Yaz Lawsuit Updates

A news report on KOMO, a Seattle TV station, profiles a dental hygienist who suffered a debilitating injury as a result of a blood clot that she attributes to her use of oral contraceptive Yasmin.

Laura Strothers described herself as a “healthy 30-year-old” with no symptoms associated with blood clots, other than her use of the popular birth control pill. After suffering the blood clot, she has to do her work with limited use of her left hand.

“My left arm was ...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on April 10 that it’s changing the labels of birth control pills containing the compound drospirenone, adding information to warn users that numerous studies found as high as a three-fold increase in the risk of blood clots from those pills compared to other contraceptives on the market.

“Based on this review, FDA has concluded that drospirenone-containing birth control pills may be associated with a higher risk for blood clots than other progestin-containing pills,” ...

“Press Pass,” the blog for NBC news show “Meet the Press,” features an interview with Melanie Bloom – widow of late NBC news correspondent David Bloom, and founder of the Coalition to Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Melanie describes David’s death nine years ago from deep vein thrombosis, which is a blood clot in one of the larger veins. He suffered a pulmonary embolism when a blood clot from a vein in his leg migrated to his lungs.

David was embedded with troops ...

Following close on the heels of the December 8, 2011 U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel vote on Yaz/Yasmin/Beyaz, the FDA is planning a new panel to examine the question of whether all-metal hip implants, plagued by a high failure rate and other health concerns, should remain on the market.

The FDA panel on birth control has already voted that Beyaz, Yaz, and other contraceptives containing the compound drospirenone should remain on the market. But in the opinion of many ...

In an entry for re:Cycling, the blog of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, journalist Holly Grigg-Spall questions the health claims that Bayer makes for its birth control pill Beyaz, a variation on the corporation’s top-selling Yaz contraceptive.

Grigg-Spall points out that Beyaz is essentially Yaz with addition of a B vitamin, supposedly to alleviate the possibility of pregnancy complications and birth defects from the original Yaz pill.

But Beyaz still contains drospirenone – the synthetic hormone that thousands of lawsuits against ...