Preliminary results of a new government-funded study has found women taking Yasmine and Yaz, two birth control pill medicines containing the hormone  drospirenone, have a higher than usual rate of developing dangerous blood clots.

The link between drospirenone and blood clots called venous thromboembolism (VTE), has been noted before. VTEs are clots that typically originate in the legs and can travel to the lungs. This latest study, following several other recent studies with similar findings, has prompted the U.S. Federal Drug Administration to announce the formation of an advisory panel to look into the drugs more closely. The pills Yasmine and Yaz have been touted by their manufacturer, Bayer, as being “safer” than older generation birth controls that contain a different hormone. The FDA already has warned Bayer it must stop aggressively marketing the drugs as “safer” without also disclosing risk factors.

Meanwhile, women with other risk factors for clots should talk to their doctors about whether Yasmine or Yaz is safe for them. Risk factors for VTE include smoking, being overweight or a family history of blood clots.

Robert Jenner brings to the My Advocates medical and legal team more than 26 years experience representing injured consumers nation-wide against the manufacturers of dangerous prescription drugs, defective medical devices, tainted blood products, and other unsafe products. Mr. Jenner has been honored by his peers for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America” and “Maryland’s Super Lawyers”(named in Top 50). READ FULL BIO