The bellwether trial dates have been a major source of concern for the thousands of plaintiffs awaiting possible settlements in their Yaz lawsuits. In May, judges and lawyers met to discuss the trial schedules for the thousands of Yaz lawsuits; this resulted in a January 12, 2012, date for the first of the Yaz bellwether trials, which will be presided over by judge David R. Herndon.
The January Yaz trial will focus on the claims of patients who allege they developed pulmonary embolisms after taking Yaz. The other bellwether trial dates have been scheduled, as well. Those cases will focus on gallbladder disease and deep vein thrombosis. The gallbladder case will begin in April and the DVT case will begin in June. These first cases are expected to have a major impact on future Yaz lawsuits.
Women have been suffering from various life-threatening conditions after taking Yaz and Yasmin, including heart attacks, strokes, gallbladder disease, DVT, pulmonary embolisms and much more. Most recently, blood clots caused by Yaz have been getting a lot of negative press. In fact, the FDA has conducted its own review of Yaz blood clots and have concluded that Yaz patients are more than 75 percent more likely to develop blood clots than patients not taking Yaz.
In a bellwether trial, a group of plaintiffs’ cases are tried as a means of representing the whole group of similar cases. Should the first Yaz bellwether trials be successful for the plaintiffs, the group of plaintiffs can likely expect a good settlement. Of course, that will all be dependent on the first plaintiffs’ cases, which are chosen as they are generally the best case scenario as a representative for the other cases. The bellwether trials will be closely monitored by all future Yaz plaintiffs and their lawyers who will benefit from learning the hits and misses of the first trials. Still, with all of the proof of real Yaz dangers (even from the FDA reviews), settlement negotiations are likely just around the corner.