Increased Risk of Blood Clots with Certain Birth Control Pills

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 28, 2011 - On Monday, the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") said its primary results of an agency funded study suggest a 1.5 fold increase risk of blood clots for women who use drospirenone-containing birth control products, such as Yaz and Yasmin.

The safety of Yaz and Yasmin is the subject of approximately 2,000 lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania before Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Sandra Mazer Moss, Coordinating Judge of the Complex Litigation Center.  Another 7,110 lawsuits are pending in federal court before the Honorable Judge David R. Herndon, who oversees the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL).  

The lawsuits allege that Yaz and Yasmin have risks beyond those of traditional birth control pills and that Bayer over-promoted the drug without disclosing the higher risks. Bayer was warned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in the fall of 2008, that its television advertisements were misleading and did not disclose the additional risks.

The FDA announced through its website that, "initial data from an FDA-funded epidemiologic study exploring the association of blood clots with several different hormonal contraceptive products, including levonorgestrel-containing contraceptives, appear consistent with results from the 2009 and 2011 published studies. Although FDA's review is ongoing, the preliminary data from the FDA-funded study are consistent with an approximately 1.5-fold increase in the risk of blood clots for users of drospirenone-containing contraceptives compared to users of other hormonal contraceptives."

Judge Moss appointed three Pennsylvania lawyers as Liaison Counsel for the plaintiffs, including Michael M. Weinkowitz of Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, Philadelphia; Daniel N. Gallucci of RodaNast, P.C., Lancaster, and Rosemary Pinto of Feldman & Pinto, Philadelphia.  Dianne M. Nast, RodaNast, P.C. was appointed Pennsylvania Federal-State Liaison Counsel by the Honorable David R. Herndon.

Birth control pills 'affect memory'

Washington, Sep 10 - Ladies, please note -- birth control pills affect memory, a new study has warned.

 Researchers at the University of California have found that women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes -- in fact, their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details.

 ÒWhat's most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory. There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide,Ó researcher Shawn Nielsen said.

 She stressed that the medications did not damage memory.

ÒIt's a change in the type of information they remember, not a deficit,Ó she said.

 In the study, groups of women either on the contraceptive or experiencing natural hormonal cycles were shown photographs of a mother, her son, and a car accident. The audio narrative differed; some in each group were told the car had hit a curb, while others were told the car hit the boy and injured him, the 'Neurobiology of Learning and Memory' journal reported.

 One week later, all were given surprise tests about what they recalled. Women using hormonal contraceptives for as little as one month remembered more clearly the main steps in the traumatic event -- that there had been an accident, that the boy had been rushed to the hospital, that doctors worked to save his life and successfully reattached both his feet.

 Women not using them remembered more details, such as a fire hydrant next to the car.

 The researchers said the findings could help lead to fuller answers about why women experience post traumatic stress syndrome more frequently than men, and how men remember differently than women.