Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reminding drug companies that they are required to disclose side effects or risks about their medications in advertising, even banner ads and Facebook “share” buttons. The agency recently required Novartis Pharmaceuticals to take down a Facebook Share button used to promote a cancer-fighting drug, saying it was “incomplete and misleading” and violated advertising disclosure requirements. Novartis removed the widget but says it will continue to discuss the parameters of web advertising and social media marketing with the FDA in order to fully understand the agency’s concerns.

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Choosing a method of birth control is an important decision for most women. There are several factors to consider from cost and convenience to side effects and safety. With so many different birth control pills and contraceptive devices available today, women are encouraged to research their options to find the best fit for their lifestyle.

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It wasn’t enough that Bayer Healthcare overwhelmed the oral contraceptive market with its No. 1 selling, $800 million-earning Yaz birth control pill. The powerful drug company is at it again, this time introducing a new oral contraceptive, Natazia.

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Rose Kirby, 22, was vacuuming out her car when she felt a strange discomfort in her arm. Within an hour it turned into “a pink balloon,” she said. She passed it off as a bug bite or some sort of allergic reaction, but her parents were skeptical. “I was really lucky that my parents made me go to the doctor that day,” she said.

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Obese women have just the same protection against getting pregnant while taking birth control pills as normal-weight women, according to a study published in a recent edition of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology’s green journal. This finding puts into question previous studies that have suggested that obese women required higher doses of oral contraceptives for the pills to be as effective as in normal-weight women.

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The number of lawsuits filed in federal district court against Bayer and its blockbuster birth control pill Yaz has doubled to 2,000, and that doesn’t include the hundreds more that have been filed in state courts, according to the Madison Record. The lawsuits allege that Bayer did not adequately warn women that by taking Yaz, as well as Bayer’s similar birth control pill Yasmin, they were at greater risk for serious side effects including blood clots, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, stroke, heart attack and even gallbladder problems.

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Sales of Yaz birth control pills fell 15 percent in the second quarter of 2010, which Bayer Corp. blames on increased competition from generics marketed in the United States by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Teva introduced its Yaz copycat, Gianvi, earlier this year only to be slapped with a patent lawsuit by Bayer. It’s not the first lawsuit Bayer has filed against Teva in hopes of protecting the multimillion dollar market share it has enjoyed with Yaz.

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Any kind of hormonal change can elicit a flare of acne, from going on or off birth control, having a baby, or entering perimenopause or menopause. There are a variety of topical and oral acne treatments, including some birth control pills. But before you turn to hormonal therapy to treat those annoying breakouts, you should consider the risks, says Dr. Diane Berson, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

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You could call it a public relations maneuver — Bayer Healthcare’s new website encouraging women to come to them with questions and advice about contraception instead of relying on biased bloggers or the Internet. The unbranded video features blindfolded women handling a rhino and trying to guess what it is. Awkward? Maybe. At the very least, BayerforWomen.com has captured the attention of Medical Marketing & Media. But, what makes Bayer a reliable source for women?

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The bad press surrounding Yaz birth control pills is beginning to catch up with the nation’s top selling oral contraceptive. It’s two-year-old television advertisement on YouTube featuring smiling women and floating balloons with the words “irritability’ and “moodiness” printed on them has more than 50,000 views, but the comments from viewers are less than flattering.

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