Bayer Hit With Lawsuits Over Birth Control Pills

Oct. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- The Food and Drug Administration last month sent a letter of warning to Bayer Health Care, warning them of inadequate manufacturing safeguards in the making of their birth control pills, according to a story in the New York Times.
Bayer has been the subject of 74 lawsuits over problems with its birth control pill Yaz, the most popular in the country, the Times said. The pharmaceutical company drew a crackdown from the FDA in February over claims in TV ads that Yaz helped clear up acne and premenstrual symptoms.
What is surprising is that in the more than 100 online comments in the Times story, most of them are scathing in their critique of hormonal birth control devices.
“I am 59 years old and a registered nurse,” said Katherine from Boston. “Mine was the first generation of women to use the pill. I never trusted it. After doing my homework on its effects and side-effects, talking to my doctor, and hearing stories from friends and patients (yes I know, the dosage of hormones was different than today), I decided I didn’t want to fool mother nature.”
In a blistering but candid letter to the editor of StLToday.com, in St. Louis, one woman, responding to the Times story, wrote:
“Natural Family Planning, which is now used around the world … empowers women and does not line the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry. There are no side effects.
“What’s the catch?
“Nobody makes money from NFP. You won’t see ads for it on TV the way you’ve seen those Yaz ads.
“Your doctor isn’t going to teach you about it: he’s got 15 minutes with you until he sees his next patient.
“And, if you are between babies or have a serious reason to postpone pregnancy, yes, you will spend some days and nights doing something other than, well, what we’re talking about.
Classes in the Sympto-Thermal Method of Natural Family Planning are offered to married and engaged couples and can be taken at 15 locations in the Chicago, IL Archdiocese and surrounding area, including southeast Milwaukee and northwest Indiana. A homestudy course is also available at www.ccli.org.
The next class in the Chicago area will begin Fri., Oct. 9, 2009, at 7:30 pm at Holy Family Hospital in Des Plaines, IL.
Contact Lloyd & Monica Cassidy at 847-724-7206. Or go to http://www.naturalfamilyplanningchicago.com.

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The Couple to Couple League (CCL) is an international, interfaith, non-profit organization dedicated to teaching Natural Family Planning (NFP) to married and engaged couples. This news article is sponsored by the Chicago chapter of CCL International.