Packs of Yaz and other birth control pills containing the hormone drospirenone should be updated to include a warning that the pills may be more likely to cause life threatening blood clots than older oral contraceptives, according to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel. The expert board was charged by the FDA with reviewing new data on the safety of the pills and recommending what action the federal agency should take.
Women who recently gave birth and are older than 34 or who have had a C-section should not take oral contraceptives that contain estrogen, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Studies show the pills could increase the risk of older women developing blood clots if taken within six weeks after delivering a baby. Blood clots, if they travel to the brain or lungs, can cause strokes, respiratory problems, and even death. All new mothers, regardless of age, are also advised not to take estrogen-containing oral contraceptives in the first three weeks following delivery.
The benefits of using birth control pills outweigh the risks, according to a Style Bistro story, which supports the use of oral contraceptives for the treatment of acne. There are three birth control pills that are FDA-approved for such use – Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Estrostep, and Yaz. The latter of these is one of the nation’s most prescribed birth control pills. It is also under a new safety review by the FDA based on data that links use of the pills to serious and life threatening health risks.
The birth control pill for women has been around for more than 50 years, and during that time, no one has tackled a similar contraceptive for men, until now. Researchers have developed a contraceptive for men that can be taken orally, injected or applied topically. The medication releases small amounts of testosterone into the bloodstream to stop the production of sperm. Men will still be able to ejaculate but their ability to impregnate a woman would be compromised as long as they are on the medication.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer is facing thousands of lawsuits questioning the safety of its birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin. The pills, which contain a combination of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol, have been found in studies to put women at greater risk for life threatening blood clots than oral contraceptives with other types of hormones. Both Yaz and Yasmin have generic equivalents, which leaves some women questioning whether generic brands are safer than the brand name drugs.
The doctor who pronounced 24-year-old Tania Hayes dead told her mother Genevieve twice that what caused Tania’s fatal blood clot was Yasmin birth control pills. “Tania wasn’t sick,” her mother told ABC News/Australia.
Bayer has lost European patent protection for birth control pill Yasmin, opening the door for generic competition of its second-best selling drug product. Yasmin and its sister oral contraceptives fell from being Bayer’s top selling drug after it lost the United States patent protection.
The family of a 15-year-old North Carolina girl who was taking the birth control pill Yasmin to treat her acne and then died of a pulmonary embolism, are suing the drug’s maker Bayer, claiming the company did not adequately warn users of the potentially deadly health risks associated with its oral contraceptive.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada have announced they are reviewing studies on the health risks associated with the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, as well as their generic equivalents. An early review of studies comparing oral contraceptives with the hormone drospirenone, such as Yaz and Yasmin, with pills containing another type of progestin, show that drospirenone-containing pills increase women’s risk for blood clots. The studies were published in a recent issue of the British Medical Journal.
News of lawsuits filed by women (or the surviving relatives for those who are deceased) who suffered blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, gallbladder damage, and sudden death, after taking the popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, might leave some young women unfazed. After all, despite statistics, the younger generation often feels invincible. But some women are heeding the warnings that hormone contraceptive products have caused serious injury and death, and they are asking for safer, more natural alternatives for birth control.
