Yasmin Litigation Update

Dallas, TXEven though Bayer has settled thousands of Yasmin and Yaz lawsuits, there is still time to file a claim. For example, a Texas resident in November 2013 filed a claim in federal court for more than $350,000 due to Yasmin and Yaz side effects.

This recent lawsuit filed by Ms. Jackson in New Jersey District Court (2:2013cv07141) claims that Bayer’s birth control pills caused her to suffer a stroke two years before she filed the Yaz stroke lawsuit. The lawsuit blames Bayer for a number of injuries, including pain and suffering and all her medical expenses. Further, the lawsuit claims that Yaz and Yasmin side effects, including injuries and deaths, are documented in hundreds of reports submitted to the FDA. The lawsuit further shows that studies have proven Yaz and Yasmin are linked to blood clots, pulmonary embolism, stroke and heart attacks.

(Both Yaz and Yasmin contain a “fourth generation” progestin called drospirenone, which is known to increase potassium levels in the blood, which in turn can lead to elevated blood potassium levels, known as hyperkalemia. And hyperkalemia can cause potentially fatal heart rhythm disturbances - if normal heart rhythms are disrupted, blood flow through the heart can be slowed and blood clots can form. These clots can lead to heart attacks and strokes.)

A month before Ms. Jackson filed in New Jersey, a Yasmin lawsuit was filed in Illinois Southern District Court (case no. 3:2013cv10850). The plaintiff claims that Yasmin caused her to suffer a pulmonary embolism. The woman said that she started taking Yasmin in 2008, and a few months later the embolism was found. (A pulmonary embolism can be fatal.)

Yasmin and Yaz Miscarriage Lawsuits

In addition to the thousands of lawsuits filed alleging Yasmin DVT, Yaz blood clots and serious heart events, a number of women claim that the birth control pills caused them to miscarry. In September 2013, a woman filed a lawsuit in Louisiana Eastern District Court (case no. 2:2013cv05844) claiming that Yasmin and Yaz caused her to suffer several miscarriages. In the lawsuit, the woman claims that she was prescribed Yasmin/Yaz in 2007 and she suffered miscarriages in 2008 and 2011.

Yasmin and Yaz Multidistrict Litigation

By mid-December 2013, there were almost 10,000 lawsuits currently consolidated before a single federal court judge. They are pending in the Yasmin/Yaz Multidistrict Litigation (MDL 2100, US District Court, Southern District of Illinois). To date, Bayer has settled about 7,660 Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits alleging blood clot injuries like pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) to the tune of nearly $1.6 billion.

In its third quarter financial statement, Bayer reported the following:

“As of October 18, 2013, Bayer had reached agreements, without admission of liability, to settle the claims of approximately 7,660 claimants in the U.S. for a total amount of about US$1.575 billion. Bayer has only been settling claims in the U.S. for venous clot injuries (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) after a case-specific analysis of medical records on a rolling basis. Such injuries are alleged by about 2,300 of the pending unsettled claimants. Bayer will continue to consider the option of settling such individual lawsuits in the U.S. on a case-by-case basis”

Yasmin and Yaz Gallbladder Lawsuits

As well as DVT and pulmonary embolism injuries, Bayer has set aside $24 million to settle other lawsuits in the multidistrict litigation involving Yasmin gallbladder side effects allegations, according to the court file in the litigation.