New Gallbladder Study Shows Increased Risk for Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella

Note: Lopez McHugh is no longer accepting cases involving Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz and gallbladder injury.

On May 17, 2011, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published a study that concluded that women who use drospirenone-containing birth control pills had a statistically significant increase in the risk of gallbladder disease when compared with other birth control pills. In particular, drospirenone has a 20 percent higher risk of gallbladder disease when compared with pills containing levonorgestrel, which has a proven safety record, has been around for decades, and was used a benchmark in the study.

That study was conducted by analyzing data from a United States database of prescriptions and surgeries for 78 million people, including nearly 3 million women who took oral contraceptives for at least 6 months.

Women who took Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella or other drospirenone-containing birth control pills for six months were 20 percent more likely to have to have their gallbladders removed within six months than women who took pills containing levonorgestrel.

The risk associated with drospirenone increased when women took Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella for at least two years. Those women were 30 percent more likely to have to have their gallbladders removed than women taking levonorgestrel for similar lengths of time.

The full study can be found here.

Although the study looked at women who used Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella for six months to two years, it is believed that the risk of gallbladder removal goes up within one month of taking drospirenone. That is because estrogen, one of the active ingredients in Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella, is known to increase the formation of gallstones. Meanwhile, drospirenone is a diuretic, which means it can cause dehydration. This causes gallbladder bile to become concentrated, which not only further increases the risk of gallstones, it allows them to become larger.

Women who have suffered injury as a result of taking Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella should understand the legal remedies available to them. If you or someone you love developed a blood clot or gallbladder disease while taking Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella, you may be eligible to recover damages. Please contact Lopez McHugh for a FREE consultation with a qualified and trusted attorney who can answer your questions and ensure your legal rights are protected. Call today because if you wait too long, you may be barred from recovering for your injuries by your state’s time limits.

Note: The following birth control pills contain drospirenone and all have a higher risk of injury: Beyaz, Gianvi, Loryna, Ocella, Safyral, Syeda, Yasmin, Yaz, and Zarah.

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