Blood clots are a well-known risk of taking birth control pills. Now the FDA is investigating oral contraceptives that contain drospirenone, such as Yaz and Yasmin, after new research suggests that these pills increase the risk of blood clots above that of other oral contraceptives.

Most birth control pills combine estrogen with another female sex hormone, progestin. In two studies published in the British Medical Journal in April, pills containing drospirenone, a type of progestin, were found to carry a two- to three-fold higher risk of venous thromboembolism, or a blood clot in a deep vein, than pills containing a different progestin, levonorgestrel.

The FDA said it was “aware of two newly published studies” that found what appeared to be an increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE)—blood clots— in women taking birth control pills containing the synthetic version of the hormone progestin called drospirenone. Older birth control pills tend to contain a version of progestin called levonorgestrel.

“This risk is reported to be up to two to three times greater than the risk of VTE associated with using levonorgestrel-containing pills,” the FDA said.

Among the pills containing drospirenone are Yaz, which is sold generically as Gianvi and Loryna; Yasmin, which is sold generically as Ocella, Syeda and Zarah; and Beyaz and Safyral.

Time:

The two trials, one of which involved a U.S. population of women and the other a British cohort, found that women taking newer forms of oral contraceptives, which include drosperinone, a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone, increased their risk of developing a blood clot by two or three times over those taking older birth control pills that rely on a different form of the hormone known as levonorgestrel. …Newer oral contraceptives include Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella, and their makers all include warnings about increased risk of blood clots on the drugs’ labels.

If you have experienced health complications while taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella, contact Seeger Weiss to talk about your legal options.

Women who are using a newer version of birth control that contains the hormone drospirenone have a higher risk of serious blood clot, according to two studies published in the online version of the British Medical Journal.

Drospirenone is found in birth control pills such as Ocella, Yasmin and Yaz.

The studies found that drospirenone has two to three times more risk of blood clots compared with birth control pills containing an older form of a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel. Dr Susan Jick, lead authors said that these findings “provide further evidence that levonorgestrel pills appear to be a safer choice” pertaining to blood clots.

If you have experienced health complications while taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella, contact Seeger Weiss to talk about your legal options.

On September 16, Judge Sandra Mazer Moss of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas consolidated all of the lawsuits filed in Philadelphia that involve Bayer’s popular prescription contraceptives: Yaz and Yasmin. Ocella, the generic equivalent of Yasmin, is manufactured by Barr Laboratories.

Recent reports suggest that these prescription medications could be putting millions of young women at risk of serious side effects, including stroke, heart attack, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and even death.  A recent study published by the British Medical Journal demonstrated that birth control products containing the active ingredient contained in Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella—drospirenone—carried a risk of blood clots nearly double that of other birth control medications.  Other reports have associated drospirenone with an increased risk of gall bladder disease, resulting in removal.

On September 14, the Food & Drug Administration released a warning to Bayer about problems found in a March 2009 inspection in the Berghamen, Germany plant where Bayer manufactures the Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills that it sells in the United States. The warning said the inspection “revealed significant deviations from U.S. current good manufacturing practices (CGMP) in the manufacture of non-sterile APIs [active pharmaceutical ingredients].”

Bayer has previously received warnings from the FDA for advertisements that overstated the benefits of Yaz and which minimized the potential safety risks associated with the drug. As a part of a subsequent agreement with the FDA and attorneys general in 27 states, Bayer began running a new ad campaign in February 2009 to correct the information conveyed by deceptive Yaz commercials.