1,100 Yaz Injury Lawsuits with More Expected

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Jason Krebs

Annual reports can be long and boring and are often a waste of the paper they are printed on, but for persevering readers buried deep in the pages there is sometimes an interesting kernel of information to be found. On page 243 of the Bayer 2009 Annual Report  there is such a detail.  

Bayer, makers of the popular, but problematic birth control drug Yaz and Yasmin wrote that there were,

about 1,100 lawsuits pending in the United States served on Bayer on behalf of persons alleged to have suffered personal injuries, some of them fatal, from the use of Bayer’s oral contraceptive products Yasmin®, yaz® and / or Ocella, a generic version of Yasmin® distributed by Barr Laboratories, Inc. in the u.s. market.  Plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages, claiming, in particular, that Bayer knew or should have known the alleged risks and should be held liable for having failed to disclose them or adequately warn users of Yasmin® and yaz®. 

Yaz and Yasmin are listed as Bayer's Best Selling Pharmaceutical Product on page 60, with sales of US$1.7 billion which is a 4.7% increase from 2008.  You can bet that Bayer isn't going to back down quietly from this fight and in fact they state, "Additional lawsuits are anticipated. Bayer believes that it has meritorious defenses and intends to defend itself vigorously."

If you have suffered gall bladder disease, blood clots or pulmonary embolisms, stroke, deep vein thrombosis or other injury that you think is a side effect related to taking the birth control Yaz or Yasmin, please contact a Yaz lawyer for help in representing your case. You cannot take on Bayer by yourself and need an attorney who can help get your voice heard.  

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Yaz Side Effects, Not Commercials are the Real Problem

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Jason Krebs

You may have noticed Yaz birth control commercials containing two interesting lines from the actress. 

  1. “You may have seen some Yaz commercials recently that were not clear.”
  2. "The FDA wants us to correct a few points in those ads.”  
Yaz Birth Control Can Have Harmful Side Effects

Actually, it wasn't that the ads were "not clear" in the sense that they left one confused, but that the commercials overstated the range and severity of symptoms that the drug Yaz (also called Yasmin or if generic, Ocella) could treat and was approved to treat.  So the FDA, in February 2009, required Bayer AG, the makers of Yaz and Yasmin, to spend $20 million to make new ads correcting the overstatements and to submit all future Yaz commercials for FDA prior to airing for the next six years.

But, Bayer's real problems may lie ahead.  

There are several cases of dangerous side effects from Yaz related to pulmonary embolisms (blood clot in the lung), deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the leg), heart arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), cardiac arrest (heart attack), stroke, and even gallbladder problems. These health issues seem to be caused from a unique ingredient in Yaz called drospirenone that can increase blood potassium to dangerous levels creating a condition called hyperkalemia which can lead to serious health issues for Yaz users of all ages.  

Yaz and Yasmin are the number-one selling birth control pills in the United States accounting for about a third of all oral contraceptives sold here.  That translates to a lot of money going to Bayer AG and a lot of incentive for them to keep Yaz as a viable drug through marketing and/or misleading claims.  

Don't ignore any Yaz side effects you may be feeling. Go to your doctor.  If your symptoms are related to using Yaz or Yasmin, call a lawyer who knows about Yaz side effects to help with your case. 

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