Yaz and other oral contraceptives increase the incidence of blood clots in women especially those over 35 and those who smoke. Blood clots

naturally when there is an injury, like a cut, but when it happens for no reason it can block normal blood flow and cause a life-threatening condition.

There are two types of blood clots: venous, which form in veins, blocking blood from returning to the heart, and arterial, which cut off the blood supply to organs such as the heart and brain and can cause heart attacks or strokes.

Know the Yaz Blood Clot Symptoms

Blood clots cause different symptoms depending upon where they are in the body:

• Lung: You may experience sharp pain in the chest, rapid heartbeat, coughing up blood, shortness of breath and low-grade fever.
• Arm or Leg: An arterial clot may cause sudden pain, swelling and a blue tinge to the skin. In a vein it may cause swelling and tenderness.
• Brain: Brain clots cause visual disturbances, weakness on one side of the body, seizure and speech impairment. A clot in the brain could lead to stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).
• Heart: A clot in the heart will give you chest pain, and it can lead to a heart attack. Blood clots that form in the heart can travel anywhere in the body through the arteries or veins.
• Abdomen: You may feel severe abdominal pain, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

Have you experienced a blood clot while taking Yaz?

Sources
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/blood-clots.html?pageNum=5#5
http://www.medicinenet.com/blood_clots/page3.htm#symptoms
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/blood-clots/MY00109

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In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent Berlex Laboratories a warning letter stating that its ads for Yasmin improperly minimized the risk of taking Yasmin, which contains the progestin drospirenone, and therefore raised “significant public health and safety concerns.”

The FDA specifically noted that drospirenone is a progestin which has antimineralocorticoid properties —  properties that can work against the body’s normal mechanism for regulating salt (potassium) and water balance, a situation that can lead to hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia can result in potentially serious heart and health problems. The FDA was concerned that women taking Yasmin needed to be aware of drug interactions that increase potassium, posing a serious danger when taken with the drospirenone in Yasmin.

The Misleading Commercial

At the time of this 2003 warning letter, Berlex Laboratories was running a 60-second television ad called “Goodbye Kiss.” The ad contained the tagline “Ask about Yasmin, and the difference a little chemistry can make.” It also contained the statement “You don’t settle when it comes to the guy … so why settle when it comes to the pill? The Yasmin birth control pill uses a different kind of hormone. One that may work with your body chemistry.”

The ad’s tagline suggests that Yasmin is better than other birth control pills because of drospirenone and the way in which it is metabolized in the body. This “chemistry” difference is presented as a product benefit, rather than the safety risk is presents to women taking the drug. The FDA stated it was not aware of clinical evidence that Yasmin was superior to other combined oral contraceptives (COCs) or that drospirenone was beneficial.

The FDA told Berlex that its inaccurate marketing did not warn women of the additional health risks when taking Yasmin over COCs without drospirenone, and the ad even suggested that Yasmin was better than other COCs because it contained a “different kind of hormone,” drospirenone, when in fact drospirenone is a safety risk rather than a clinical benefit. The ads also stated that drospirenone “may increase potassium” without disclosing that increased potassium is a risk.

It’s Not Your Fault If You Believed the Manufacturer’s Misleading Advertisments

Attorneys representing women injured by Yasmin believe that the slick advertising in the misleading commercial aired by Berlex implying that Yasmin worked better than other COCs and implying that increased potassium was a benefit, induced women to take Yasmin who would not otherwise have accepted the health risks of taking Yasmin. The FDA actions caused the commercial to be pulled from the air.

Have you or someone you love taken Yasmin and suffered painful side effects?

Source:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/WarningLettersandNoticeofViolationLetterstoPharmaceuticalCompanies/UCM168914.pdf