Blood Clot Risk for Yasmin Birth Control 6.3 Fold Above Baseline

Toronto, ONConcern over the Yasmin birth control pill and Yasmin side effects center on thrombosis, or blood clots--Yaz blood clots, according to some. However, there remains a blood clot risk for all oral contraceptives, although some pose a higher risk than others. The Yasmin pill is an example of one of the newer oral contraceptives that carry a higher risk than older, more established birth control pills.

In a recent appearance on the Canadian network CTV, Dr. Marla Shapiro offered an overall explanation of the relationship between oral contraceptives and blood clots.

Shapiro explained that ever since the introduction of oral contraceptives in the 1960s, doctors were aware of an increased risk for blood clots. Dr. Shapiro revealed in the August 18 CTV interview that the baseline thrombosis risk for women not taking birth control of any kind was three in 10,000.

The introduction of oral contraceptives saw that risk rise statistically to 6.29 women per 10,000.

Dr. Shapiro noted that estrogen levels have diminished over the years, from 100 micrograms in the 1960s, to 80 and subsequently to 50. Today, she explained, birth control pills range from 35 micrograms of estrogen down to 20.

"And we have found, not a surprise, that as the estrogen dose decreased so did the risk of blood clots."

The wild card these days revolves around the second component of a birth control pill—progestin. Given that there are different types of progestin, the particular combination of a particular type of progestin with estrogen governs the overall risk of blood clots.

For example, oral contraceptives that contain the progestin levonorgestrel present a risk of thrombosis 3.6 times greater than the baseline risk, said Dr. Shapiro.

In contrast the progestin drospirenone found in Yasmin presented with a 6.3 times increased risk for blood clots.

It should be noted that the Yaz birth control was not the oral contraceptive with the highest risk, Shapiro reports. That distinction belonged to products containing cyproterone acetate, which presented with a 6.8 to seven-fold higher risk of blood clot over the baseline, and desogestrel, with about a 7.3-fold increased risk.

There remains concern over Yasmin birth control with regard to associations with stroke, heart attack, gall bladder complications and gall bladder disease, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and even death.

Yaz was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001 and has since become a top seller. However, concern over Yasmin began to emerge as early as April, 2002, and continues to this day. Lawsuits have been filed.