With thousands of lawsuits being filed against Bayer, the makers of Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills, one question seems to pop up often in the courtroom: “Are Yaz and Yasmin the same?”
One clue that gives you an idea of what the answer to that question is can be found in the drugs’ names. While Yaz and Yasmin have similar names that only vary slightly, the same can be said about the differences between the two pills. While both pills’ main medicinal ingredient is comprised of drosperinone, a synthetic progestin, it is the pills’ composition of estrogen that marks the largest difference between the two.
Yaz and Yasmin are generally referred to as “combined one-a-day birth control pills” due to the fact that they both made up of a combination of drospirenone and estrogen. Yasmin is composed of a larger dose of estrogen than Yaz, and Yasmin uses more placebo pills for each cycle (Yasmin uses 7 placebos while Yaz uses only 4). Another difference between the two pills can be found in the pills’ off-label uses. Yasmin is only used as a means of preventing pregnancy, but Yaz’s off-label uses get just as much attention as the pill’s contraceptive capabilities.
One thing that Bayer comes under fire for in recent lawsuits is its previous marketing campaign that aggressively promoted Yaz’s ability to help clear up moderate acne and severe PMS — all while downplaying the drug’s adverse side effects. It is these side effects that make both Yaz and Yasmin so dangerous to take. This is what brings us to what makes both pills so similar. Yaz and Yasmin are both comprised of the same dosage of drosperinone. It is the drosperinone that causes the severe and potentially fatal side effects such as heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis and gallbladder disease.
This information shows that while there are some minor differences between the both Yaz and Yasmin, the pills are identical in just how dangerous they are.
