Judge In Yaz MDL Announces Hopes For Settlements to Occur

In October 2010, Judge Herndon implemented a process that calls for a handful of cases to be prepared for a series of three early trials, known as bellwether cases. The first trial will involve a Yaz pulmonary embolism. The second trial will involve a gallbladder injury from Yaz and the third trial will involve a venous thromboembolism (VTE), such as a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Currently the Yasmin and Yaz lawsuits 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, the early bellwether trials and any preliminary attempts to negotiate settlement offers. Similar centralized management for the cases has been put in place for state court cases filed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys recently asked Judge Herndon to consolidate several cases for the second and third trials, arguing that trying cases one plaintiff at a time would “commit this litigation to a lifespan of eternity.” Plaintiffs indicated that there has been no movement by Bayer towards a Yaz settlement agreement, and suggested that efficiencies would be served by trying several cases at a time after the first bellwether trial. Judge Herndon has stated that the court plans to move towards “meaningful” settlement negotiations once the initial trials have been held, which are designed to help gauge how juries are likely to respond to evidence.

Yaz and Yasmin are birth control pills that contain a newer type of progestin, known as drospirenone, which has been linked to an increased risk of blood clots and other injuries. The Yaz and Yasmin litigation also involves cases filed over a newer version of the birth control pills, sold as Beyaz, as well as generic equivalents, such as Ocella and Gianvi. Although the first trials are approaching, the number of lawsuits is expected to continue to grow as Yaz and Yasmin lawyers review and file additional cases in the coming months and years for women who have experienced health problems from the birth control pills.