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Personal Injury Law News
November 30, 2009
Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effects: Thousands of Lawsuits Filed Across The Country
There are reports of thousands of lawsuits across the country stemming from the serious and deadly side effects Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella.
In fact, there are so many lawsuits coming into New Jersey over Yaz and its sister contraceptive, Yasmin, that the New Jersey judiciary is considering forming a mass tort case against Bayer, located in Wayne, New Jersey.
Courthouse News Service reports that Bayer is facing more than 125 lawsuits over Yaz and up to six new cases a day are being filed around the country. Lawyers predict there could be 1,000 cases filed in the state.
The cases have been filed against Bayer, maker of Yaz and Yasmin, and Teva Pharmaceuticals, which makes the generic version, Ocella.
All three oral contraceptives are among the most widely used and involve a combination of ethinyl estradiol with drospirenone. It has been linked to health problems including strokes, heart attacks, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder disease, pulmonary embolisms and death.
Bayer says its studies, which it financed, find cardiovascular risks among women on the Bayer products were comparable to an older formula of birth control pills and that patient safety is its top priority.
Buy Bayer’s credibility was questioned when the company received an FDA letter that it had to retract misleading television commercials that the FDA said overstated the drug’s efficacy and promoted it to relieve premenstrual syndrome, for which it is not approved. Bayer says it spent $20 million on the retraction.
Then in August, the FDA said Bayer did not follow proper quality control procedures in its drug making plant.
Federal Yaz litigation has already been consolidated for pretrial proceedings in an MDL or multidistrict litigation in East St. Louis. Pennsylvania state court is consolidating the Yasmin and Yaz lawsuits in Philadelphia.
Our firm has teamed up with the very best trial lawyers in the country to litigate Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits in the Multi-District Litigation (MDL) pending in the Southern District of Illinois, near St. Louis.
In fact, one of our team, Mark Niemeyer of Onder Shelton O'Leary & Peterson, LLC, is one of only three in the country to be selected by the Court to act as co-lead counsel for these Yaz and Yasmin cases.
"My role in this MDL is simply a reflection of the commitment of all us . . . to the women or families of women who suffered grave heath consequences after taking Yaz or Yasmin and just how seriously we take all our cases," said Mr. Niemeyer.
What Is An MDL? How Does An MDL Effect My Case?
You can find out more about MDLs and how they work at this recent post.
An MDL is like a class action, but with important differences. Instead of only one "case" (like in a class action), each plaintiff in the MDL maintains his or her own claim. However, because of many areas of common interest, the thousands of cases are consolidated for much of the pre-trial work up. For example, all of the cases filed in federal courts across the country will be transferred and consolidated in front of a single trial judge. The trial judge will appoint certain attorneys to represent all of the plaintiffs for various issues during pre-trial work up, such as discovery (fact-finding), motions, and scientific testing.
Lead counsel for the MDL is appointed by the trial judge. This small group of attorneys (for the Yaz MDL, there are only three attorneys appointed as co-lead counsel) will manage all of the pre-trial work up of all cases (potentially thousands) within the MDL.
If you file your Yaz or Yasmin claim in federal court, the three co-lead counsels -- including Mark Niemeyer of our team of attorneys -- will manage the work up of your case until trial.
How Do Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Cause Such Serious Problems?
Popular birth control pills, Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella, have been linked to serious and potentially deadly side effects. This deadly side effects affect women of all ages, including teens and young women.
Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella have been linked to serious side effects, such as heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and sudden cardiac death.
Yaz and Yasmin contain the chemical, Drosperinone, which acts as a diuretic and causes fluid loss. This fluid loss decreases sodium in the blood and increases potassium. This imbalance causes irregular heartbeats and blood pooling, resulting in heart attacks, blood clots and stroke.
Sometimes, personal injury expenses can be overwhelming, and contacting a lawyer becomes necessary.
Dealing with insurance companies can sometimes be difficult. If you are considering an injury case, contact the Houston Personal injury lawyers of the Stephens Law Firm at 713-224-0000
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