Accessed 4th September 2013
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/06/11/birth-control-pills-yaz-yasmin.html
Yaz, Yasmin birth control pills suspected in 23 deaths
Most died from blood clots, Health Canada
CBC News
Posted: Jun 11,
2013 5:51 AM PT Last Updated: Jun 11,
2013 7:45 AM PT
At least 23 Canadian women who were
taking two of the most commonly prescribed birth control pills in the world
have died, CBC News has learned.
According to documents obtained from
Health Canada
One of the women, 18-year-old Miranda
Scott, was working out on an elliptical machine at the Okanagan gym at the
University of British Columbia when she collapsed and died three years ago, said
her mother, Chip McClaughry, who is involved in a class-action lawsuit against
Bayer, the maker of the birth-control pills.
'When she
was on the ground she said, "I can't breathe," and then, you know,
she was gone.'—Chip
McClaughry, Miranda Scott's mother
"She fell backwards into the
person behind her and then, I guess, when she was on the ground she said, 'I
can't breathe,' and then, you know, she was gone," McClaughry said at her
home in Delta, B.C.
McClaughry had no idea what had
happened to her athletic, healthy young daughter, but she started to
investigate.
"As soon as I heard that she had
been on Yasmin, I thought, 'I'm just going to look that up,' and I did, and I
thought: 'Oh my God, this is what's killed her," she said.
Risk of blood clots
rises
According to Scott's autopsy, she
died of "disseminated intravascular coagulation," which means that
blood clots formed inside blood vessels throughout her body.
Matthew Baer, of the Siskinds law
firm, represents hundreds of Ontario women in a
certified class-action lawsuit against Bayer that alleges Yaz and Yasmin have an
increased risk of serious side-effects, including blood clots.
report
concluded she had died after blood clots formed throughout her body, a
complication sometimes reported with birth control hormones. (CBC)
"[Scott's] autopsy report did
say that there was a pulmonary embolism, which again is a blood clot in the
lung," he said. "The major side-effect that we're alleging is worse
with Yasmin than with the other oral contraceptives, [which] is an increase of
blood clots."
Certification of the class action is
not a finding of fault against Bayer.
While Bayer has already paid more
than $1 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits in the U.S.
Both Yaz and Yasmin, which are
sometimes called "newer-generation" birth control pills, includes a
synthetic progestin, drospirenone, which is exclusive to Bayer.
Teen girls as young
as 14
In 2011, Health Canada
While one in 10,000 women on older
birth control pills will develop blood clots, as many as three in 10,000 will
develop blood clots on Yaz or Yasmin.
According to the documents obtained
from Health Canada
Most of the deaths reported occurred
soon after starting the pills. In Scott's case, it was just over a month.
"And that was all it took, five
weeks start to finish, and that was the end of a beautiful, beautiful
girl," her mother said.
Lawyer says deaths
underreported
Tony Merchant, a lawyer representing
1,000 women outside Ontario — including Scott
— is seeking to certify a second class-action lawsuit in Canada
'There are
about thirty or forty deaths that we think are known, but that is usually just
the tip of the iceberg.'—Tony Merchant, class action lawyer
Merchant said the number of deaths
potentially associated with Yasmin or Yaz may be largely underreported because
doctors may not realize there is a link between the cause of death and the
risks of the pills.
"There are about 30 or 40 deaths
that we think are known, but that is usually just the tip of the iceberg
because all sorts of people will have died.... [Their families] don't know
anything about the litigation, they don't know anything about the
problem," he said.
Merchant said hundreds of patients
who have approached his firm have had gallbladders removed, or have had strokes
or blood clots and now must take blood thinners for the rest of their lives.
None of the allegations has been
proven in court.
Bayer stands by
Yasmin, Yaz
In a written statement to CBC News,
Bayer said it is fighting the certification of the first Canadian class-action
suit, the one in Ontario
"We are very disappointed in
Justice Crane's decision to certify a class in Ontario
Bayer is scheduled to appear in court
in Ontario
