The birth control method called Yaz has gotten a bad reputation, because the pill has been linked to an increased risk of blot clots and other harmful side effects. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer is introducing a new form of birth control called Natazia, which it hopes will overcome the health risks associated with Yaz. The only trouble is that Natazia contains a form of estrogen that has never been used as an oral contraceptive before, so it is unclear what the long term effects of Natazia will be. According to NPR:
“The safest is still, surprisingly, one of the oldest pills,” says Dr. Frits Rosendaal, an expert in clotting disorders at Leiden University in Holland.
Rosendaal led another study that also found that women taking Yaz have a higher risk of clotting than those on older birth control pills — about twice as high. That paper also appeared in the British Medical Journal. [Read more...]
Swissmedic, the Swiss agency that is responsible for overseeing the safety of medications, is currently 
A new birth control pill called Qlaira is on the market in the UK. Instead of artificial hormones, Qlaira uses “bioidentical hormones” found in plants that mimic the hormones a women’s body produces naturally. Qlaira is manufactured by Bayer Schering Pharma, the same company that manufactures Yaz in the US. According to 
