Mounting Lawsuits Claiming Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella Caused Injury

Lawsuits against the makers of Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella continue to accrue across the United States. United Press International reports that as many as 25,000 claims will be handled in multidistrict litigation in Illinois. Pretrial proceedings are set to begin soon in an East St. Louis courthouse.

Since the Illinois litigation may set the precedent for how future Yaz litigation will be handled in courtrooms across the country, the proceedings will be closely monitored by judges, attorneys, and pharmaceutical companies. The judge assigned to the matter, U.S. District Chief Judge David Herndon, stated, “These trials will serve as a guideline for other cases.” Indeed, hundreds or thousands more claims against the manufacturer and distributors of Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella are believed to be forthcoming.

Since the late summer of last year, there has been growing public concern over widespread use of Yaz and associated incidents of severe medical problems. Yaz, its predecessor, Yasmin, and the generic version, Ocella, have all been linked to strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, thrombosis, cardiac arrhythmia, gallbladder disease, kidney failure and sudden death.

One study has shown that Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella are more likely to cause dangerous health problems than other hormonal oral contraceptives. The manufacturer, Bayer, adamantly rejects any such finding and has funded alternative studies that have reached the opposite conclusion.

The relative amount of risk involved in taking these drugs may still be up for debate, but regardless, Bayer’s actions have been cause for concern. For example, Bayer has been reprimanded by the FDA for having engaged in a misleading advertising campaign. That campaign, despite its disingenuous marketing approach, helped to make Yaz the most popular oral contraceptive in the United States. Furthermore, Bayer has been reprimanded by the FDA a second time for using a German manufacturing facility that does not adhere to minimum health and safety standards set by the FDA. Specifically, the way in which the facility calculates variability in ingredients does not meet American standards.

Above all, the simple fact that thousands of women across the United States are alleging that they were harmed by Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella is enough to raise questions about the safety of these drugs.