Some Health Providers Still Unaware of Serious Yasmin Side Effects

Seattle, WAIf Shelly had been proactive with her health and knew about severe Yasmin side effects, she might not have suffered two heart attacks. And she only recently found out about Yasmin lawsuits from her gynecologist’s nurse.

Shelly, age 32, was taking Yasmin for almost 10 years, prescribed to her by numerous doctors when she had her yearly checkups. She began to notice swelling in her legs and feet, and bruising on her legs. “I thought that maybe the bruising was caused by blood clots,” says Shelly. “But every time I went to the doctor, my blood pressure was elevated, and I was told not to worry because most people get nervous when they have a checkup and that can raise blood pressure. So I just lived with the swelling and bruising - if my doctor wasn't concerned, why should I worry”

But Shelly should have done more than worry. In January she saw a gynecologist and once again asked about her blood pressure, swelling of her feet and bruising on her legs. “The nurse asked me if I was taking any other medications besides birth control. I told her that I had been on Yasmin for years and nothing else,” says Shelly. “She explained the side effects of drospirenone and that many doctors won’t prescribe these fourth-generation birth control pills. I was in shock. And then she also told me about Yasmin lawsuits. The gynecologist simply prescribed a birth control pill without drospirenone and sent me on my way.”

Even when Shelly asked her gynecologist about these “possible” Yasmin side effects, she didn’t get any further tests or lab work. “Again I was told that there was nothing wrong with me.”

Two months ago, Shelly was rushed to the ER and after a battery of tests, discovered that she had suffered a previous heart attack. “If that wasn’t scary enough, tests showed that I was about to have another heart attack, but this time massive,” she says.

Shelly was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and dangerously high blood pressure. An ultrasound revealed blood clots in her legs and fluid in her lungs. “My cardiologist told me that I was a ‘walking time bomb’ and way too young to be sick like this,” Shelly explains. “He told me that I can never take any kind of hormone medication - ever.”

Shelly spent the next two weeks in the hospital and she will spend the rest of her life questioning any kind of medication she is prescribed. “I am totally amazed that my doctors prescribed Yasmin without telling me that this birth control pill can kill you,” she adds. “Their disregard for my health almost amounts to medical malpractice. The more research I do, the more furious I get. More than 200 women have died from taking Yasmin or Yaz in the US alone, and another 23 in Canada. How could my doctors not have known? And shame on me for not reading the warning label.”