Cases Against Yaz Filed By Women Who Were Harmed By New Birth Control

Last year, annual sales of Yaz reached $361 million, according to Pennsylvania-based SDI Health, which tracks sales of prescription drugs. Annual sales of Yasmin had declined since 2008 when the drug generated $329 million. A year after Yasmin went on the market; the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen placed the drug on its list of “Do not use pills.” In June, FDA regulators acknowledged new evidence that raised more questions about the safety of Yaz and birth control pills like it, including the top-selling generic Ocella. The agency posted a notice on its website saying it was aware of studies recently published in the British Medical Journal that showed oral contraceptives containing drospirenone were two to three times more likely to cause blood clots than other birth control pills.

In an order filed on Monday, Judge David R. Herndon expanded the scope of discovery beyond the 24 cases selected last year to serve as a pool of bellwether lawsuits, which are being prepared for early trial dates. Case-specific discovery, including depositions of individual plaintiffs, will also now be permitted in the oldest 100 non-bellwether cases that have been filed. About 6,350 lawsuits are now consolidated as part of the Yasmin and Yaz litigation before Judge Herndon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. When Judge Herndon implemented the original bellwether program in October 2010, there were about 3,700 filed cases and the number of cases is expected to continue to grow as Yaz and Yasmin lawyers review and file additional cases.

When they were approved by regulators, the pills were considered an advance over older forms of oral contraceptives because they were taken for 24 days rather than the usual 21, which was believed to benefit women because it created less hormonal fluctuation. But, all of the suits involve allegations that Bayer failed to properly research their birth control pills or adequately warn about the increased risk of serious and potentially life-threatening injuries from the birth control pills containing drospirenone, such as a stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and gallbladder disease.