“My first symptoms were that my back was hurting,” Gina told WISH-TV. Her doctor diagnosed her with pneumonia. After treatment, she started running again, but she just couldn’t seem to get her stride back. “I was fatigued and short of breath,” she said. “I just didn’t feel like myself.”

Not long after that, Gina’s back pain came back and this time was so severe she was hospitalized. That’s when doctors discovered that Gina’s pain was caused by multiple pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in her lungs.

How could such a young, healthy woman become so seriously ill? Doctors told Gina that her blood clots were likely caused by her birth control pills. Yaz, Gina soon discovered, had caused numerous women of all ages to suffer serious side effects from pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, to heart attack and stroke. Some women also reported gallbladder problems.

More than 2,000 women who became ill while taking Yaz and Bayer’s sister contraceptive, Yasmin, have filed suit against the drug maker claiming they were not adequately warned that taking Yaz or Yasmin could cause them serious illness and even sudden death.

Gina has filed a lawsuit against Bayer and is telling her story to warn other women of the dangers of Yaz and Yasmin. “I will be completely fine,” she said. “But for a lot of women, they weren’t so lucky.”

SOURCE: Yaz Lawsuit › CFO blames Yaz for her life-threatening blood clots

But a group of 50 women in Indianapolis say Bayer is wrong. They are the latest victims to file lawsuits against the drug company, alleging the new formulation of birth control pills caused heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and other health problems.

Yaz and Yasmin, also known by the generic brand Ocella, is as the company’s ads claim – different than other birth control pills. Bayer’s top-selling contraceptive drugs contain ethinyl estradiol plus drospirenone. Drospirenone is a diuretic, which the lawsuits argue can lead to dangerously high levels of potassium, which can lead to hyperkalema. Hyperkalema is a condition that can cause heart rhythm disturbances, which can trigger blood clots and sudden cardiac death or pulmonary embolism or strokes.

The lawsuits allege that Yaz and Yasmin are more aggressive than other oral contraceptives and have left plaintiffs with blood clots and pulmonary embolisms in their legs and lungs. Many had to have their gallbladders removed. Others suffered strokes.

Yet, Bayer, which reaped more than $600 million in sales in 2008, says it is not at fault. “The complaints we have reviewed so far pertain to side effects that are warned about in the labeling of all oral contraceptives, including ours,” according to a statement from Bayer spokeswoman Rose Talarie.

Sources:
UPI
Fox59
Indy Star

SOURCE: Yaz Lawsuit › Bayer claims no fault in Yaz, Yasmin injuries, deaths

Even the commercials for Yaz point out that it is a different type of birth control pill, specially designed to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of PMS, as well as moderate acne. Yaz is the only birth control pill to contain drospirenone, a diuretic that can increase potassium levels in the blood and lead to serious health problems such as heart attack, cardiac arrhythmias, stroke, pulmonary embolism, blood clots, kidney failure, seizures, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder disease, hepaic adenomas and sudden death.

Nearly 30 percent of women who take oral contraceptives take Yaz or Yasmin. Bayer claims that the oral contraceptives are safe, but that women with a family history of blood clots shouldn’t take them. The company also claims that the drugs’ labels warn consumers of the possible risks.

But the women who suffered from serious adverse events after using Yaz say the warnings were not adequate enough. An attorney representing some of the women injured by Yaz says he expects the lawsuits to become part of a class-action lawsuit that could take years to litigate.

SOURCE: Yaz Lawsuit › Indiana women sue makers of Yaz after suffering serious side effects