More teenagers are using birth control pills than ever before, and by far the most popular brand they are choosing is Yaz, according to a new study by Thomson Reuters. But some worry that using Bayer Healthcare’s blockbuster oral contraceptive may be putting those young girls at greater risk for serious health problems.
Just one month after Susan Gallenos began taking the birth control pill Yaz, she nearly lost her life to a stroke. Half her skull was removed to ease the pressure on her swelling brain. She would never be the same again. Her doctors blamed her birth control pill.
When the Food and Drug Administration approved for marketing a version of Bayer’s Yaz birth control pill fortified with folic acid, known as Beyaz, the public took notice. Why pack a vitamin shown to reduce birth defects of the brain and spine in a pill that prevents pregnancies? The answer was that while the pill has a 99.9 percent effective rate, not all women take the pill perfectly.
But folic acid also offered other benefits, some experts claimed. Since folic acid lowers blood levels of the protein homocystine, which is linked to heart and blood vessel disease and other medical problems, some scientists suggested that the B vitamin could also lower the risk of heart disease, stroke or cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may have granted permission to drug companies to market generic versions of Bayer’s blockbuster birth control pills Yasmin and Yaz, but Bayer is not giving up its fight to prevent other companies from taking a bite out its profits. The German drug company said Wednesday it will continue trying to protects its patents on its pills despite a New York judge’s dismissal of Bayer’s latest patent infringement lawsuit late Tuesday against Watson Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new oral contraceptive from Bayer, makers of the blockbuster birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin. Called Beyaz, the new pill contains the same estrogen-progestin combination and the diuretic drospirenone as Yaz, plus another ingredient – .451 mg of levomefolate calcium.
When Mollie, a 31-year-old marathon runner, was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolism, doctors immediately said it was because she was taking Yaz birth control pills. “While I was in the hospital my doctor told me he had 12 other girls – all under 35, non-smokers, active (not overweight), all on Yaz – who were admitted within the same week for clots in their lungs,” Mollie wrote on an eHealth forum. “Twelve girls in one week! At one hospital! I am shocked and don’t understand how this drug can still be on the market.”
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.
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?
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.
District Judge David Herndon is ordering sales representatives who pushed the oral contraceptives Yasmin, Yaz, Ocella and Gianvi to produce all their files and communications for national litigation. The order covers “all written materials, video and/or audio tapes” and includes training materials, e-mails, voice mail transcripts, summaries of meetings, incentive and goal plans, and all communications between representatives and managers. Herndon also ordered Bayer Health Care Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Schering Pharma, Barr Laboratories, and Teva Pharmaceuticals to produce records from their facilities.
