With Birth Control Pills, New Isn't Always Better

Quoted from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129258505

With Birth Control Pills, New Isn't Always Better

by Richard Knox

August 23, 2010

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Birth control pills are often marketed as doing much more than prevent pregnancy. The drugs also claim to treat acne, moodiness and bloating. But some researchers caution that these benefits do not outweigh the health risks known to accompany taking the pill.

Birth control pills are often marketed as doing much more than prevent pregnancy. The drugs also claim to treat acne, moodiness and bloating. But some researchers caution that these benefits do not outweigh the health risks known to accompany taking the pill.

Bayer HealthCare, the leading maker of birth control pills, is coming out with a brand new pill.

Natazia, as it's called, contains a form of estrogen that's never been used in an oral contraceptive. It also has a novel dosing regimen. Women on Natazia will take four different combinations and doses of hormones or sugar pills each month.

The new launch coincides with growing problems for Bayer's last new contraceptive, Yaz.

Beyond Birth Control

After Yaz came out in 2006, it quickly became America's No. 1 birth control pill, bringing Bayer $800 million last year. But now thousands of women are suing Bayer because they say Yaz caused them serious harm. Sales have dropped 15 percent in the past year.

It's a good time to look at the Yaz saga and see if it has anything to teach women and their doctors when they choose a contraceptive.

Yaz was something entirely new in the long history of birth control pills — and not just in its chemical formulation. It was the first pill to be marketed for multiple purposes. Bayer promoted it heavily as going "beyond birth control."

A centerpiece TV ad noted that "all birth control pills are 99 percent effective and can give you shorter, lighter periods. But there's one pill that goes beyond the rest. It's Yaz."

On the screen, brightly colored balloons floated upward. Each balloon had a label — moodiness, irritability, feeling anxious, increased appetite, bloating, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, acne. In the background, The Veronicas sang "Goodbye to You."

Enlarge Jane Greenhalgh/NPR

Katie Anderson, shown with her mother, Beth, suffered a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Her symptoms started within a month of taking the birth control pill Yaz.

A Cautionary Tale

Those ads caught the attention of a 16-year-old in Maryland named Katie Anderson.

"I do remember going to the gynecologist and asking for Yaz because I had seen the commercials," says Anderson, who's now 19. "That was the one I wanted."

Anderson hoped Yaz would even out her irregular periods. She liked the implication that Yaz could treat premenstrual syndrome. And, of course, the idea of clear skin appealed to her, too.

"What girl would not fall for something that says, you know, it's going to help with moderate or mild acne?" she says. "That's great! That's just a perk, that's a plus."

So she got her doctor to write a prescription for Yaz. It's a choice she'd live to regret.

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