Santa Monica, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/29/2011 -- The law offices of John Donahue today released an important update on the dangers of birth control pill “Yaz”, a drug also marketed under the names “Yasmin” or “Ocella”.

Last fall, 18-year-old Michelle A. Pfleger collapsed on her way to morning class at Elon University in North Carolina. The Eastern Express Times reports that a few hours later, she was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The shocking death of this otherwise healthy young teen was caused by blood clot obstruction of a blood vessel in her lung–pulmonary thromboemboli–according to the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical examiner.

The freshman teen’s mother, Joan Cummins, believes the use of Yaz, an oral contraceptive, “contributed to the death of her daughter,” according to the Express Times. Ms. Collins said her daughter was in good health at the time, apart from a knee problem. She said she did not suspect Yaz as being the problem until friends told her to start looking into Yaz’ known link to possibly dangerous side effects such as blood clots. She points to the high number of recent blood clot related complaints against Bayer Healthcare as supportive of her claim that Yaz caused the death. “There’s just really no reason that a healthy young woman who had a knee injury would have developed this,” the deceased teen’s mother states, in reference to the blood clots. The Express Times goes on to explain that, “aside from seeking justice for her daughter’s death”, Cummins said she wants teenage girls and women to know about what she and her attorney call “the dangers of oral contraceptives.”

Yaz has indeed, for some time now, been associated with an increased risk of blood clots, as acknowledged by its maker Bayer Pharmaceuticals. In fact, just last April, the US Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) and Bayer reached an agreement under which Bayer was required to post a warning of “the relative risk of developing venous thrombosis or blockage in a vein.” Many other young girls have suffered serious and sometimes deadly complications from Yaz and its related contraceptives, including blood clots, strokes, and gall bladder disease. Katie Ketner started taking Yaz at 15. By the time she was 18, she had to have her gall bladder removed due to its damaged condition. She, like so many other young women, was attracted by the uplifting, flashy Yaz advertising campaign, as well as the blessing of her doctor who reportedly confirmed the drug maker’s promise of clear skin, and less severe PMS. Susan Gallenos, a mother of two, only 4 weeks after starting to use Yaz, suffered a stroke and had to have part of her skull removed due to pressure on her brain.

There are thousands of other young women just like Michelle, Katie, and Susan who have suffered similar serious complications, all of which are acknowledged by Bayer as being side effects associated with the drugs Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella. With the recent surge to over 6000 in the number of lawsuits already filed in the U.S. against the drugs’ makers, legal experts expect many more before the litigation ends and caution all women to pay heed to the risks associated with these drugs.

For more information about Yaz/ Yasmin/ Ocella, or if you have suffered serious side effects from taking any of these drugs, please visit http://www.jdlawgroup.com/ or call attorney John Donahue immediately at 1-888-736-4248.