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

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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Rebecca Anderson-Hull of Texas blames her birth control pills for damaging her brain and forcing her to need assistance walking, eating and even being understood. It happened two years ago when the 46-year-old mother of three suddenly and unexpectedly suffered a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in her lungs. She was rushed to the hospital but the lack of oxygen had caused massive brain damage. She will never be able to care for herself again, doctors said.

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A Louisiana woman is suing Bayer Corporation claiming the company’s top-selling birth control pill Yaz caused her to develop life-threatening blood clots in her lungs. Heather Gillespie claims that the makers of the oral contraceptive, also known as Yasmin and the generic ocella, failed to warn her of the risks associated with taking the pills. She is seeking damages.

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A Virginia woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Yaz birth control pill, claiming the oral contraceptive damaged her gallbladder and drove her to attempt suicide. Megan M. Stewart, 21, filed the 11-count complaint against Bayer Corporation last month, adding to the more than 1,000 lawsuits filed against the pharmaceutical company by women who allege they were not adequately warned of the risks involved with taking Yaz, also known as Yasmin and Ocella.

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Things are getting even uglier between two pharmaceutical companies whose oral contraceptives will soon go head-to-head in America. First, Bayer announced it was suing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for prematurely pushing Gianvi, its generic version of Bayer’s blockbuster birth control pill Yaz, also known as Yasmin.

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Bayer’s multimillion dollar birth control pill, Yaz, will go head-to-head with generic competition with the introduction of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ Gianvi. Teva was awarded a 180-day marketing exclusivity period for Gianvi by the Food and Drug Administration after being the first company to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA). Bayer isn’t taking the news lightly. The company says it plans to sue Teva for prematurely launching the new “girl” on the block, which Bayer says they are not legally permitted to do until July 2011.

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Kathy Perea will not forget the pain she suffered when her gallbladder began to fail. “It was horrible,” the 27-year-old mother of five told KTNV-TV. “I was throwing up so much that the vessels in my eyes were bursting because I was straining myself so bad.”

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Holly Grigg-Spall, columnist for the UK’s The Independent, says the revolutionary birth control pill had nothing to do with turning her into a women’s health writer and activist. In fact, it gave her something to complain about.

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Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, has closed its formal investigation into contraceptives containing drospirenone, following the death of one young woman and of another woman who is now severely disabled. The agency says that although the risk of thrombosis, or blood clots, is higher with this generation of contraceptives, the risk remains “within reasonable limits.” Swissmedic says the drug will remain on the market there but the drugs are required to have updated information on their label to reflect an increased risk of serious injury.

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Bayer Schering Pharma has announced it will update the label in the European market for its oral contraceptive Yasmin, a combination of ethinylestradiol and the diuretic drospirenone, also known by the brand name Yaz and the generic brand Ocella. The new label will include results of four epidemiological studies conducted by independent investigators that show the risk for venous thromboembolism, or blood clots, in Yasmin users is comparable to the risk found for women who use levonorgestrel-containing oral contraceptives.

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