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

It didn’t make sense to Joan Cummins of Hackettstown, N.J., that her daughter Michelle Pfleger would drop dead. The college freshman died suddenly last fall, which was later determined by medical examiners to have been caused by a pulmonary thromboemboli, or blood clots in her lungs.

Cummins believes it was her daughter’s birth control pills, which she also took for the treatment of acne, that caused her death. She has filed suit against the Bayer Corp., makers of the birth control Yaz, and several of its divisions. The lawsuit was filed as part of a national class-action lawsuit against the makers of Yaz.

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Tennis star Serena Williams has been sidelined because of pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in the arteries of the lungs. Often, pulmonary embolisms are caused by blood clots that originate in the legs and then travel up to the lungs. This type of blood clots are known as deep vein thrombosis, or DVTs.

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A new study suggests that women on progestin-only birth control pills, or so-called mini-pills, are at no greater risk for developing heart disease than women not taking oral contraceptives. The finding contradicts earlier studies that suggest women on birth control pills are at greater risk for heart attacks. While the data is promising, it does not take into consideration more traditional oral contraceptives, which contain a combination of estrogen and progestin.

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Six months ago, Lucy* was released from the hospital. Just months after starting Yaz birth control pills, the young woman was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism (PE), gallstones, and an unknown growth on her adrenal gland. “The doctors told me Yaz was the reason for the PE and that I was very lucky,” she wrote to a community board on Yaz on Medications.com. “I work in a hospital and had no knowledge of these problems until I entered the ER by ambulance on Saturday.”

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Two more women have filed lawsuits against the makers of Yaz birth control, alleging they were seriously injured after taking the oral contraceptives. They claim had they known the dangers associated with Yaz, they would have never risked their life by taking that type of birth control pill. Amie Nardone and Lauren Powell, both of New Jersey, say Yaz caused them to suffer gallstones and a blood clot, respectively.

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Carole Ann Grohan says she never knew taking Yaz birth control pills could put her life at risk. Instead, the New Jersey woman bought into the flashy commercials about how the oral contraceptive helped clear complexions and protected women from the nasty side effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Carole Ann wasn’t the only woman swayed by the playful advertisements – Yaz soon became the best selling birth control pill in the nation. However, Carole Ann found out the hard way that women like her were being fooled by Bayer Healthcare, the makers of Yaz. She suffered a blood clot in her lungs, known as a pulmonary embolism.

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Ethinyl estradiol and drospirenone are the two hormones used in some of the most popular birth control pills used today, but some critics say the hormones make for a deadly combination. While effective at preventing pregnancy, the hormones can trigger blood clots and cause gallbladder damage.

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A Canadian doctor’s group worries that the large number of lawsuits filed against Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills because of deadly side effects may cause young women to panic and not use contraceptives, resulting in unwanted pregnancies.

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When Yaz and Yasmin hit the market, they were touted to be different than other birth control pills because they could curb the annoying symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and even clear up unsightly acne. The marketing campaign worked quite well for Bayer HealthCare. The pills became the No. 1 selling oral contraceptives in the United States, with many of its users being young women and teenagers who asked their doctors for the pills by name.

But the honeymoon would soon end for Bayer, as reports of potentially fatal side effects from Yaz and Yasmin began to surface. Bayer was also slapped by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with fines and ordered to spend millions on new ads to clarify its benefits (for example, the pills are approved for the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, PMDD, and not PMS) and clearly state the risk for side effects such as blood clots.

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“Should I still be on Yasmin?” asks Beth on a Drugs.com forum. The woman has been taking the popular birth control pills for two years and suddenly developed migraines with blurry vision. Soon after, she had knee surgery and developed a very large blood clot in her leg, called a deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. Doctors put her on the blood thinner coumadin and told her to continue taking Yasmin, but Beth is worried. “I’m swelled up like a balloon,” she writes. “Should I really still be on Yasmin?”

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