subject: Is Your Acne Cure Killing You? [print this page] Picture thisPicture this. You're a woman who has been suffering from a serious case of acne for the past several years. You've tried every medication imaginable, but nothing seems to help and your acne is just getting worse and worse. Although your friends tell you that people love you for who you are, you can see the look in people's eyes when they see the ugly blotches on your skin and it makes you hurt inside.
So one night you're watching TV and you see some commercials from a well known brand you've grown up with - Bayer.
Their 60-second spots called "Balloons" and "Not Gonna Take It" are for a new birth control pill they call Yaz. They imply that if you take this medication your acne will "float away" or simply disappear. They suggest that this oral contraceptive offers the promise of completely clear skin. It sounds like exactly what you need.
Even though you really aren't interested in taking a pill for birth control you desperately want to get rid of your acne. So you go to your doctor and he or she prescribes Yaz.
Some time goes by. Your skin isn't clearing up. But you start reading the articles that are cropping up in the newspapers about people who are complaining to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that they've been taking Yaz and now are experiencing some pretty serious health issues. You read that a number of women who took Yaz (or their survivors) have said that this oral contraceptive significantly increased their risk of suffering from serious and potentially fatal blood circulation problems such as DVT (deep vein thrombosis), stokes, heart attacks, and pulmonary embolisms.
Some time goes by and because of these claims the FDA finally investigates the drug and ultimately says that the risks associated with taking Yaz are "serious, even life-threatening." You soon see an article stating that the Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to Bayer warning them about their inaccurate marketing of Yaz.
It turns out that Yaz was approved only for women who were primarily seeking birth control and also were troubled with moderate acne. The drug was never approved for severe cases of acne. The FDA warned Bayer that its commercials inappropriately inferred that women who took Yaz would enjoy completely clear skin. What Bayer did not say is that they had no clinical evidence to support their clear skin claim. You have been risking your life taking a medicine that was falsely advertised. And you're not alone.
The bottom line is that a huge number of women who would not have taken Yaz ended up taking it because they thought it would successfully treat their acne. And quite a few of them suffered the unnecessary negative consequences of taking this medication while Bayer's profits piled up.
Individuals started fighting back by initiating a Yaz lawsuit.
