Yasmin causing blood clots is not always dangerous. If they form within superficial veins near the surface of your skin, their effects rarely extend beyond those associated with minor circulation problems. However, clots can form within the deep veins of your legs, arms, and pelvis. This is a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Please contact us if you have any questions regarding your legal options being part of an Ocella or Yaz blood clot lawsuit.

DVT poses serious risks. If clots detach from the deep veins, they can travel to your lungs, heart, and brain. This is how Yaz pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and stroke occur. Below, you’ll learn how doctors treat Yaz blood clots, beginning with anticoagulants and progressing toward more aggressive treatment paths.

Preventing Yaz Blood Clots From Growing

Doctors who suspect a patient’s deep venous clots present a danger of breaking off and migrating will first administer anticoagulant therapy. This is done to prevent the clots from growing (as opposed to dissolving them).

Heparin is given through injection while warfarin is given in pill form. The former takes effect almost immediately, but is stopped when warfarin begins to work (usually within a few days). If the anticoagulants have no effect, or your body cannot tolerate them, thrombolytic medications may become necessary to treat the clots.

Using Thrombolytics To Dissolve Yasmin Blood Clots

Thrombolytic medications can be administered intravenously or through a catheter to dissolve Ocella blood clots. In doing so, these drugs can reestablish blood flow within the affected vein or artery. However, because they can cause bleeding, their use is typically reserved for circumstances in which your life is at risk.

If you are suffering from a large pulmonary embolism, your doctor may administer a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to dissolve the offending clot. In the case of heart attack and ischemic stroke, the use of thrombolytics is influenced by how quickly the drugs can be administered after the first symptoms have presented. With a heart attack, they must be given within 12 hours to have any effect. With ischemic stroke, they must be given within 3 hours.

Doctors will occasionally prescribe thrombolytics for DVT if they suspect a clot is likely to become separated from its site. However, because of the risk of bleeding, most doctors will instead recommend the installation of a vena cava filter.

Installing A Vena Cava Filter

Groups of muscles surround your deep veins. When you move, those muscles squeeze the veins and send blood toward your heart. The blood travels through the vena cava, the largest vein in your body. Unfortunately, this is also the route taken by Yaz blood clots when they break off from your deep veins.

Doctors can install a metal filter within your vena cava. This filter functions like a net. Blood is allowed to pass through while emboli (i.e. traveling blood clots) are ensnared within the net. By catching the emboli, the vena cava filter prevents them from reaching your lungs, heart, and brain.

It’s worth underscoring that this filter does not technically treat the blood clots. Instead, it prevents their reaching vital arteries and causing pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and ischemic stroke.

Blood clots within your deep veins can potentially break off and trigger life-threatening events. Unfortunately, many women who are using Yaz birth control pills fail to realize the oral contraceptive sharply raises the risk of developing abnormal blood clots. This is due to the inclusion of drospirenone, a synthetic progestin that is combined with estrogen.

If you have suffered blood clots, DVT, pulmonary embolism, or other serious side effects of Ocella, Yamin or Yaz birth control, you may be able to file a claim against the manufacturer. Contact a Yaz blood clot lawsuit attorney to discuss your options.

Yaz and pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that migrate to the pulmonary arteries from other parts of the body. The clots may form due to the estrogen and drospirenone (a relatively new synthetic progestin) contained in these birth control pills including Ocella. Yaz causing blood clots may be triggered by the type of hormones contained in the contraceptive.

These emboli (i.e. wandering blood clots) usually migrate from a deep vein within one or both of your legs. When the muscles that surround your deep veins contract, they squeeze the veins and push blood toward your heart. The squeezing of the veins can also dislodge clots, allowing them to be carried along with your bloodstream through the vena cava.

The vena cava supplies oxygen-poor blood to the right side of your heart. Emboli can travel with the blood as it flows through your right atrium and exits your right ventricle through the pulmonary valve. Once the clots have traveled through the valve, they enter the pulmonary arteries, which supply blood to your lungs. If the blood clots form a blockage, you will experience pulmonary embolism blood clots. Ocella birth control has also been reported as being used by women how have suffered a PE.

Yaz PE can be fatal if it is not treated quickly. While anticoagulants – and in dire situations, thrombolytic medications – are administered as a first response, both may prove ineffective. In such cases, your surgeon may elect to perform a suction thrombectomy or pulmonary embolectomy. Both procedures are used to remove blood clots from the arteries. Both pose serious risks and thus, are reserved for life-threatening circumstances.

Suction Thrombectomy And Pulmonary Embolectomy

During suction thrombectomy, your vascular surgeon will thread a catheter to the pulmonary embolism. A sodium chloride solution is injected through the catheter at the site. This creates retrograde pressure within the blocked artery. The pressure draws the embolus toward the catheter’s tip, which breaks it apart before extracting it.

If all other forms of treatment, including suction thrombectomy, are unable to resolve the blockage caused by Yaz blood clots, pulmonary embolectomy might be performed. The procedure usually involves invasive thoracotomy. A large incision is made into your chest through which the surgeon accesses the site and removes the offending clots. If deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is persistent, the surgeon may also place a filter in your inferior vena cava to catch emboli in the future.

Potential Risks Of PE Surgery

Any type of invasive chest surgery poses serious risks. Infection can present and bleeding can occur. The danger of bleeding is the reason patients who undergo thoracotomy are prescribed anticoagulants for several months following the operation.

Yaz causing pulmonary embolism surgery carries additional risks. It can cause arrhythmia and kidney problems. Moreover, the surgeon may inadvertently dislodge other blood clots that exist within your pulmonary arteries, thereby triggering a subsequent PE. It is worth noting that pulmonary embolectomy has a relatively high mortality rate, but that may be partly due to the procedure being performed on severely ill patients.

Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella birth control pills, like other hormone based contraceptives, are suspected of increasing the risk of blood clots. Healthy women who have never experienced abnormal clotting have developed clots after taking this oral contraceptive. When the clots form in the deep veins of the legs, they pose a danger of causing Yaz pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and stroke. If you or someone you know has taken these birth control pills and suffered clotting, PE, or other serious side effects, contact a Yaz blood clots attorney. Explore your legal options and seek the compensation you deserve.

Yaz and Yasmin (as well as the generic brand, Ocella) are known as combined-hormone oral contraceptives. They were the first birth control pills in the U.S. to introduce drospirenone as an active ingredient, and combine it with estrogen. Drospirenone is a synthetic progestin that has caused controversy due to its link to abnormal blood clots. While all estrogen-based birth control solutions carry a risk of clotting, drospirenone sharply raises that risk.

Healthy women have developed Yaz / Yasmin blood clots despite having never experienced abnormal clotting in the past, even after using other estrogen-based contraceptives. Below, I’ll explain how these clots can lead to serious, even life-threatening, circumstances.

Yaz Blood Clots And Your Venous System

There are two types of veins in your body: superficial and deep veins. Superficial veins lie near your skin’s surface. They are not surrounded by muscle. Blood clots that form within them will cause pain and swelling, but are unlikely to dislodge themselves. This is due to the absence of muscles that squeeze the veins.

Deep veins are located within groups of muscles. They connect to the vena cava, which sends blood toward your heart. When your muscles contract, they squeeze the veins and push blood into the vena cava.

If a blood clot forms in a deep vein, it can become dislodged as a result of the muscles squeezing the vein. Once dislodged, the clot can travel along with your bloodstream. If it reaches your vena cava, it will continue traveling toward your heart and major arteries. At that point, the danger of an arterial blockage escalates.

Arterial Blockages: Your Lungs, Heart, And Brain

If a Yaz blood clot that formed in a deep vein (typically, in the leg) reaches one of your main arteries, it can trigger grave side effects. For example, your pulmonary arteries feed blood to your lungs. The blood is oxygenated before it is sent throughout your body. A clot that lodges within one of these arteries can cause pulmonary embolism, a potentially fatal condition. Even in the event that you receive immediate medical attention, you may suffer permanent damage to a portion of your lung tissue.

If the traveling blood clot (known as an embolus) finds its way into a coronary artery, it can have similarly disastrous results. Your coronary arteries supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood. If any portion of the muscle is starved, that portion will sustain damage and you’ll experience a heart attack. If the flow of blood is not restored within a few hours, the damaged muscle will begin to die.

If the embolus reaches any of your carotid, vertebral, or basilar arteries, and creates a blockage, you will suffer an ischemic stroke. These arteries supply your brain with oxygen and nutrients. If the clot interrupts the flow of blood, a portion of your brain will starve. Unlike pulmonary embolism and heart attack, which can potentially develop slowly, ischemic stroke can develop rapidly. The portion of your brain that is starved by the blockage will begin to die within minutes.

Are You At Risk?

When Yaz or Yasmin blood clots form within a deep vein (deep vein thrombosis), they suggest potentially dangerous side effects down the road. The squeezing of your muscles around the vein can dislodge the clots and send them toward your vena cava. Pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and stroke become possible as the emboli travel closer to your lungs, heart, and brain.

If you or someone you love has experienced abnormal clotting after taking Yaz or Yasmin oral contraceptives, you may have the right to make a legal claim against the manufacturer. Contact a Yaz blood clot attorney to explore your options.

If Yasmin or Yaz DVT is left untreated, the clot can detach itself and be carried along with your bloodstream. If the embolus (a wandering clot) reaches a pulmonary artery, it may cause a pulmonary embolism. If it reaches a coronary artery, it might trigger a heart attack. If it travels to a carotid artery and prevents blood from reaching your brain, you will likely suffer a stroke.

Below, I’ll provide an overview of common forms of treatment for Yasmin and Yaz DVT. They include medications, surgery, and less invasive procedures.

Preventing Future Clots With Anticoagulants

Once you are diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), your doctor will prescribe one or more anticoagulants (also called blood thinners). Their purpose is twofold: to prevent the existing clot from growing larger and to prevent future clots from forming. The two most common blood thinners used to treat DVT are heparin and Coumadin (also called warfarin). Heparin is administered directly into a vein (i.e. injection or IV) and has an immediate effect. Coumadin is taken in pill form and produces results within a few days.

It’s important to note that blood thinners do not dissolve Yaz blood clots. That is the job of thrombolytic drugs.

Dissolving Existing Clots With Thrombolytics

If the blood clot is large and presents severe symptoms or a life-threatening circumstance, your doctor may suggest thrombolysis. Medications called thrombolytics are administered intravenously. These drugs can quickly dissolve existing clots. However, because they also carry a risk of bleeding and stroke, physicians will only recommend their use if your life is in danger.

Vena Cava Filters: An Alternative To Anticoagulants

When anticoagulants fail to prevent clotting, or you’re not a suitable candidate for them, your doctor may recommend a vena cava filter. There is a large vein within your abdomen that carries blood to your lungs and heart. It is called the vena cava. A vascular surgeon can use a catheter to position a filter within the vena cava. The filter will catch wandering clots (called emboli) before they can reach a pulmonary or coronary artery.

Preventing Pooling With Elastic Compression Stockings

A Yaz DVT can cause swelling within your leg as blood pools in the clot site. An elastic compression stocking can be worn around your lower leg to prevent pooling and further clotting. It extends from your ankle to the bottom of your knee, applying a graduated level of pressure. The stocking is tightest near your ankle which encourages blood to move upward toward your heart.

Venous Thrombectomy: Dealing With Severe Yaz DVT

Though rare, deep vein thrombosis can be so severe that invasive surgery is necessary to preserve the patient’s life. The condition is called phlegmasia cerulea dolens; it is unresponsive to anticoagulants, thrombolytics, and other non-surgical treatment paths. Left untreated, it can lead to gangrene. A surgeon can perform a venous thrombectomy to surgically remove the clot from within the deep vein.

Blood clots are common when taking oral contraceptives that contain estrogen. The hormone drospirenone presents a higher risk. If you or someone you love has suffered from blood clots that have led to Yaz DVT, you may have legal rights. Contact a Yaz attorney to discuss them.

Yaz birth control is known as a fourth-generation combined-hormone contraceptive because it contains a synthetic hormone called drospirenone. Along with ethinyl estradiol, drospirenone has been found to increase the risk of blood clots 6.3-fold compared to non-use. Unfortunately, the clotting can lead to a number of serious Yaz side effects. Below, I’ll explain how Yaz blood clots can cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which can lead to pulmonary embolism, strokes, and heart attacks.

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

Most instances of deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot that forms within a deep vein) occur in the legs, though they can also form in the arms and pelvis. Normally, the muscles in your legs contract through regular physical activity. The contractions squeeze the deep veins and push blood back toward your heart. Yaz birth control can cause your blood to coagulate faster than normal. When that happens, a blood clot can form within the deep vein.

Deep vein thrombosis impedes your circulation. By itself, it is not a life-threatening circumstance, though many women experience discomfort within the DVT site. The danger increases substantially if the blood clot becomes detached from the site and travels with the bloodstream.

Pulmonary Embolism, Strokes, And Heart Attacks

A traveling blood clot is known as an embolus. It is dangerous because it can directly block blood flow to your lungs, brain, and heart. For example, if an embolus travels toward your lungs and settles within a pulmonary artery, it can prevent blood from reaching the lung fed by that artery. This is known as pulmonary embolism (PE); it often results in permanent lung damage.

Similarly, an embolus can settle within an artery that feeds oxygen-rich blood to your brain. If your brain is starved of oxygen, you might experience an ischemic stroke. That may lead to long-term physical impairment.

If the embolus settles within a coronary artery, it can prevent blood from reaching your heart, which will trigger a heart attack. Within a few hours, the area of your heart muscle that has been starved of blood will begin to die.

Should You File A Yaz Lawsuit?

Even though all oral contraceptives increase the risk of developing blood clots, Yaz birth control carries a markedly higher risk. There is growing evidence that Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals (the manufacturer of Yaz and Yasmin) was aware of the dangers and neglected to inform the public. Meanwhile, they launched an aggressive marketing campaign that positioned their drugs as superior to available alternatives, a claim that the FDA forced them to retract.

An increasing number of women who have experienced a Yaz blood clot have filed lawsuits to hold Bayer accountable. If you or someone you love has suffered from DVT, pulmonary embolism, strokes, or heart attacks as the result of taking this oral contraceptive, contact a Yaz lawyer today. You may be eligible to file a claim.

Paying attention to any of the above mentioned side effects is crucial since Yaz has been linked to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. Bayer Corporation began marketing Yaz in 2006. In 2008, the deceptive marketing campaign prompted the FDA to issue Bayer a warning letter which forced the company to correct its misleading TV commercials. The FDA criticized the ads for misleading women with false information that Yaz is an approved treatment for all types of acne, when it was only approved to treat moderate acne. The FDA also stated that the commercials implied that Yaz was approved to treat the symptoms of PMS, when it was only approved for the treatment of PMDD. Finally, and most importantly, the FDA criticized the ads for downplaying important side effect information, such as the association with the development of Yaz and blood clots.

By January of 2009, when the corrective Yaz ad campaign began to run, Yaz was already one of the most popular birth control pills on the market. Yaz contains a synthetic type of progestin, drospirenone. According to the FDA, drospirenone can lead to hyperkalemia, a condition caused by excessive amounts of potassium in the blood, in high risk patients. This condition can lead to serious heart and health problems. Recently, several lawsuits have been filed for women who have claimed to have suffered various ailments, including deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and stroke. Yaz is also believed to have caused heart attacks and sudden deaths in young women.

We represent all women suffering from Yaz blood clot side effects on a contingency basis which means that there are never any legal fees unless we win compensation in your case. For a free no-obligation consultation please call toll free at 1-888-343-5375 or fill out our short online contact form and a Yaz lawyer will contact you to answer any of your questions.

It’s worth noting that all oral contraceptives expose women to abnormal blood clots. This is because they contain estrogen. Birth control pills that include lower doses of estrogen yield a lower incidence rate of clotting. Having said that, there is significant concern surrounding Yaz contraceptives. Not only is the risk of blood clots much higher, but Yaz birth control pills are the most popular contraceptives on the market. In effect, the public’s exposure is greater.

Below, I’ll describe the link between Yaz, the progestin drospirenone, and the increased risk of having a Yaz blood clot. I’ll also explain a few of the life-threatening complications that can result from the clotting.

The Role Of Drospirenone In Clotting

The medical community has not been able to determine conclusively why the inclusion of drospirenone in Yaz oral contraceptives yields a higher risk of blood clots. There is suspicion that the reason is linked to lower water retention and higher potassium retention. A single Yaz birth control pill contains 3 mg of drospirenone, which is equivalent to 25 mg of spironolactone. Spironolactone is a potassium sparing diuretic. The lack of water in a woman’s bloodstream combined with increased levels of potassium may be the reason behind the increased risk of Yaz blood clots.

Yaz Blood Clots And Problems

When blood clots form within veins, they do not necessarily pose an immediate danger to the patient’s life. In fact, clotting is the body’s natural healing mechanism when a blood vessel is damaged. If a blood clot grows, it will begin to impede the bloodstream and block your circulation. That will result in swelling and discomfort in the affected site. Because the veins carry blood back to your heart, a large clot can also lead to a number of ancillary symptoms.

If the blood clot forms within a deep vein, it can lead to a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). If it becomes detached, it can cause a number of life-threatening situations. The traveling clot (known as an embolus) will be carried along by your bloodstream. If it travels and blocks an artery that feeds oxygen to one of your lungs, the clot can trigger a pulmonary embolism. If it blocks an artery that feeds oxygen to your brain, the clot can cause a stroke. If the embolus blocks a coronary artery that feeds oxygen and blood to your heart, it can lead to a heart attack.

Filing A Yaz Lawsuit

The circumstances described above are why many doctors are concerned about the increased risk of Yaz blood clots. Even though all oral contraceptives carry a risk of clotting, this fourth-generation contraceptive pill carries a higher risk due to the synthetic progestin drospirenone.

One of the reasons Yaz birth control pills have become the market leader is due to the manufacturer’s aggressive advertising campaigns. Not only did Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals promote their product as superior to other contraceptives, some are arguing that they failed to adequately warn the public of the dangers involved with using it.

Women who have never shown signs of abnormal blood clotting have developed DVT, pulmonary embolisms, strokes, and even heart attacks after taking Yaz. Some have filed lawsuits to hold Bayer accountable. If you have suffered from any of these conditions, contact a Yaz blood clot lawyer today for a free no-obligation consultation.