About 600 Australian women have expressed an interest in a potential class action against the manufacturers of the contraceptive pills Yasmin and Yas, reporting adverse reactions including blood clots and strokes after taking the pills.
The women approached the Adelaide law firm Tindall Gask Bentley after staff posted a notice on their website calling for expressions of interest last year. About 600 women have since responded, some of whom have had reported significant reactions after taking the pills, the firm said.
Many of the women who have approached the law firm have had experiences after taking Yasmin or Yas that do not relate to thrombosis (clotting), and may not be part of the class action, should it go ahead.
“The important thing to understand is the significant complications that some women have had with blood clotting following taking either of these tablets,” Tindall Gask Bentley lawyer Tim White told Guardian Australia.
“What we’re talking about are complications like deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke or heart attacks. They’re typically the sorts of things that have resulted in a lot of these women who have approached us being hospitalised.”
Studies over the last few years have said the popular contraceptives have a risk of blood clotting up to two or three times higher than other contraceptives.
Professor Michael Permezel, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog), told Guardian Australia that the studies being cited were retrospective, and while there was an increased risk of thrombosis with oral contraceptives, the risk was small, and actually far higher during pregnancy.
“I think on balance most doctors would believe there is a slight increase of risk with newer contraceptive pills than older ones,” he said.
“The main issue is that all oral contraceptive pills carry a small risk of thrombosis. The risk is very small, probably less than one in 1,000 women per year. Nevertheless if you’re the one in 1,000 … it can be quite important.
“Given that we’ve known for around 40 years that the oral contraceptive increases the risk [of thrombosis] a bit, are there some pills that increase it more than others? That remains controversial.”
Women could help minimise their risk of thrombosis by not smoking, avoiding excessive weight gain, and taking precautions such as keeping up movement during long travel and informing doctors that they are on the pill before undergoing procedures, he said.
Permezel said Ranzcog’s position was that a woman’s decision to take an oral contraceptive was a “risk-benefit equation” to be made with a doctor, as pills have different side-effect profiles, some of which suit many women.
Some US legal proceedings against manufacturer Bayer over reported adverse reactions after taking the pills have resulted in settlements.
“We are [confident]. They’re very different laws that are governed in the US compared to Australia. But it’s exactly the same medication,” said White.
“What one of the central issues in Australia – as in the US – was was whether or not consumers were fully informed of a number of potential risks … the more significant risk being the blood clotting.”
In December, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration said it would investigate Bayer over claims the company breached laws which prevented it marketing the pill Diane-35 as a contraceptive. Diane-35 was temporarily banned in France last year following a number of deaths there.
In Australia it is only permitted to be prescribed as a short- or medium-term treatment for acne and hormonal conditions, ABC reported.
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