All That Yaz is Dangerous
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The US Drug Watchdog group has now issued a press release warning women who have taken the birth control drug, Yasmin or Yaz of the very serious side effects of these drugs. Our firm has been warning consumers for some time.
The group points out that the manufacturer, Bayer, has done a poor job in informing women who may have taken these drugs of the potential side effects. The watchdog group goes so far as to characterize this situation as possibly “the most important pharmaceutical initiative” in which they have ever been involved.
Yaz and Yasmin contain a synthetic progestin called drospirenone, which has never before been used in a birth control pill before. Bayer paid for a study that demonstrated Yaz a safe, but at least one other study sets forth that Yaz and Yasmin can cause a whole host of problems, including:
- Venous thrombosis
- Arterial thrombosis
- Thromboembolic events
- Myocardial infarction
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Thromboembolism
- Hepatic neoplasia
- Gallbladder disease
- Hypertension
- Blood clots
- Deep Vein Thrombosis
- Pulmonary embolism
- Death
In October of 2008 the FDA sent Bayer one of the most strongly worded warning letters I have seen. Although that letter largely dealt with the advertising being used by Bayer, it chastised Bayer for making claims about the conditions for which Yaz was demonstrated as being effective. In addition, it warned Bayer that its advertising failed to sufficiently disclose the potential risks of Yaz.
Bayer apparently has a penchant for overstatement. Complaints have been filed by various groups including, with the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, and, as said, the FDA.
Bayer has been accused of making claims without real foundation. For example, it claimed that its One-A-Day WeightSmart vitamins could help with weight loss; reportedly without any true scientific basis. They also claimed that their One-A-Day vitamins could prevent prostate cancer; again without true science. Bayer was told to stop advertising its All-Day-Energy vitamin as “All-Day”, because it likewise is not demonstrated to scientifically perform All-Day.
Yaz and Yasmin advertising cost Bayer $20 million in corrective ads they are required to put on the airwaves. You have seen the ones; where the actress in a snazzy bar seems less than repentant about Yaz’s advertising and that, well, shucks, maybe we didn’t tell you guys everything quite as clearly as we could have about Yaz. She says that the FDA wants them to clear a few things up.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the corrective ad campaign cleared little up and the action taken to inform the public about Yaz was lackluster at best.