Yaz Problems Include Blood Clot

by Steve Fields on September 18th, 2009

Everyone is at risk for having a blood clot (venous thrombosis) within their lifetime, but how high a risk depends on a variety of factors including your genetic make-up and lifestyle. Recently, women have been coming forward reporting Yaz problems including blood clots and strokes while using this relatively new form of birth control.

Genetic Predisposition. You may have thrombophilia, a predisposition for blood clotting. This term includes a number of genetic conditions that increase the propensity of the body to form a blood clot, leading to serious and sometimes life-threatening complications depending on the location of the clot. The most common inherited form is Factor V Leiden. Factor V Leiden is the name of a specific mutation that almost always causes the excessive clotting to occur in the veins, leading to a higher risk for deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Most people with the factor V Leiden mutation never develop abnormal blood clots, however. About 25 percent (1 in 4) of people who have had a blood clot in the veins have an inherited thrombophilia.

If you have suffered from Yaz blood clots and have tested positive for a genetic clotting disorder please contact us for more information regarding your legal options including filing a Yaz lawsuit. Many women who developed blood clots while taking Yaz or Yasmin birth control also had a genetic blood clotting factor but had no previous problems with clots.

Family History. If you have a known inherited thrombophilia mutation in the immediate family (parent, sibling, or child), you have a 50 percent (1 in 2) chance of having the same genetic risk. If it is an uncle, aunt, grandparent, niece, or nephew, you have a 25 percent (1 in 4) chance. The more distant the family member, the more your risk decreases. As high as 63 percent of families with blood clots in more than one family member have an inherited thrombophilia. While having an inherited thrombophilia increases the level of risk, there are a number of other factors that can influence the amount of risk.

Cancer. Everyone who has an active cancer has a 1 in 25 risk of forming a blood clot.

Age. There are age-related risks, with the risk of having deep vein thrombosis as high as 1 in 625 if you are over 70, versus 1 in 10,000 for those under 40.

Surgery. There is always a certain level of risk of developing a blood clot during surgery or recovery. For a person with a factor V Leiden mutation the risk increases about 20 times.

If you suffered from a blood clot following surgery while taking Yasmin or Yaz birth control please contact us for more information regarding your rights.

Immobility. You may develop a clot during long periods of immobility. A person with an inherited thrombophilia has a greater risk of developing a blood clot during for example, long distance travel (3 hours or more), but the exact amount of risk is unclear due to the number of factors involved.

General Lifestyle. Living a sedentary lifestyle, being obese, and smoking all contribute to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, along with developing blood clots.

Women’s Risks. All women have a risk of developing a blood clot while using hormone-based birth control products like the pill, patch or combination hormone birth control pill (Yaz) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Women taking the pill have a four times greater risk of developing blood clots than non-users. For a woman with the factor V Leiden mutation, the risk increases 30 to 35 times with the pill and 13 to 15 times with HRT. Pregnant women have a risk of having a blood clot as well. For a pregnant woman with a factor V Leiden mutation, the risk increases 7 to 16 times. Some studies have shown that the hormones in the newer third and fourth generation birth control products increase the risk of developing blood clots in otherwise healthy women.

Please contact us for information regarding filing a Yaz lawsuit for side effects from a blood clot or if you have any questions regarding risk factors and medical issues such as genetic clotting factors.