Drug Injury Lawyers Blog

July 26, 2012

Number of Yasmin and Yaz Lawsuits Against Bayer Exceeding 10,000

If you haven’t already filed a products liability complaint against Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals for injuries sustained from taking either Yaz or Yasmin birth control pills, you should contact our drug injury lawyers at Altman & Altman LLP right away. Already, thousands of women in the US alone are suing for damages and more lawsuits are expected.

The bestselling Yaz, touted as the “fourth-generation” pill, has also been marketed as a treatment for acne, bloating, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and for a few years, Bayer spent over $270 million promoting Yaz. The popular contraceptive saw its sales decline, however, in the wake of reports and complaints linking it to a high risk of blood clots and the potentially deadly side effects of stroke, heart attack, high cholesterol, gallbladder disease, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and sudden cardiac death. Also, in 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration forced the pharmaceutical company to spend $20 million on ads revising the contraception’s off-label marketing and other claims. (Even though last year the FDA advisory board voted that Yaz’s benefits outweigh its risks, the Project on Governmental Oversight, a watchdog group, disputed the vote, contending that more than one of the board’s members has financial links to Bayer.)

The potentially deadly side effects of Yaz and Yasmin are being blamed in part on drosperinone, a chemical in the pills that behaves like a diuretic and creates fluid loss, which in turn lowers the sodium in the blood and ups potassium levels. This can cause blood pooling, blood clots, stroke, and heart attack.

Filing Your Yasmin/Yaz Lawsuit
Over the thousands of cases over Yaz /Yasmin against Bayer, only several dozen of them have been settled so far. Many of the plaintiffs filing Yaz lawsuits are accusing Bayer of failing to warn of the injury risks involved in taking the drug. The drug injury lawsuits for Yasmin and Yaz are now consolidated in the Multi-District Litigation in Illinois’s Southern District. However, it is important to note that unlike a regular class action, in an MDL, each plaintiff has his/her individual claim. (The separate Yaz and Yasmin complaints, however, are consolidated for the pre-trial portion of each case.)

Building a solid dangerous drug lawsuit takes time, which is why the sooner you start exploring your legal options and signing up with an experienced Yaz/Yasmin law firm the better. Products liability lawsuits are generally complex and you want to work with a team that knows what it is doing.

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Updated information about the risk of blood clots in women taking birth control pills containing drospirenone, FDA, April 10, 2012

Two New Studies in the British Medical Journal Find That Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin Birth Control Pills Have an Increased Risk of Blood Clot, Reuters, April 22, 2011
Boston Dangerous Drug Lawsuits: YAZ, Ocella, and Yasmin Birth Control Pills Linked to Deep Vein Thrombosis, Pulmonary Embolism, Stroke, Heart Attack, and Myocardial Infarction Side Effects, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 19, 2012

Massachusetts Dangerous Drug?: Women Affected by Yaz Birth Control May Have Grounds for Lawsuit, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 26, 2011 Continue reading

July 25, 2012

Pradaxa Lawsuits Seek Damages for Bleeding Injuries

by Altman & Altman

Two more plaintiffs have come forward seeking drug injury compensation from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the harm they have suffered from taking Pradaxa. They contend that the anticoagulant caused them to bleed profusely, resulting in serious health issues.

In her Illinois Pradaxa case, Jacqueline Boston says that she was hospitalized for two weeks after suffering from serious gastrointestinal bleeding within a few days of taking the medication. She claims that she now will have to undergo medical monitoring and continue on certain drugs for life because she took Pradaxa.

Boston is accusing Boehringer Ingelheim of failing to adequately warn patients about the risks involved with taking the anticoagulant. She says that had she known that bleeding profusely was a possible side effect, she wouldn’t have taken Pradaxa.

In his Louisiana Pradaxa complaint, Arnold R. Sykes claims that he suffered severe rectal bleeding and start to spit up blood not long after being prescribed the drug for treatment of atrial fibrillation in 2011. Just a month after taking the medication, Sykes collapsed and had to be admitted to an ICU, where he was given blood transfusion and told to get off Pradaxa ASAP. He says he underwent several medical procedures to save his life.

Sykes contends that no one ever told him that taking Pradaxa could result in life-threatening injuries or that the drug came with more possible serious side effects than blood thinner Warfarin. He says that if he’d known that he might bleed profusely from taking Pradaxa, he would have chosen a different course of treatment.

Pradaxa Lawsuits
Our Pradaxa injury lawyers cannot stress the important of drug manufacturers making sure that a medication’s label warns of any dangerous risks or side effects that can result. It is imperative that a patient is informed of what they might have to contend with should they suffer a serious reaction to taking any medication.

However, although the US Food and Drug Administration has authorized Boehringer Ingelheim to update Pradaxa’s drug label, which includes a warning that there is no reversal agent, where is the warning that the blood thinner comes with the risk of hemorrhaging and even death? Not only can Pradaxa cause a patient to bleed uncontrollably, but this blood thinner doesn’t have an antidote to counteract this particular blood thinner. How then can doctors stop such serious bleeding complications, except through emergency dialysis, which in itself is a complicated procedure with its own risks?

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Safety review of post-market reports of serious bleeding events with the anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate), FDA, December 7, 2011

Pradaxa Warnings and Precautions, Drugs.com

More Blogs:
Pradaxa Lawsuit Claims Drug’s Side Effects Caused Woman to Bleed to Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 30, 2012

Study Links Depo-Provera to Greater Breast Cancer Risk in Young Women, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, July 16, 2012
Israeli Court Awards Highest-Ever Compensation in Class-Action Suit against Drug Company, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, July 10, 2012 Continue reading

July 16, 2012

Study Links Depo-Provera to Greater Breast Cancer Risk in Young Women

by Altman & Altman

According to findings from a recent study published in the Cancer Research journal, it looks as if there is a connection between Depo-Provera and a greater risk of invasive breast cancer in young women. The U.S. National Cancer Institute and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program funded the study, which was conducted by researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Researchers found that a 2.2 fold-greater chance of developing breast cancer seemed to arise when the injectable, progestin-only birth control was used by some woman for at least a year. This higher risk appeared to go down within months after cessation of use. Taking Depo-Provera for under a year doesn’t appear to up the risk of breast cancer.

The study looked at over 1,000 women in the Seattle area, ages 20-24, that had been diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 900 women without breast cancer. Researchers were clear in pointing out, however, that although a connection between Depo-Provera and a higher breast cancer risk was found, a cause-and-effect link between the two has not been verified.

Depo-Provera
Depo-Provera, which is also prescribed to treat endometriosis, has been linked to other serious side effects, including delayed fertility and bone loss. A class action injury lawsuit seeking over $600M against drug maker Pfizer Inc. was even filed by women in Canada who blame the contraception for their osteoporosis. They contend that the pharmaceutical giant did not warn consumers of certain health risks.

Other serious side effects that have been linked to Depo-Provera include severe allergic reactions to the drug, a greater risk of premature births, and possibly even higher neonatal and infant mortality death rates. If you think that your cancer, bone loss, osteoporosis, joint or hip fracture, or another health issue is connected to your use of Depo-Provera, you should contact our drug injury law firm right away. If you believe that your child was adversely affected by your use of this particular birth control, then ask to speak with one of our child injury lawyers that handles dangerous drug lawsuits.

Depo-Provera Birth Control Might Raise Breast Cancer Risk, Yahoo News, April 4, 2012

Cancer Research

Depo-Provera, Public Health

More Blog Posts:
Bayer to Settle for Over $110 Million in Yaz Birth-Control Cases, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, July 6, 2012

Israeli Court Awards Highest-Ever Compensation in Class-Action Suit against Drug Company, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, July 10, 2012 Continue reading

July 10, 2012

Israeli Court Awards Highest-Ever Compensation in Class-Action Suit against Drug Company

by Altman & Altman

A settlement was recently reached between an Israeli diabetes patient and GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Avandia, in which an award of NIS 12.1 million was granted-the largest in Israeli history. The drug, which was approved for treatment in 1999, was once one of the West’s most popular in diabetes treatment but has since become associated with a number of serious risks, including, most notably, cardiac failure. The award will reportedly be used to fund a new treatment program for diabetics.

In the suit, the diabetic alleged that GSK had concealed information from the public that showed the drug was linked to an increase in the risk of dying from a heart attack. Avandia is included in the range of health services covered by Israel’s HMOs as a pre-treatment, and the Israel Diabetes Association estimates that about 30,000 Israeli diabetics have been given the drug. However, it says that the number has decreased significantly since the risks have started to become more widely-known.

At least two reports, by the New England Journal of Medicine and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have prompted regulators to reassess the safety of Avandia. The Israeli filed suit in July 2007 in Tel Aviv District Court, and it was later recognized as class-action. The attorneys representing the man essentially argued that GSK hid the drug’s risks despite having evidence of them as early as 2002.
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July 6, 2012

Bayer to Settle for Over $110 Million in Yaz Birth-Control Cases

by Altman & Altman

Germany’s largest drug company, Bayer AG, has resolved to pay at least $110 million in order to settle about 500 lawsuits relating to complaints that its Yasmin birth-control pills cause blood clots. The settlement, reported by people familiar with the case, is the first resolution of any suit relating to the drug. Officials from the company have agreed to pay about $220,000 per case to resolve claims regarding its Yasmin and Yaz contraceptives. The information was revealed by two people familiar with the details but seeking anonymity as they have not yet been made public.

There were more than 11,000 lawsuits filed over injuries allegedly stemming from the two drugs. A suit accusing Bayer of misleading women about the health risks of its contraceptive pills was set for trial Jan. 9 but was postponed by a federal judge in Illinois in order to allow for negotiations, which seems to have ultimately prompted the $110 million settlement. Carl Tobias, a professor of product-liability law at the University of Virginia at Richmond, speculated that Bayer, “as a German company,” is hoping to avoid the costs of litigation in U.S. courts.

On April 10, the FDA had ordered Bayer and other makers of birth-control pills to make the blood-clot warnings on their products stronger. Researchers have found that one of the active ingredients in the pills may increase the risk for clots by more than three times. A spokeswoman for Bayer, Rosemarie Yancosek, has confirmed that some of the cases pending litigation in the U.S. are being settled. Bayer has also confirmed in a previous filing with the SEC that it has already settled at least 70 cases relating to the Yasmin line of contraceptives.
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