Yaz, manufactured by Bayer Healthcare, was first brought to the marketplace in 2006. Yaz quickly became the most popular birth control pill on the market, thanks in large part to Bayer’s aggressive marketing campaign which touted Yaz’s alleged benefits including acne control and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). While it was approved to treat PMDD by the FDA, many consumers came to believe that Yaz also would alleviate PMS symptoms.
In 2009, the FDA ordered Bayer to produce advertisements correcting previous ads that the FDA believed overstated the birth control pill’s ability to treat such conditions.
In 2001, the FDA approved Yaz’s sister drug (also manufactured by Bayer Healthcare) Yasmin for use in the US. Yasmin was a new kind of birth control drug that featured a lower dose of estrogen which has been known since the 1960′s to lead to a risk of blood clots due to its coagulant properties. Yasmin combined this lower dose of estrogen with a novel progestin called drospirenone. Drospirenone is known to increase potassium levels in the blood which may lead to cardiac issues in women with kidney or liver conditions.
In 2009, the British Medical Journal noted that a study found that Yaz could lead to higher risk of blood clots in women using the birth control pill.
Besides FDA action on Bayer’s marketing efforts concerning Yaz, the federal agency also sent a warning letter to the pharmaceutical company in 2009 warning it about quality control issues concerning a German manufacturing plant that makes the drospirenone used in Yaz pills sold in the United States.
Finally, in October 2011, the FDA concluded a study of Yaz side effects and concluded that the birth control pill may pose a 75% higher risk of blood clots in women who use Yaz rather than an older form of birth control that doesn’t contain drospirenone. The FDA study is another serious concern for young women who’ve been targeted in Bayer’s marketing campaigns as well as public health officials who are entrusted with public safety.
