Georgia Yaz News 1/24/2012:

A watchdog group is calling on the FDA reconsider a  a joint committee's vote in support of the Yaz/Yasmine oral contraceptive because four members of the committee – including a Stanford University professor of obstetrics and gynecology – had ties to the maker of the birth control pill that were not disclosed to the public during the meeting.

Four of the members who cast crucial votes in support of the contraceptives had ties to Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., the manufacturer of Yaz and Yasmin, according to public documents unearthed by the Project On Government Oversight and detailed in its Jan. 11 letter to the FDA.

That included Dr. Paula Hillard of Stanford’s School of Medicine. Hillard is listed on the medical school’s website as a paid consultant receiving $5,000 or more annually from a division of Bayer in 2010. Hillard was selected as a temporary voting member for the FDA committee in 2011.

Link: http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/stanford-doctor-birth-control-vote-had-ties-pills-maker-14545