Recent Danish Study Determines NuvaRing Dangers

Fort Worth, TXSome women think that the Nuvaring is a safer form of birth control than the fourth generation birth control pills Yasmin and Yaz, which contain drospirenone. But the NuvaRing and these birth control pills have similar side effects, from blood clots to stroke and heart attack.

A recent study published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal (May 2012) shows that the vaginal ring has at least a sixfold increased risk of venous thrombosis as combined pills with desogestrel or drospirenone, which is about twice the risk among women using second-generation birth control pills.

The exhaustive and thorough study followed Danish women from 2001 to 2010. Researchers concluded the following:

“Women who use combined contraceptive transdermal patches are at an increased risk of venous thrombosis about eight times that of non-users of hormonal contraception, corresponding to 9.7 events per 10,000 exposure years. Vaginal rings increased the risk of venous thrombosis 6.5 times compared with non-use of hormonal contraception, corresponding to 7.8 events per 10,000 exposure years.”

To put these statistics in another perspective, Dr. Shezad Malik says that combined oral contraceptives with levonorgestrel or norgestimate (second generation birth control pills, which are not Yasmin or Yaz) have 50 percent of the risk of venous thrombosis than oral contraceptives containing desogestrel, gestodene, or drospirenone. Furthermore, women who use combined contraceptive transdermal patches are at an increased risk of venous thrombosis about eight times that of non-users of hormonal contraception.

The results of this study indicate that the Nuvaring is almost seven times the risk of venous thrombo-embolism. Earlier studies, such as Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management (April 2008) as reported by Dove Press, said that “the number of participants in the studies was too small and the duration of the studies too short to provide any reliable information on the incidence of infrequent but serious adverse events like thromboembolism.” Clearly, this is not the case with the above Danish study.

The Danish researchers advise that women consider switching to a safer form of birth control. Given the now-proven fact that women are at an increased risk for NuvaRing blood clot, it is no wonder that NuvaRing lawsuits are increasing.