A Pittsburgh woman has joined a lawsuit against Bayer, claiming that her teenage daughter was injured and nearly died as a result of taking Yaz. Dana Kraus, the plaintiff, told Pittsburgh’s WTAE that her 15-year-old daughter Katie had been taking the birth control drug for 6 months before she started experiencing severe side effects, which began with the sensation of suffocating.
A new ad format developed by Google for prescription drugs attaches a fixed link to sponsored results. When clicked, the link takes the browser to a page announcing the drug’s side effects, risks, and other important information, much the same way as it is printed on the drug label or inside the product’s packaging. Bayer was the first company to sign up for the new format, which it now uses for its beleaguered birth control pill Yaz.
A Chicago woman who claims she was injured as a result of taking Yaz filed a lawsuit on November 4 against Bayer in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff started using Yaz in January 2008 and, as a direct result, developed gall stones which led to the removal of her gall bladder.
Writer-comedian Sarah Haskins has produced another segment of her popular satire on Current TV’s Target: Women, this time calling out the absurdity of television advertising in marketing drugs to women.
A 33-year-old nurse from South Carolina has filed suit against Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, charging that Yaz caused her multiple personal injuries. According to a report published by Reuters, the woman received a Yaz prescription from her dermatologist in March 2008 as a treatment for acne.
A Swiss health agency is investigating the death of a young woman in Switzerland who died while taking Bayer AG’s birth control pill Yaz. Bloomberg reported that Swissmedic (Switzerland’s drug therapy regulatory agency) and an investigative judge are probing the sudden death of the woman, whose autopsy revealed she died from the effects of a pulmonary embolism.
Bayer Healthcare’s blockbuster drug Yaz has come under fire in recent years for its potential to cause a spectrum of health problems. Bayer has downplayed these serious risks while drawing attention to some of the drug’s other uses as treatments for acne and the emotional and physical symptoms associated with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Adding to the confusion is a series of clinical tests designed to quantify the drug’s safety risks. Results of the studies have both supported cast doubt on the claims of women who say they have been harmed by Yaz. With your health and possibly your life at stake, who do you trust?
A new report in the New York Times about Bayer Healthcare’s bestselling oral contraceptive Yaz brings to light some serious ethical questions surrounding the company’s testing and marketing of what some studies suggest is a potentially dangerous drug for many women.
Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits filed against Bayer Healthcare in Pennsylvania state courts were consolidated into a mass tort last week by Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge Sandra Mazer Moss, who appointed 3 Pennsylvania attorneys to serve as liaison counsel for the plaintiffs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has admonished German drug manufacturer Bayer for failing to test a vital ingredient used in Yaz and other birth control drugs according to American standards.
