FDA Issues Warning About Beyaz and Other Birth Control

Chicago, ILFor women choosing a birth control pill, the risk of Beyaz side effects may be a major concern. Beyaz birth control, a drospirenone-containing contraceptive, may be linked to an increased risk of serious side effects. So far, there have been no Beyaz lawsuits alleging blood clots, as contraceptive lawsuits tend to focus on Yaz and Yasmin. But because Beyaz contains drospirenone, women who use the contraceptive could be at increased risk of Beyaz blood clots, the FDA warns.

Many contraceptives are linked to an increased risk of side effects, especially an increased risk of blood clots. In 2011, however, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that contraceptives that contain drospirenone could be linked to an even further risk of blood clots. That announcement came after a review of two studies examining medications that contain drospirenone. The FDA has noted that not all studies show an increased risk of blood clots associated with drospirenone.

Blood clots are potentially serious for women. If they form in a deep vein (a condition known as deep vein thrombosis), they can dislodge and move to the lung, causing a pulmonary embolism.

On April 10, 2012, the FDA announced that it was updating the information about the risk of blood clots in drospirenone-containing birth control. The announcement was based on a review of observational studies, which showed that drospirenone-containing contraceptives "may be associated with a higher risk for blood clots than other progestin-containing pills."

Furthermore, the FDA announced that "The revised drug labels will report that some epidemiologic studies reported as high as a three-fold increase in the risk of blood clots for drospirenone-containing products when compared to products containing levonorgestrel or some other progestins, whereas other epidemiological studies found no additional risk of blood clots with drospirenone-containing products." Although the risk of blood clots when taking such birth control is still lower than the risk of developing them when pregnant, it is higher than when no birth control is taken.

Drospirenone is a synthetic version of progesterone, a female hormone. The studies reviewed by the FDA did not account for other patient characteristics that may also have had an influence on the development of blood clots. The FDA recommended that women talk to their healthcare professional before deciding which birth control method they would use.