Bayer has been sued by another plaintiff over its controversial oral contraceptive Yaz. The new lawsuit, which has been filed against the company over blood clot-related side effects linked to the pills, is set to join the MDL that is being held in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
This newest lawsuit includes five plaintiffs who are all claiming that they suffered from blood clot-related injuries after taking Yaz and Yasmin. The plaintiffs’ court documents state that “Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals designed and manufactured defective medical products that jeopardized the health of consumers.” The plaintiffs in this lawsuit are seeking compensatory, punitive and statutory damages. So far, Bayer has settled thousands of Yaz lawsuits and the payouts have already topped the billion-dollar mark. More settlements are being encouraged as the company seems to be ceding to the claims that it failed to properly inform the medical community and the public of the dangers linked to Yaz use. The company has also been accused of downplaying the dangers linked to Yaz use in its earlier advertisements, which have since been changed to include the dangers. Yaz has been found to cause serious side effects including heart attacks, strokes, gallbladder disease and kidney stones. The pills also cause blood clot-related conditions like pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis.
While Bayer continues to maintain that Yaz is safe to use as a birth control pill, numerous studies have linked the pills to countless side effects — some of which have proven fatal for some young women. Despite Bayer stubbornly standing behind its drugs, the company continues to negotiate settlements in the hopes of keeping payouts controlled. So many side effects are linked to Yaz that earlier this year, even irritable bowel syndrome has been suggested as having links to the drug. With so many lawsuits pending against Bayer, it is hoped that the pills are removed from the U.S. market in the near future.