An upcoming ruling by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) will be of great significance to Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the lawyers for both sides, and the patients involved in over fifty lawsuits across the United States. A hearing has been scheduled by the court on September 24 to hear oral arguments for and against MDL consolidation, whether or not it should be ordered for the cases, and if this would have a convincing impact on other cases regarding Yasmin/Yaz lawsuits in the future.
As the lawsuits relating to prescription birth control medications Yaz and Yasmin have mounted against Bayer Pharmaceuticals, attorneys in different states are managing similar cases against the company for the serious interactions of Yasmin and Yaz and the female body. Cases generally allege that the potentially deadly side effects, including heart attacks, strokes, gallbladder disease, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism (PE).
Additionally, most of the lawsuits allege that Yasmin and Yaz both put the patient at risk for a condition known as hyperkalemia. This condition is marked by increased potassium levels in the blood, and often has no symptoms at all. It can lead to cardiac arrest and kidney failure in affected patients and it difficult to anticipate until it is too late.
Other allegations in the Yasmin and Yaz lawsuits claim that Bayer failed to sufficiently research either of the medications. While almost all oral contraceptives contain a combination of estrogen and progestin, Yasmin and Yaz contain a newer type of synthetic progestin known as drospirenone. This chemical has been shown to be six times more likely to cause blood clots in patients. To this end, claims that Bayer also fraudulently concealed the risk of serious complications from taking these contraceptives and minimized the risk women faced when taking the medication.
In fact, there was an entirely separate case involving Bayer’s advertising and marketing campaign for Yasmin and Yaz. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to Berlex Laboratories, a part of the Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation, demanding they cease the use of an advertisement for Yasmin which appeared to gloss over the significant risk presented by the medication and insinuated that Yasmin was a safer alternative to other oral contraceptives. The FDA went on to say that it possessed evidence to the contrary; clinical trials showed drospirenone presented a statistically significant increase in serious side effects.
In spite of this sincere reprimand and subsequent fine for Bayer, both Yasmin and Yaz remained the top selling oral contraceptives in the U.S., posting 2008 sales figures of $616 million for Yaz and $382 million for Yasmin.
With the increase in publicity from the recent filings and the weighty number of class action lawsuits mounting against Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the possibility for a Yasmin recall seems potentially proximate. Patients currently taking either Yasmin or Yaz should continue to be aware of developing news stories regarding these medications, as the evolution of these cases could present significant changes to both their contraceptive regimen and health care needs.
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