A new lawsuit against Bayer, the makers of brand name Yaz and Yasmin oral contraceptives, is attempting to hold the generic makers of the pills liable for the side effects suffered by the plaintiff, Jeri Atkinson. What makes this case interesting is that the defendant of the generic version of Yaz, Ocella, is none other than Bayer.
A Supreme Court ruling stated that generic drug makers cannot be held liable in failure to warn consumers about the side effects linked to medications they duplicate. Atkinson’s lawsuit is claiming that she took both the generic version of Yaz, called Ocella, and the name brand versions of Yaz and Yasmin. Her lawsuit — which was filed on April 2, 2012 and joins the MDL in the Southern District of Illinois — claims that she developed a pulmonary embolism after taking the pills. In 2010, within a year of taking the pills, Atkinson was hospitalized for her injuries. Due to her condition, Atkinson maintains that she has suffered “physical pain and mental anguish, diminished enjoyment of life and medical, health, incidental and related expenses.”
Atkinson’s lawsuits charges Bayer with “fraudulently concealed and intentionally omitting” the true facts about the dangers of Yaz and Yasmin. She also says that she had no way of knowing how dangerous the pills were until the winter of 2010, which was over a year after she started taking the pills. While Bayer is listed as the main defendant in her case, Atkinson is also naming generic drug makers Barr and Teva Pharmaceuticals. She did that because she took the generic version made by Teva and the name brand version made by Bayer. Of course, Bayer also makes Ocella, too, so her case is more interesting than it at first appears. This case should be an interesting one to watch.
