Carole Ann Grohan has filed yet another lawsuit against Bayer, the makers of the controversial birth control pill known as Yaz. The suit was filed in New Jersey’s St. Clair County Circuit Court.
Grohan filed the suit after she claimed that she developed blood clots in her lungs after taking Yaz. What makes her case notable is that it comes on the heels of Bayer airing some commercial warnings that claimed that it had made false claims about the drug. These commercials aired on television for a couple of months several years ago.
In one commercial, a voice said, “You may have seen some Yaz commercials recently that were not clear. The FDA wants us to correct a few points in those ads.” The ad continues by stating that Yaz is also used as a way of treating premenstrual dysphoric disorder and even moderate acne. However, the ad did state that Yaz doesn’t treat more serious PMS or milder cases of acne.
According to Grohan’s lawsuit, she claims that she was not warned about the side effects of Yaz properly before taking it — regardless of the commercial campaigns. Grohan’s suit claims that Bayer knowingly posted ads that contained fallacies and even encouraged women to take the pill.
“Despite the wealth of scientific evidence, Defendants have not only ignored the increased risk of the development of the aforementioned injuries associated with the use of Yaz/Yasmin, but they have, through their marketing and advertising campaigns, urged women to use Yaz/Yasmin instead of birth control pills that present a safer alternative,” her claim states.
Yaz’s severe side effects are the result of the pill containing drospirenone in it. Back in 2003, the FDA warned Bayer about promoting drospirenone in its ads.
“FDA is not aware of substantial evidence of substantial clinical experience demonstrating that Yasmin is superior to other COCs or that the drospirenone in Yasmin is clinically beneficial,” the FDA stated in a letter to Bayer. “On the contrary, FDA is aware of the added clinical risks associated with drospirenone.”
Bayer continued to run ads of the same type as before and was issued more warnings from the FDA as a result. It forced Bayer to start advertising Yaz differently, but for women like Grohan, the ads were run too late. Now she is looking to make Bayer pay for it.
