A Louisiana woman is suing Bayer Corporation claiming the company’s top-selling birth control pill Yaz caused her to develop life-threatening blood clots in her lungs. Heather Gillespie claims that the makers of the oral contraceptive, also known as Yasmin and the generic ocella, failed to warn her of the risks associated with taking the pills. She is seeking damages.
A Virginia woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Yaz birth control pill, claiming the oral contraceptive damaged her gallbladder and drove her to attempt suicide. Megan M. Stewart, 21, filed the 11-count complaint against Bayer Corporation last month, adding to the more than 1,000 lawsuits filed against the pharmaceutical company by women who allege they were not adequately warned of the risks involved with taking Yaz, also known as Yasmin and Ocella.
District Judge David Herndon is ordering sales representatives who pushed the oral contraceptives Yasmin, Yaz, Ocella and Gianvi to produce all their files and communications for national litigation. The order covers “all written materials, video and/or audio tapes” and includes training materials, e-mails, voice mail transcripts, summaries of meetings, incentive and goal plans, and all communications between representatives and managers. Herndon also ordered Bayer Health Care Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Schering Pharma, Barr Laboratories, and Teva Pharmaceuticals to produce records from their facilities.
Things are getting even uglier between two pharmaceutical companies whose oral contraceptives will soon go head-to-head in America. First, Bayer announced it was suing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for prematurely pushing Gianvi, its generic version of Bayer’s blockbuster birth control pill Yaz, also known as Yasmin.
Bayer has launched a new marketing campaign aimed at encouraging women to understand the risks and benefits of their birth control method, including those offered by Bayer. The drug company boasts the most popular birth control pills on the market – Yaz and Yasmin – which have brought in more than $1.5 billion since 2009. The pills are also bringing something new to Bayer – more than 1,000 lawsuits from women who claim they were not adequately warned by the company of the serious health risks associated with Yaz and Yasmin.
An understudy for the Broadway show “Wicked” has joined a lawsuit against Bayer HealthCare, claiming the company’s best-seller birth control pill Yasmin caused her to suffer a stroke at the young age of 27. Brenda Hamilton had been on the pill two years when in May 2007 she became ill. She has since recovered.
Twenty-five California women have joined more than a thousand others across the country in a lawsuit against Bayer HealthCare claiming the company’s blockbuster birth control pills – Yaz and Yasmin – caused them to suffer life threatening health problems such as strokes and blood clots. The defendants say the company was aware its oral contraceptives increased a woman’s chances of serious health problems even more than other birth control pills, yet the company failed to adequately warn women of that risk.
Bayer’s multimillion dollar birth control pill, Yaz, will go head-to-head with generic competition with the introduction of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ Gianvi. Teva was awarded a 180-day marketing exclusivity period for Gianvi by the Food and Drug Administration after being the first company to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA). Bayer isn’t taking the news lightly. The company says it plans to sue Teva for prematurely launching the new “girl” on the block, which Bayer says they are not legally permitted to do until July 2011.
