Product News and Recalls

Costs keep women from using birth control devices

Devices such as IUDs are the most effective means of birth control, but few women use them because of the up-front costs, according to a story from the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday.

The story reports a wide range of costs for birth control among uninsured women, from $9 a month for generic pills to $90 a month for some newer brands. And getting a doctor to insert long-term devices such as IUDs can cost anywhere from $600 to $1,000.

According to the report, only about five percent of U.S. women use the devices. Dr. Jeffrey Peipert of Washington University in St. Louis, leader of a major study of nearly 10,000 women, is quoted as saying that many women turn them down because of a higher upfront cost that insurance hasn’t always covered even though years of pills eventually cost as much.

Peipert also said there’s little difference between relatively expensive brand-name birth control pills such as Yaz and their generic equivalents.

Several studies have shown that Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz, Ocella, and other drospirenone-containing birth control pills are more likely to cause blood clots, pulmonary embolism, and stroke than birth control drugs that don’t contain the compound.

If you developed a blood clot, stroke, or pulmonary embolism while taking Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz, or Ocella, contact Lopez McHugh for a free consultation.

See the story here: https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/09/national/w002740S49.DTL