Posts Tagged ‘ Contraceptive ’

Yaz by the Numbers: the Warning, the Recall, the Profit, the Lawsuits

May 12th, 2010. By Kristine B

As Bayer adds new warnings to its birth control pills in the wake of lawsuits regarding Yaz and Yasmin, we thought it would be a good idea to break Yasmin and Yaz down by the numbers. 

2001: The year Yasmin came on the market

2006: The year Yaz came on the market

2008: The year Bayer (maker of Yasmin and Yaz) received a warning from the FDA about overstating the pills’ effectiveness while minimizing their risks

2008: The year Ocella receives FDA approval; Ocella is the generic version of Yaz that is manufactured by Barr, which is owned by Teva

2009: The year Bayer launches new $20 million ad campaign to address the FDA’s warning

2009: The year the FDA issued a recall on certain lots of Yaz and Ocella for “Out of Specification analytical value for chemical assays of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol was averaged with another analytical value to provide a reported result that was within specification.”

2010: The year Bayer added new warnings about the risks of blood clots linked to Yasmin and Yaz

1,100: Approximate number of lawsuits filed against Bayer regarding Yasmin and Yaz

$1.64 billion: Approximate profit Bayer reportedly made from Yasmin and Yaz during 2009

993: Number of reports the FDA received by November, 2009, of cases of pulmonary embolism linked to Yaz or Yasmin

487: Number of reports the FDA received of deep vein thrombosis

229: Number of reports the FDA received of other blood clots

800: Number of Canadians who have joined class-action lawsuits against Bayer

50: Number of women who reportedly died after taking Yaz, as of July, 2009

6.3: The number of times the risk of developing a blood clot is increased in women who take Yasmin or Yaz, according to a study in the British Medical Journal.

Note: Bayer has defended the birth control pills, saying they are safe and effective.

All stats taken from the FDA.gov, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Calgary Herald, BusinessWeek, The Bulletin (Philadelphia) and WISH tv, in addition to the British Medical Journal.

Tags: Birth Control, Contraceptive, Ocella, Yasmin, Yaz
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

The Pill Turns 50 But Many Women aren’t Celebrating

May 7th, 2010. By janem

This week marks the 50^th anniversary of the birth control pill. We’ve come a long way baby! But some things haven’t changed: Even 35 years ago women were complaining about side effects, including blood clots.  Back in 1960, the pill was marketed as 100 percent safe, it would liberate women and it would even prevent divorce. Well, Bayer is still lying about its birth control pills Yasmin and Yaz, saying it is as safe as other oral contraceptives.

A few events regarding the pill have been announced this past month. On April 9, 2010 Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals announced it would update its Yaz and Yasmin labels with a stronger warning, which has already happened in Europe. And Bayer has a dirty little secret: Did you know that 32,856 boxes of Yaz, at three packs per box, and 122,208 boxes of Ocella, an identical product was recalled? You won’t find that recall on its website and you have to dig deep to find it on the FDA recall list.

TIME magazine featured an article on the pill this month. Here is an excerpt:

“In 1954, John Rock, the doctor who was leading the research on the pill, expressed the breathless excitement shared by many of his colleagues: An oral contraceptive, he said, “would be the greatest aid ever discovered to the happiness and security of individual families – indeed, to mankind” because “the greatest menace to world peace and decent standards of life today is not atomic energy but sexual energy.”

Regarding pregnancy, the article says that ” 63 percent say they know little or nothing about Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bayer-natazia-oral-contraceptive-adverse-events, Birth Control, Contraceptive, FDA, The Pill, Yasmin, Yaz
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Yaz Birth Control and Mrs. Beck’s Citizen Journalism

June 29th, 2009. By LucyC

Personal Yaz Story hits YouTube

Watching the events unfold in Iran over the past week has proven a startling reminder of the power of shared information, especially as it applies to the Internet. The beauty of the Web is that people can share their experiences in their own voice, regardless of whether that experience is about an election gone terribly wrong, the death of a Pop legend such as Michael Jackson, or a woman’s own story about a terrible event in her life. That sharing of information not only helps keep people informed, but in some cases galvanizes them into action. Angela Beck is counting on both. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Birth Control, Contraceptive, Yasmin, Yaz
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Personal Injury | 2 Comments »