YAZ and Yasmin are birth control pills manufactured by Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Ocella is the generic form of Yasmin and is manufactured by Barr Laboratories. What makes these three medications different from other birth control pills is the addition of a new progestin called drospirenone. It has now been shown that drospirenone causes an increase/imbalance of the potassium levels in the body. Some of the side effects which have been noted by individuals taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella are the following:
Blood Clots
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
Pulmonary Embolism (PE)
Stroke
Gallbladder Disease/Removal
Death
By sharing experiences or information regarding YAZ, Yasmin or Ocella or perhaps in having us answer your questions using this blog post, we hope we can help you or someone you care about.
Can there be an ad for a drug where the drug isn’t even mentioned? Consumers Reports wrote a blog article titled, “Pfizer and Chantix: Stealth advertising at its finest”, on this topic. In their blog they state, ”If this sounds a little sneaky to you, well we think it is. But it’s also totally legal, and representative of a growing trend in direct-to-consumer advertising: the help-seeking ad. These are ads that, instead of mentioning a drug by name, address the condition it’s meant to treat – then drive you to a web site or toll free number that offers, among other information, the option to learn about a “prescription treatment option.”
Why would a pharmaceutical company not want to mention their drug’s name? Well, according to the FDA, if an ad mentions a specific drug then that drug’s side effects also have to be mentioned. So, if a drug has some pretty nasty potential side effects, a help-seeking ad makes sense. The drug company is actually advertising the drug but, because they don’t have to mention the drug’s name, they don’t have to mention the side effects. Consumers Reports took a help-seeking ad sponsored by Pfizer and went through it in detail in the video below.
MAKE SURE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO
To view the Consumer Report blog titled, “Pfizer and Chantix: Stealth Advertising at Its Finest” which is referred to above use the following link: http://sjlaw.info/ChantixStealthAd
We are interested in what you think about these help-seeking ads and invite you to comment below.
So after the FDA Avandia committee’s review of 900 plus pages of documents and two days of presentations, what was the vote? There were 33 total committee members and the results were as follows:
- 12 voted to remove Avandia from the market
- 10 wanted stiffer warnings and restrictions
- 7 voted to add stiffer warnings
- only 3 voted to leave Avandia on the market with the current labeling
So what will the FDA’s next action be regarding this drug? Popular opinion is that the FDA will end up leaving Avandia on the market but with stiffer warnings and added restrictions. However, no one really knows. Officials at the FDA have indicated they will make a final decision regarding Avandia as soon as possible.
The FDA 33 member committee meeting regarding Avandia offered some interesting insights regarding the diverse opinions held in connection with this drug. We found this CBS News report interesting.
