Watchdog group urges re-vote on blood clot issue after discovering FDA voters were financially linked to maker of Yaz

We were interested to read that watchdog group Project on Government Oversight (POGO) is urging the FDA to re-vote on the Yaz birth control issue from December’s FDA’s Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs and the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee meeting, after it was discovered that four of the panel members had ties to Bayer Corporation, the maker of Yaz.

During the meeting the panel had voted 15-11 that the benefits of drospirenone-containing birth controls outweighed the increased risk of blood clots in women; a decision that ultimately led to the drug being allowed to stay on the market.

Bayer’s Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella and its generics are the only birth control pills that contain drospirenone.

As we discussed in our previous blog, the panel members were paid by Bayer to work as researchers, consultants and speakers for the mega pharmaceutical company.

All four of these panelists voted to keep the drug on the market, but it is hard to assume that they were completely unbiased in their decision, seeing as how Bayer was putting money in their pockets.

"The American public must be able to trust that the FDA and its advisory committees are making decisions based on science, not industry influence," POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian said.

An FDA study estimated that 10 in 10,000 women taking the drospirenone-containing drugs would get a blood clot per year, compared with about six in 10,000 women taking older contraceptives.

For more information on the Yaz birth control litigation, or for answers to questions about blood clots, stroke or pulmonary embolisms while taking Yaz, contact us toll-free at 888.841.9623, email us at Anneke@ToledoLaw.com or visit www.ZKBLaw.com.