Massachusetts Plaintiff Joins Yaz MDL in Illinois
On May 15, 2012, Janel Mahon, a resident of Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit against Bayer Corporation, et al. Mahon’s case, which will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis), meets the requirements for amount in controversy ($75,000) and diversity of citizenship and therefore joins the Yasmin and Yaz Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2100). Through her Yaz lawyer, Mahon alleges that she began taking the contraceptive in November 2006, and after developing Yaz blood clots, suffered a pulmonary embolism on December 14, 2009.
Drospirenone linked to Yaz blood clots and other risks
Yaz is a combination oral contraceptive, or COC, which means that it contains both estrogen and progestin components. However, Yaz is different from other combined hormonal birth control pills in that it contains drospirenone, a new, fourth-generation progestin that was never before marketed in the U.S. prior to its use in Yasmin (approved in 2001).
Drospirenone has been proven to significantly increase a patient’s risk for hyperkalemia (elevated potassium levels), which in turn subjects users to significant health risks, including Yaz blood clots, Yaz deep vein thrombosis (Yaz DVT), pulmonary embolism, stroke, heart attack, gallbladder disease, gallbladder removal, kidney failure (renal failure), pancreatitis and, in some cases, death.
Yaz lawyer references mortality rates and causes of death
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Yaz in 2006. Over the last six years, hundreds of reports of injury and death have been submitted to the FDA. In fact, 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 Yasmin and Yaz were filed with the FDA. These reports include deaths associated with cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, intracardiac thrombus, Yaz pulmonary embolism, and stroke in women in their childbearing years. The youngest victim was 17 years old.
Despite these reports, Bayer has marketed Yaz as providing the same efficacy as other birth control pills in preventing pregnancy, but with additional benefits.
Plaintiff files Yaz lawsuit to recoup medical expenses and damages
Mahon’s Yaz lawyer alleges that prior to December 2009, Bayer knew or should have known of the risks associated with Yaz. Nevertheless, Bayer failed to warn Mahon, her health care providers, or the general public and medical community of said risks.
Her lawyer states that had Mahon understood the risks of Yaz, she would not have taken the oral contraceptive and therefore would not have suffered Yaz blood clots and a pulmonary embolism. Mahon’s lawsuit alleges strict product liability, defective manufacturing, design defect, inadequate warning, negligence, breach of express and implied warranties, and fraud and deceit.
For her pain and suffering, ongoing medical costs, and economic damages, Mahon requests compensatory damages, as well as compensation for her medical and legal expenses.
