What are Yaz and Yasmin?
Yaz and Yasmin are comparatively new prescription birth control pills manufactured and marketed by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved Yasmin in 2001 and then approved its similar sister, Yaz in 2006. Yaz and Yasmin contain nearly the same active ingredients: ethinyl estradiol, an estrogen component and drospirenone, a progestin. Yaz and Yasmin are the only brand name birth control pills on the market with this combination of hormonal ingredients. Specifically, what makes Yasmin and Yaz different is their progestin ingredient: drospirenone is a fourth generation progestin that is not found in other birth control pills sold in the U.S.
