Yaz Drospirenone Injury Lawyers

According to recent research, the Yaz birth control pill has caused more than 50 deaths. Some women who died were as young as 17. The reports include deaths associated with irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, sudden cardiac arrest, pulmonary embolism and stroke even among women who were otherwise in perfect health. At the heart of this controversy over Yaz side effects is drug manufacturer, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals' use of a hormone known as drospirenone.

What is Drospirenone?

It is a new type of progestin used only in Yaz and its generic version, Ocella. According to court documents filed on behalf of Yaz plaintiffs, drospirenone causes increased levels of potassium in the blood, which can lead to a condition known as hyperkalemia. This condition can in turn cause heart rhythm disturbances, slowing of blood to the heart and blood clots. These blood clots can lead to heart attacks or break loose and travel through the blood stream to the lungs causing pulmonary embolism. In another scenario, the blood clot can travel to the brain and cause a stroke and severe, irreversible brain damage.

Progestins have had a dubious past. As early as the 1960s, doctors found that women who took birth control pills with a combination of estrogen and progestin were at a higher risk for blood clots, heart attacks and strokes than those not taking the pill. So researchers developed new progestins known as "second generation progestins," which were combined with lower amounts of estrogen in the pills, thereby reducing the risk of serious side effects such as blood clots, strokes and heart attacks.

Yaz Drospirenone not Beneficial but Harmful

However, the drospirenone used in Yaz, is considered a new type of progestin, a fourth-generation progestin, different from the earlier versions. Currently, there is insufficient data available for its safe use. But court records state that studies about drospirenone conducted before the FDA approval of Yaz show that drospirenone has certain effects that are very different from the second-generation progestins and hence potentially more dangerous. FDA officials have said that they are not aware of any specific benefits of the drospirenone in Yaz and Yasmin, but that they are aware of the "added clinical risks" associated with drospirenone. The FDA came to this conclusion as early as 2003 when Bayer came out with advertisements promoting the benefits of drospirenone as opposed to other progestins.

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