Despite Yaz Lawsuits, Bayer Remains No. 1

Amid a flurry of Yaz lawsuits, Bayer Healthcare, eager to hold its top spot in the oral contraceptive market, launched a new birth control pill last year… Natazia.

Bayer cleverly launched Yaz in 2006, promising that the new formulation birth control pill – a combination of ethinyl estradiol and drospirenone – not only prevented pregnancy but also helped treat premenstrual symptoms and acne. Women began to ask their doctors for the pill by name, skyrocketing sales. Soon after, a review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the ads for Yaz to be misleading. The agency accused Bayer of over-stating the drug’s benefits and covering up potential Yaz side effects, and ordered the company to run correction ads. But the new formulation of active ingredients offered by Yaz had already hit superstar status among women.

Gradually, however, reports of women suffering sometimes fatal blood clots and other serious health problems began to surface. Bayer is now facing more than 2,000 lawsuits from women who allege they were not adequately warned that Yaz could cause them serious harm.

You can read the Yaz black box warning below:

“Cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious cardiovascular side effects from oral contraceptive use. This risk increases with age and with heavy smoking (15 or more cigarettes per day) and is quite marked in women over 35 years of age. Women who use oral contraceptives should be strongly advised not to smoke. Additionally, there are numerous warnings associated with the use of Yaz including, but not limited to, venous and arterial thrombotic and thromboembolic events (such as myocardial infarction, thromboembolism, stroke), hepatic neoplasia, gallbladder disease, and hypertension.”

Rising out of the flurry of lawsuits, Bayer seems determined not to lose ground in all the bad press from Yaz. It is launching Natazia. This pill contains a new type of estrogen that has never been used before in an oral contraceptive. It hits the market with a Black Box Warning on its safety label, informing that women with a high risk of arterial or venous thrombotic diseases, undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding, breast cancer or other estrogen- or progestin-sensitive cancer, liver tumors (benign or malignant) or liver disease, or who are pregnant, not to take Natazia.

If you or a loved one has experienced Yaz side effects, you may be entitled to a compensation, and you should seek legal advice. Contact RxRecall.com today.

Bookmark and Share

Comments are closed.