Yaz Lawsuits Allege Misrepresentation of Side Effects

Bayer and its subsidiary Berlex, currently face about 7,000 Yaz lawsuits and Yasmin lawsuits over the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, still, many other pharmaceutical companies have entered into the market with generic versions of Yaz. Bayer is currently indicating that they intend to fight the cases and do not have any plans to settle Yaz or Yasmin lawsuits. Yaz and Yasmin both contain a combination of the hormones ethinyl estradiol and drospirenone. Drospirenone impacts the body’s normal mechanism of regulating a balance between salt and water, which could result in elevated potassium levels. Currently the Yasmin and Yaz injury suits have been centralized for pretrial proceedings in the federal court system as well as several states. In federal court, all cases filed throughout the country are being handled out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois for coordinated management during discovery.

Thus far, approximately 10% of the cases filed against Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella, involve women who allege that they suffered a heart attack or stroke from Yaz. Approximately 40% of the cases involve venus thromboembolisms, which include deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms from Yaz. The remaining claims involve Yasmin or Yaz gallbladder removals and injuries, with many of the cases resulting in women having their gallbladder removed. In the blood clot study, published last week in the British Medical Journal, researchers from Boston indicated that Beyaz, Yaz and Yasmin should not be the first choice of birth control pill for women, due to the double risk when compared to women taking older pills containing levonorgestrel.

Bayer and Berlex have been warned several times about false and misleading statements made in advertisements for Yasmin and Yaz, which failed to adequately warn about the serious Yaz side effects. In 2003, Berlex was warned by the FDA that Yasmin advertisements downplayed risks associated with the drug and implied it was superior to other birth control pills, which is not true. The FDA indicated that the ads raised significant public health and safety concerns. In 2009, Bayer HealthCare began running a $20 million advertising campaign to correct misrepresentations made about Yaz safety in ads.