FDA says certain birth control pills must have blood clot warnings on labels
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday, April 10, that Yaz and other new forms of birth control must modify their warning labels.
According to the International Business Times, recent studies have shown that drospirenone-containing contraceptives, which include Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin, have been linked with a higher risk of developing blood clots than other forms of birth control, which contain progestin.
The FDA is now advising women to learn about the symptoms of blood clots, which can be wide-ranging and include leg pain and shortness of breath.
“The controversial issue of potentially higher clotting risk with drospirenone-containing products has been swirling for some time,” said David Calabrese, chief pharmacy officer at SXC Health Solutions.
According to the New York Daily News, drospirenone is synthetically created to mimic the hormone progestin. Currently, 11 pills on the market contain drospirenone, including drug names such as Gianvi, Loryna, Ocella, Safyral, Syeda and Zarah.
