The Dangers of Yaz and Yasmin Prescription Drugs

Rick Shapiro

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Yaz and Yasmin, the two most popular birth control pills in the United States, are not perfect prescription drugs. In fact, the side effects they inflict on young women can be horrendous, even life threatening. It seems that the numerous warnings and side efffect list is getting longer and longer.

The controversy began when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered Bayer to correct their misleading advertisements which touted Yaz and Yasmin as not only a great birth control pill, but also capable of fighting acne and premenstrual syndrome. However, women who take Yaz and Yasmin are at a higher risk for gallstones, gall bladder removal surgery, stroke, blood clots, symptoms of depression, a breast lump, sudden numbness, confusion, problems with vision, speech, or balance, chest pain, pain spreading to the arm or shoulder, nausea, and sweating. Following gall bladder surgery women may face gallbladder removal side effects. As far as blood clots, pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and even pancreatitis have been reportedly linked to Yaz.

Here is the original misleading Yaz advertisement…

Here’s the corrective Yaz ad….

Bayer was required to run corrective ads in 27 states informing the public that Yaz did absolutely nothing to help with acne or PMDD. The company spent over $20 million on the ad campaign; a mere drop in the bucket considering the drugs market share.

Yaz and Yasmin are the two biggest selling birth control pills in the world and generated close to $2 billion in sales for Bayer.

The issue took a tragic turn when Swiss health regulators stated Yaz is potentially connected to the death of a young woman who suffered a pulmonary embolism.

As an injury lawyer who’s represented people seriously hurt by dangerous drugs, I’m extremely concerned about the side effects Yaz and Yasmin could inflict upon young women. Here’s an excerpt from a young woman’s post on steadyhealth.com about terrible Yaz side effects:

“I was experiencing numbness of the entire body (primarily on my left side), my hands were cramping up and I felt like I was blacking out. I was brought to [a hospital], they quickly ruled out a stroke since I was so young, but focused on MS and Lupus (those tests came back negative). After 3 days they sent me home with no answers. So after 3 weeks of being in and out of the hospital and doctors offices (with minimal feeling and total weakness of my left side), I was sent up to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. After sitting with the neurologist telling him what was going on and him reading my reports he found the answer- I HAD A STROKE! This is the scary part- my stroke was caused by my birth control. He continued to tell me that in the last 6 months he has seen more and more young women (20's and early 30's) that are having strokes and all have one thing in common- YAZ BIRTH CONTROL, which is the brand I am on.”

The FDA needs to consider taking Yaz and Yasmin off the market along with conducting a thorough investigation of Bayer’s marketing practices. The evidence is mounting against these dangerous drugs and women are having their lives changed forever as a result.

Here is a related prior post about Yaz and Yasmin by my injury attorney colleague.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and we have experience handling dangerous drugs and prescription drug errors. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and we have another office in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now to discuss your case, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

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