her to a surgeon convinced it was her gallbladder. 2 days later she was in surgery. Surgeon said gallbladder had been inflammed and bad for a while ( approx 6 months and time period she was on Yaz) and when he took it out the ducts began to spill out “sludge” that he had to clean out. Pathology report found that gallbladder had chronic inflammation.
    While on yaz she kept having stomach pains, nausea, would vomit so we switched her to another. Before herr surgery and about 2 weeks before gallbladder was removed she began to urinate brown sludge that stopped the day her gallbladder was removed.
    During her hospital stay she saw numerous specialists and noone could come up with a reason behind why a healthy, thriving 17 year old was having such issues and when gallbladder was determined to be the problem the doctors were all stumped as to WHY a 17 year old had to have it removed and WHY it went bad.

  • Liz M.

    I highly doubt that the woman in the case in Iowa didn't realize the side effects of this drug. It irritates me when people pull this “I didn't know” routine. Anytime you are prescribed a medication, you are taking a risk, and every drug is required to provide you with inserts regarding side effects, and additional risks. It's also the patient's responsibility to ask the doctor and pharmacist questions BEFORE taking any medication. So, why should a drug manufacturer be 100% liable? Also, we don't know if this woman from Iowa has a history of serious medical issues that might have also been the culprit in her medical issues she alleges were caused by a birth control pill. We also don't know her physical condition before she began taking Yaz. I never knew my mother, and was raised biological father and his wife. I don't know my medical history from my mother's side. I also have struggled with my with my weight for years, have been on blood pressure medication, which is why I have chosen NOT to take any kind of birth control pills. I use alternative methods because I am intelligent enought to READ and RESEARCH information about a drug before I allow my doctor to prescribe it. If a person doesn't do those things to protect themself, and they have adverse side effects, that is THEIR fault for taking the medication. The drug manufacturer, doctor, pharmacist, etc is not holding a gun to anyone's head to take these medications. They should not be sued. Just my opinion.

  • Liz M.

    I highly doubt that the woman in the case in Iowa didn't realize the side effects of this drug. It irritates me when people pull this “I didn't know” routine. Anytime you are prescribed a medication, you are taking a risk, and every drug is required to provide you with inserts regarding side effects, and additional risks. It's also the patient's responsibility to ask the doctor and pharmacist questions BEFORE taking any medication. So, why should a drug manufacturer be 100% liable? Also, we don't know if this woman from Iowa has a history of serious medical issues that might have also been the culprit in her medical issues she alleges were caused by a birth control pill. We also don't know her physical condition before she began taking Yaz. I never knew my mother, and was raised biological father and his wife. I don't know my medical history from my mother's side. I also have struggled with my with my weight for years, have been on blood pressure medication, which is why I have chosen NOT to take any kind of birth control pills. I use alternative methods because I am intelligent enought to READ and RESEARCH information about a drug before I allow my doctor to prescribe it. If a person doesn't do those things to protect themself, and they have adverse side effects, that is THEIR fault for taking the medication. The drug manufacturer, doctor, pharmacist, etc is not holding a gun to anyone's head to take these medications. They should not be sued. Just my opinion.

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