One of the newest lawsuits filed against Bayer over the blood clots risks linked to Yaz, Yasmin and the generic Ocella is accusing the drug company of concealing the dangers from the public and healthcare professionals.
The lawsuit involves five plaintiffs. Nikita Lindsay, Mickie Baca, Angela Egley, Latasha Smith and Patricia Vogt have joined their complaints to the MDL. This MDL is taking place in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois before Judge David R. Herndon. These plaintiffs have suffered from blood clot-related injuries caused by the controversial birth control pills. Some of those conditions include pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolisms.
Other side effects associated with Yaz include heart attacks, gallbladder disease, kidney stones, irritable bowel syndrome and death. Blood clots have been linked to the use of drospirenone, which is the main active ingredient in the fourth-generation birth control pills. For its part, Bayer has steadfastly denied the dangers caused by drospirenone, but the company’s recent settlement agreements suggest that the company is ceding to the fact that there is enough proof against them to lose. In the lawsuits, Bayer is accused of failing to properly warn the public and healthcare professionals of the dangers linked to Yaz and negligently marketing the pills’ off-label uses in their earlier ads — all while downplaying the side effects.
This recent complaint claims that the pill is defective because it is “unreasonably dangerous” and “does not meet the reasonable expectations of an ordinary consumer.”
There are numerous studies to back up the plaintiffs’ claims of the dangers linked to Yaz use, which is why it is likely that Bayer will continue to settle more suits and MDLs. With thousands of lawsuits against Bayer still pending in the courts, the final toll of payouts could easily reach $2 billion or more, which is double the original $1 billion the company put aside for lawsuits.
