There's a new generation of women who forget that birth controls were removed from the market because of the harm they posed to women's health.
In 2008, Yaz was the best-selling birth control pill in the U.S., according to IMS Health, a health care and technology information company.
Sales totaled $781 million in 2009. Taken by millions of women to prevent pregnancy, treat symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and treat moderate acne.
Drospirenone is a progestin, a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone.
Yaz in 2020 has been discontinued after massive legal problems. Yet, the manufacturer Baylor Pharmaceuticals STILL SELLS SISTER PILLS under a different name with the same ingredients.
Bayer’s birth control pills (Yasmin, Yaz, Beyaz, Safyral, Gianvi, and Zarah.) or a generic version.
Yaz and other pills containing the hormone drospirenone have drawn a flood of litigation over reports of deaths, strokes, pulmonary embolisms, gallbladder disease, elevated potassium levels, and other problems.
6,760 U.S. plaintiffs for a total of $1.4 billion, including $237,000 to Yunker.
"Maggie Yunker had been taking birth control pills for a year when her doctor suggested switching to a brand that also could clear up acne and ease some aggravating symptoms related to her period.
Yunker was sold. But a year later, the 20-year-old suffered a life-altering stroke after multiple blood clots formed, broke free and lodged in her brain."
Afterward, YAZ was not recalled.
The problem is that women who are given birth control pills manage acne easily without being given all the information.
“Studies comparing the risk of a blood clot to a threefold increase," it states on Page 5 of the 33-page document for Yaz.
A 2011 FDA study of more than 835,000 women found that the risk of blood clots with this type of drug is up to three times that of other contraceptives.
A 2011 Danish study of 1.3 million women, conducted over nine years and published in the British Medical Journal, found that a woman’s risk of blood clots is six times higher when taking either Yaz or Yasmin.
A major new study of 330,000 Israeli women concluded in November 2011 that drospirenone-containing oral contraceptives create a 43 to 65 percent higher risk to women of developing unsafe blood clots than older pill formulas with different hormones do
Elevated potassium levels associated with drospirenone can put women who have liver or kidney issues at risk for serious heart problems.
Bayer agreed to pay at least $2 billion to settle about 10,000 claims.
Not until 2012 did the FDA has revised the label for birth control pills containing drospirenone.
One of the more disturbing threads in the growing number of online forums is the depressive effects experienced after stopping Yaz or Yasmin.
This pill isn't the only form of birth control under investigation.
Mirena IUD for causing organ perforation, causing buildup pressure in the skull, diminished quality of life, miscarriages, and infertility after removal.
In August 2018, Bayer estimated the settlement would include 4,600 claims. About 98 percent of plaintiffs must opt into the settlement for Bayer to pay out the $12.2 million.
Bayer received FDA approval to sell Essure in 2002 and promoted women as the only non-surgical option for permanent birth control. Essure consists of two nickel-titanium coils inserted into the fallopian tubes, where they spur the growth of scar tissue that blocks sperm from fertilizing a woman's eggs.
From 2002 -2017 the FDA received 32,000 filed lawsuits with difficulties of the product Essure.
Essure was recalled from the market in most countries in 2017,
Bayer continued to sell the device in the United States until the end of 2018.
Years after the device is removed from the market, do we see the actual reports of serious injuries.
FDA finally summarized data from Bayer’s analysis of reports identified between June 2020 and August 2020. It included 7,509 event reports, including 7,332 cases involving serious injury, 104 reports of malfunctions, and 73 death reports.
Post-marketing study the FDA released in September, which found that more than 20% of women implanted with the device faced hypersensitivity reactions, chronic abdominal pain, and abnormal bleeding. Many had much higher rates of additional gynecological procedures.
750,000 women worldwide are implanted with the device and about 70% of those procedures occurring in the United States.