Drug Injury Lawyers Blog
A California woman claims to have suffered a painful blood clot after taking Yaz/Yazmin oral contraceptive. She is suing the drug manufacturer, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for allegedly ignoring the warning signals raised by numerous injuries and deaths related to the drug early on in its distribution. The lawsuit states that, “Bayer marketed the pills as safer than older generation oral contraceptives, despite early reports of at least 50 deaths linked to blood clot complications.
Plaintiff Tatiana Barnes is hardly alone in her criticism and legal action against the manufacturer. Countless complications have been attributed to the birth control pills, and many of them have been consolidated into a class action lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals. Barnes has yet to join the class action suit.
She suffered complications from a blood clot in 2009, after being prescribed Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella. The oral contraceptives were only on the market in the United States for ten years; a very short amount of time considering the birth control pill has been in production since the 1960s. Barnes and many other plaintiffs who filed suit against the company say they were never accurately warned of the risks associated with a drug that promised to be safer than previous contraceptives. The FDA has already publicly scolded Bayer for its insistence on the benefits of Yasmin.
Bayer had plenty of time to the correct the issue, but chose to ignore it, Barnes says. In her lawsuit, she references an April 2002 study in which, “the British Medical Journal reported that the Dutch College of General Practitioners recommended that older second generation birth control pills be prescribed in lieu of Yasmin® as a result of 40 cases of venous thrombosis among women taking Yasmin.” These findings were reached when the drug had only been on the market for two years. Bayer had the chance to warn users, but did nothing.
The suit also explains that, “in less than a five-year period, from the first quarter of 2004 through the third quarter of 2008, over 50 reports of death among users of Yaz®/Yasmin®/Ocella® have been filed with the FDA.” Tatiana Barnes herself suffered serious side effects in addition to the blood clot that are consistent with those reported to be associated with the drug. Blood clots, of course, can easily be deadly if not caught in time, and even then can cause serious and permanent health problems for the patient.
According to her lawsuit, “Barnes is suing Bayer for defective manufacturing, design defect, defect due to inadequate warning, negligence, fraud, breach of warranties, and violation of applicable state consumer fraud and deceptive business practices.”
Other Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella Side Effects
• Upper respiratory infections, similar to the common cold • Elevated potassium levels • Headaches, some as severe as migraines • Stomach pain • Hair loss • Weight gain • Darkening of skin on the face • Fainting • Arm and leg numbness • Kidney problems
Pharmaceutical companies, like all consumer products companies, have the legal responsibility to properly test their products and ensure that they do not pose a significant risk to patients. They are also obligated make doctors and patients aware of the possible side effects associated with their medications, but according to Tatiana Barnes, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals chose to leave consumers in the dark about the serious dangers of its oral contraceptives.
If you or a loved one was injured by a Yaz, Yasmin, or the generic form known as Ocella, Alman & Altman can help. Our dedicated team of experienced Products Liability Lawyers is available 24 hours a day to discuss your rights and walk you through the process to receive the compensation you deserve. Our team of product liability and drug injury attorneys have decades of experience handling all types of defective medication cases. It may seem daunting to go up against some of the country’s largest pharmaceutical corporations, but the team at Altman & Altman has successfully fought against these pharmaceutical corporations to achieve the highest possible settlements for our clients.
Read the full article at Top Class Actions
