"Yasmin Could Have Killed Me"

Rochester, NYKayse only took Yasmin for five months but that proved long enough to likely cause a pulmonary embolism and a DVT in her leg. Also very disturbing is that doctors at the first hospital she went to didn't tell her to stop taking the birth control pill. "Doctors at the second hospital told me that I could have died," says Kayse.

Kayse says she first experienced chest pain and generally wasn't feeling well. Her doctor ran the diagnosis gamut—from chronic fatigue syndrome to pleurisy. She went to hospital several times for x-rays and a spot was detected on her lung: diagnosis pleurisy.

"One day I got short of breath and had severe leg pains so I called my mum," says Kayse. "She took me to another hospital and they immediately did a CAT Scan. They found a pulmonary embolism and reviewed the x-rays from the first hospital. They determined that I never did have pleurisy.

They also found a deep vein thrombosis, DVT, in my leg and put me on blood thinner. And they also told me to stop taking Yasmin—immediately. They didn't come right out and say that the birth control pill was to blame but after I was in the hospital for about a week I met with my hematologist and he thought both the pulmonary embolism and the DVT was because of Yasmin.

I was shocked that I almost died over a birth control pill. Next I called my OB/GYN who prescribed Yasmin and told her what had happened and what my hematologist said. She didn't think that the birth control pill was the cause—she was in denial—so I wound up getting a new doctor. My new doctor told me that a friend of hers had the same problems on Yasmin.

Just recently I happened to see something on TV about Yasmin; before that, I thought it was just a fluke that I wound up in the hospital. I had no idea that so many other women had suffered like me until I researched Yasmin lawsuits online. Now I am in the initial phase of filing a lawsuit. I am having trouble asking the pharmacy for records because they don't keep records for more than two years. However I signed a release for my attorney to get my medical records so I don't have to worry about that.

I am still on blood thinners and I certainly won't be taking any more birth control pills. And I am very skeptical about taking any drugs; luckily I don't have to be prescribed any meds too often but if I need to take a drug, I want the statistics and results of clinical trials. I will definitely not take any more 'new' drugs."