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

Washington, D.C., lawmakers are considering a bill that will make birth control pills, patches, and vaginal rings available to consumers without prescriptions. Councilman David Cantania introduced the bill, which has the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scratching its head on how the process will work if the bill is passed into law. No such forms of contraception are legally available over-the-counter in the United States. Pilot programs to test the sale of nonprescription birth control in Seattle and Portland, Ore., have been discontinued.

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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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About nine women out of 10,000 who take birth control pills experience a blood clot, compared to about half that number among women who do not take oral contraceptives. Blood clots are a serious medical issue and can lead to stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism and even death. While this risk is considered similar among all low-dose birth control pills, thousands of women have filed lawsuits against the makers of Yaz claiming they were not adequately warned that using Yaz could cause them serious injury and even death. They also allege that Yaz puts women at even greater risk of blood clots than other pills, and even puts them at jeopardy of 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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WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY – Eighteen-year-old college freshman Michelle A. Pfleger was walking to class last fall when she collapsed without warning. Hours later, she was pronounced dead. An autopsy concluded she had died suddenly and unexpectedly from a pulmonary thromboemboli, or a blood clot in her lung.

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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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