Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
A woman who suffered a debilitating stroke that left her paralyzed just 13 days after she began taking the controversial Yasmin birth control pill has been awarded $14 million.
LifeSiteNews is reporting on the story of Mariola Zapalski, a recent immigrant from Poland now living in the suburbs of Chicago, who was prescribed the pill in 2007 for irregular bleeding. Her doctor, Zbigniew Aniol, never warned Zapalski, who was 37 at the time, that the drug carries a greater risk of stroke for women over 35 and those with other risk factors. Thirteen days after starting the medication, she suffered a massive stroke that caused permanent brain damage and left her paralyzed on the left side and unable to walk.
As a result, her husband, Rafal, has had to quit his job in order to take care of his wife who is not only wheelchair bound but whose care will result in a lifetime of medical bills.
“Under the circumstances for this patient, Yasmin was a dangerous drug for her and it was an inappropriate choice because of Mariola Zapalski’s underlying risk factors,” said Bradley Cosgrave, Zapalski’s attorney.
Cosgrave said Dr. Aniol should have prescribed a drug that had less side effects, such as a progesterone-only based pill.
“The conduct of the defendant left a young woman’s life forever changed and hopefully this verdict will send a message to other health care providers to be very careful in prescribing this medication that can be very dangerous,” Cosgrave said.
According to Andrew Findley of the National Trial Lawyers, “Yasmin, which is still available, has been criticized by medical professionals for its severe side effects, including causing strokes in young women. The FDA has issued a safety review update for Yasmin and other birth control drugs containing drospirenone because of an increased risk of blood clots.”
Thus far, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the drug, has had to settle more than 8,200 claims against the drug, totaling $1.4 billion.
Despite the evidence of serious health risks associated with Yasmin and its sister drug, Yaz, Bayer insists the drug is safe and it remains on the market.
Where are the feminists? Where is Sandra Fluke? Where are all those lawmakers who trot out the “war on women” banners every other week for one vague reason or another?
I guess that old saying holds true: “They can’t see the forest through the trees”. The mass-marketing of life-threatening drugs to women is the real “war on women” and yet the wagers of the phony war can’t – or won’t – allow themselves to see it. Why? Because their ideology has blinded them.
Instead of fighting for a woman’s right to maintain the health of her body, they’re fighting to give her increased access to the very drugs that are maiming and killing her out of the misguided notion that sex without fear of pregnancy is somehow “liberating”.
We can only pray for them, that their eyes and their hearts will open to the truth and enable them to fight the real war on women one day – the one that strips women of their femininity and leaves them in bondage to the wiles of others.
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