Yasmin Lawsuits Far-Reaching

Toronto, ONBayer has been hit with a class-action Yasmin lawsuit in Ontario and an attorney in Israel has applied to set in motion a class-action suit against the drug company for failing to update the birth control’s risks.

The Ontario Yasmin class action was certified in April 2013. Residents in Ontario who were prescribed the drospirenone-containing contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin between December 10, 2004 and January 6, 2009, respectively, and November 30, 2011, as well as family members of those users, are automatically included in the class-action lawsuit, according to McKenzie Lake Lawyers in London, Ontario. Yaz and Yasmin consumers who wish to opt out have until February 9, 2015 to notify the attorneys.

Attorney Yaakov Davidovich in October 2014 filed a petition for a class-action suit against Bayer Israel and Perrigo Israel (an Israeli local distributor), alleging that Yasmin and Yaz warnings regarding the risk of clotting and blood vessel blockage it added to the list of rare side effects was too little and too late.

Bayer updated Yasmin warning information by updating its pamphlet in January 2010. In the petition, Davidovich claims that Bayer updated the warning years after it had evidence of significant blood clotting associated with its drospirenone birth control pills.

Further, Bayer only updated the pamphlet rather than make public life-threatening risks.

Last October, Davidovich said that Bayer did not see fit to make public and to inform users of the Yasmin pill that it comes with a risk of excessive blood clotting, which is liable to cause complications from lung embolisms to death. At that time he also said that attorneys are informing the public about the serious Yasmin side effects, something the drug company should have done immediately upon learning about blood clots.

Ruth Teitler, 29 years old, is one of about 100,000 women in Israel who take, or have taken, Yasmin. The birth control pill has been available in that country since 2001. Teitler - Davidovich’s client - suffered a pulmonary embolism in 2007, allegedly as a result of taking the pill. Teitler told Haaretz Israel News that one year after taking Yasmin she experienced pain in her chest and a few days later had trouble breathing, and X-rays showed her lungs were full of blood clots. Teitler was extremely fortunate to get to the hospital in time.

The FDA issued a Yasmin warning in 2011 regarding its link to blood clots and pulmonary embolisms. In early December of 2014, US District Judge David R. Herndon identified 33 Yasmin and Yaz birth control lawsuits to be readied for trials that could start in May of 2015. These bellwether trials could affect approximately 5,000 other Yasmin and Yaz birth control lawsuits that Bayer has refused to settle.