Birth Control Drugs Linked to 150 Percent Increased Risk of Deadly Clots

Bayer's Yasmin, Safyral, Yaz, Angeliq, and Beyaz birth control drugs all contain drospirenone, which is already known to cause cardiovascular problems, gastrointestinal disorders, nervous system dysfunction, vision problems, respiratory illness, and endocrine disruption. Now the FDA admits that the drug is linked to causing deadly blood clots known as venous thromboembolism as well.

For its analysis, the FDA evaluated study data on over 835,000 women ranging in age from ten to 55, all of whom had been taking drospirenone-containing birth control pills. Compared to women taking other or no birth control pills, the drospirenone women were found to have a 1.5 fold increased risk of developing deadly blood clots — and 4,246 of them developed venous thromboembolism for the first time during the study.

The FDA has scheduled an advisory committee meeting on December 8 to discuss the findings and come up with an official position on the drug's safety. But knowing the FDA's reluctance to actually call out a dangerous drug and pull it from the market, it is likely that the agency will drag its feet for months to come as millions of women continue to be harmed.

Women who want to avoid the deadly side effects associated with drospirenone drugs, but still want to treat their menopause symptoms, can instead turn to natural progesterone. This naturally-occurring female hormone actually normalizes blood clotting, while also preventing arterial plaque from building up and improving vascular tone and function.

"When supplementing with progesterone cream, it is important to use natural progesterone, and not the synthetic progestins in tablet form usually prescribed by medical doctors for hormone replacement therapy," writes Dr. David W. Tanton, PhD, in his book A Drug-Free Approach to Healthcare, Revised Edition. "[These] are the altered synthetic form of the hormone that are responsible for many negative side effects."