Yaz On Trial : Yaz Birth Control Lawsuit : Info on Yasmin & Ocella Side Effects

Potassium – most of us probably know that we can get potassium from eating certain foods like bananas and oranges, but for those of us whose last biology class was more than a few years back, we may forget what potassium actually does in the body. Potassium is mineral that helps the kidneys function normally and it is also an electrolyte. An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity in the body, along with sodium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium. Potassium is crucial for your heart to function properly, and maintaining a healthy level of potassium is important to your health.

So how does this relate to Yaz? The Yaz birth control pill, along with Yasmin and Ocella, contains the synthetic progestin known as drospirenone, which can increase potassium levels in the blood. The problem is that increased potassium levels can lead to a potentially dangerous condition known as hyperkalemia. Possible complications from hyperkalemia include:

• Arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms)
• Cardiac arrest
• Changes in nerve and muscle (neuromuscular) control

Women with conditions such as kidney, liver or adrenal disease should not take Yaz because it can cause serious heart or health problems, including hyperkalemia. Other medications can also increase potassium levels in the blood, which could be very dangerous if taken in conjunction with Yaz.

As the FDA said in its 2003 Warning Letter to Bayer (the manufacturers of Yasmin), “Women taking Yasmin must be concerned about drug interactions that will increase potassium, in addition to the drug interactions common to all COCs [oral contraceptives]. Therefore, these women and their healthcare providers must weigh Yasmin's additional health risks when considering Yasmin over COCs [oral contraceptives] without drospirenone.”

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All of the hormones that go into Yaz and Yasmin are manufactured in a laboratory. In that respect, the drugs are no different than any other birth control pill. What makes Yaz and Yasmin so unique is that they contain the hormone drospirenone, or "DRSP."  DRSP, which has never before been used in a birth control pill, is "synthetic." A synthetic hormone is one formulated to be molecularly similar to a hormone found in the human body, but not "bio-identical" to it. 

DRSP was designed to be molecularly similar to the naturally occuring human hormone progesterone. DRSP is no more effective at its job than either progesterone or one of the man-made hormones in other birth control pills that are bio-identical to progesterone. However, DRSP is more dangerous and more frequently causes serious side effects, including clotting.

                         Progesterone                                                 Drospirenone (DRSP)

 

Why would Bayer use a synthetic hormone if it is more dangerous, but no more effective, than an easily manufactured bio-identical hormone? The short answer is money. A drug company can't patent a bio-identical hormone, since is an exact copy of what nature produces. Only a synthetic hormone can be patented. And only with a patent can a drug company protect the market share its advertising campaign wins over.

No synthetic hormone means no patent. No patent means no huge profits.
 

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Birth control pills, or oral contraceptives, have been around for decades.  But what you may not know is why Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella are different than other birth control pills.

Like many other oral contraceptives, Yaz and Yasmin are called “combination” birth control pills because they contain two types of hormones: estrogen and progestin. Yaz and Yasmin (also known by the generic name Ocella) contain a relatively new type of progestin hormone known as drospirenone, or “drsp” and a type of estrogen called ethinyl estradiol.

The problem is that medical studies have shown that birth controls containing drsp may cause more serious health risks than other birth control pills. In fact, the British Medical Journal recently featured a Dutch medical study and a Danish medical study, both of which concluded that birth control pills containing drsp have a higher risk of causing thrombosis (a fancy medical term for blot clots).  Blood clots can be life-threatening; if a clot travels to the lungs it can cause a pulmonary embolism, while a clot that travels to the brain can lead to a stroke.

Yaz and Yasmin are two of the top-selling birth control pills in the United States, and because they contain drsp, they may put women at greater risk for developing serious health complications. In fact, the FDA has warned that women with high levels of potassium levels shouldn’t take Yaz or Yasmin because drsp may also cause an increase in potassium, which can be life-threatening.

Women should check with their doctors for more information about potential Yasmin, Ocella and Yaz side effects.
 

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