Lawsuits Progress as Yaz Lawyers Seek MDL

Yaz, Yasmin, and the generic form Ocella is a type of birth control originally developed by Berlex Laboratories that was first approved for use in 2001. In 2006, the drug company, Bayer, acquired Berlex and marketed a more recent version of Yasmin, called YAZ. Ocella is a generic version. Yasmin, Yaz, and Ocella all contain drospirenone, a "fourth generation" progestin. No other birth control pills contain drospirenone. As is common in complex pharmaceutical claims, plaintiffs are seeking to consolidate all Yasmin and Yaz birth control lawsuits in an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation, where the individual cases would be assigned to one judge and handled in a manner similar to how a Yasmin / Yaz class action lawsuit would be managed during pretrial litigation.

Although a growing number of Yaz injury lawsuits and Yasmin injury lawsuits have been filed by women suffering from Yaz side effects throughout the United States against Bayer, to date there have not been any disclosed

settlements that have been paid. A final resolution or settlement of Yaz and Yasmin cases is likely to take several years. If the litigation does not settle before the bellwether Yaz trials and Yasmin trials begin, the results of those cases may lead to a settlement for other cases based on how the juries respond to the evidence and value the plaintiffs’ damages in the Yasmin and Yaz injury claims.

According to a case management order issued July 8 by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Brian R. Martinotti, the first Yaz trial in New Jersey state court should be ready to go before a jury on September 10, 2012. At least three trial dates are anticipated in the federal MDL, one involving a Yaz pulmonary embolism, one involving a gallbladder injury and one involving a venous thromboembolism, with the first Yaz trial in federal court expected to begin early next year. In complex litigation involving a large number of claims with similar underlying facts, early trials are useful in helping the parties gauge the strengths and weaknesses of their cases, and may help facilitate a possible Yaz settlement agreement that includes other lawsuits in the litigation.