Lately the TV has been flooded with ads saying if women took the birth control Yaz or Yazmin, and suffered from the advertised side effects: blood clot, stroke, heart attack, a couple new side effects, or if someone died from taking it, to call the number on the screen because they may be eligible for compensation. Now, I seem to recall when they first advertised Yaz 'oh this is so great and you only have to worry about blood clots, strokes and heart attacks but hey you have fewer periods', everybody talked about how this is so great for women and it's worth the risks because there are risks on everything. So, since they said flat out when they first sold this stuff that women COULD have these things happen to them, and they knew it and bought the product anyway, HOW can they be entitled to financial compensation now? That doesn't make any sense to me. It's not like nobody knew 'oh this could be dangerous'.

Well, from what I understand, Yaz came out in 2006 claiming not only to be a BC, could cure acne, and could delay periods, but that it was beneficial to a woman's overall health. In Dec of 2008, the FDA panel ruled against Yaz advertisements, and forced them to ad the warnings, as well as put a warning on the box.

The lawsuit is really about the downplaying of warnings before the FDA ruling, and lack of thorough testing of the drug before hand. Apparently 100 people have died, and 11,000 have filed suit. Bayer has since settled with the first 1900.

The FDA says that Bayer exaggerated the "cures for acne & PMS no matter how severe", when it really was approved for PMDD, not PMS and light to moderate acne--not severe acne. At the time, the warnings of death, blood clots, heart attack were all downplayed in the commercials--or not mentioned at all. In the second batch of commercials, the FDA complained that although the side effects were now mentioned, they were read during loud music and with distracting graphics on the screen--which made it harder to concentrate. The later commercials removed the graphics and music from the reading of the warnings.

wants2laugh wrote:

At the time, the warnings of death, blood clots, heart attack were all downplayed in the commercials--or not mentioned at all. In the second batch of commercials, the FDA complained that although the side effects were now mentioned, they were read during loud music and with distracting graphics on the screen--which made it harder to concentrate. The later commercials removed the graphics and music from the reading of the warnings.

This is the part that doesn't make any sense to me. Yeah it was downplayed like 'oh and by the way' but it was there, they specifically said these are the risks, even despite the music and the graphics you always heard 'side effects include blood clot, stroke and heart attack', it can be stamped onto any birth control advertised on TV because it's always there. And I'm sure even if you missed the announcement in the commercial that it would say that somewhere on the box, so are women just blindly swallowing contraceptives without paying any attention to them or something?

Just saying there are risks isn't good enough. If that were the case there would be a "tough shit" label on everything. But with Yaz it's alleged they deliberately mislead. Big no no.

Yaz isn't the grand puba or representative of all birth control pills. Apparently, the problem is is that it's being marketed falsely. I personally don't take birth control pills because I don't like the idea of taking artificial hormones. I'm not against it for other women, but it just doesn't work for me. I have other methods of not getting pregnant.

well another issue is that it is made from a new synthetic hormone of progesterone. Apparently they are being accused of not testing it for the appropriate amount of time, as well as the ad things. How they would have gotten FDA approval without the required testing is beyond me, but this is the info age where you can forge anything---so it would not surprise me. When people died before the 2008 FDA ruling, there were no recalls either. so it is more complicated than just advertisements.