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

I recently stumbled across a story about Yaz describing another one of its clever advertising campaigns. Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Yaz, hired Lo Bosworth, a young actress on the popular MTV reality show "the Hills" to be the new spokesperson for Yaz in Canada. The story explains that last year the Hills star spent time in "Toronto and then Vancouver doing media interviews, where she focused on the fact that Yaz can lead to fewer symptoms like headaches and cramps during that time of the month."

This isn't the first time Bayer has attempted to promote Yaz as a treatment for "time of the month" symptoms, but it is something that Yaz has come under fire for in the United States previously. In October 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a Warning Letter to Bayer stating that a number of Yaz commercials “encourage[d] use of YAZ in circumstances other than those in which the drug has been approved, over-promise[d] the benefits and minimize[d] the risks associated with YAZ.” The FDA, in its 2008 Yaz warning letter, found that the Yaz commercials made it seem as though the drug could treat PMS symptoms like cramps and headaches, when Yaz was only approved to treat the more severe symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). The FDA also took issue with the fact that Yaz was being advertised as a way to "keep skin clear," suggesting that Yaz could be used to treat all forms of acne, when the FDA had only approved its use to treat moderate acne specifically. As a result of the FDA's findings, Bayer had to run a $20 million advertising campaign to clarify the real uses and possible side effects of Yaz.

Not long after receiving the FDA Warning Letter, Bayer hired Lo Bosworth as a Yaz spokesperson for its marketing campaign in Canada, where the FDA has no jurisdiction. The video below, based off of Bayer’s Canadian press release about Yaz, touts a whole laundry list of "benefits" that Yaz purportedly offers. You have to wonder whether these statements would pass muster with FDA, or whether the FDA would find them to be misleading just as it did with some of the US commercials.

As the Yaz spokesperson, Bosworth stated that “I have to be in control of my life at all times – especially my health. I need to make sure I’m taking care of myself..." For most women, staying in control of their lives and health involves knowing the real risks and uses of a birth control pill before they decide to take it.

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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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Many of our clients have suffered blood clot injuries after taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella. One of the most serious blood clot injuries is “deep vein thrombosis” – also known as “DVT” – which is when a blood clot forms in the veins, usually the legs. If not treated in time, a DVT can lead to other serious health problems such as a pulmonary embolism or a stroke. Part of the controversy surrounding Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella is that recent medical studies have found that the synthetic hormone contained in these birth control pills known as drospirenone is associated with a significantly higher risk of patients developing DVT and other related health problems.

Recently Baltimore’s local NBC news station ran a story about how hospitals and doctors are treating people who have been diagnosed with a DVT or related injuries:

NBC Baltimore (WBAL): Treating Deep Vein Thrombosis

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