Bayer Has Settled Nearly 3,500 Yaz, Yasmin Lawsuits: Report

It appears that Bayer has settled just under half of all Yaz lawsuits and Yasmin lawsuits filed on behalf of women who suffered a deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism while taking the birth control pills, and the drug maker may pay more than $1.5 billion to resolve all cases involving such injuries.

According to updated information provided to investors this week in Bayer’s third quarter stockholder’s newsletter (PDF), the drug maker indicates that it has reached settlement agreements in about 3,490 Yaz and Yasmin cases pending throughout the United States, at a cost of about $750 million. This results in an average of about $215,000 per case.

At this time, Bayer is only negotiating settlements in cases that involve allegations that side effects of the birth control pills caused a venous clot injury, such as a deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.

As of October 15, Bayer faces more than 12,400 product liability lawsuits over Yaz and Yasmin, as well as generic equivalents sold as Gianvi and Ocella. In addition, the drug maker is aware of another 720 claims that have been asserted, but not yet filed in court.

Cases that involve a venous clot injury only account for about half of all lawsuits faced by the drug maker, with other claims alleging that Bayer failed to adequately warn about the increased risk of strokes, heart attacks, gallbladder problems or other injuries.

Yaz Settlements for Pulmonary Embolism, DVT May Top $1.5 Billion

Of the remaining, unsettled, Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits, Bayer indicates that an estimated 3,800 additional claims are remaining that involve injuries consistent with cases they are settling.

If the same average settlement values are reached in the remaining clot cases, the drug maker could pay another $815,000 to settle all Yaz pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis lawsuits, bringing total payments to about $1.565 billion.

Additional Yaz settlements are being negotiated on a case-by-case basis with lawyers throughout the country, after a case-specific analysis of medical records.

While negotiations are on-going, most of the litigation pending in courts throughout the country has been stayed, allowing the drug maker to focus all of their efforts on evaluating and settling cases.

In the federal court system, the Yaz and Yasmin litigation has been consolidated as part of an MDL before U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon in the Southern District of Illinois. Earlier this year, the Yaz and Yasmin MDL became the largest pending consolidated litigation in the United States, with the total number of cases surpassing the asbestos litigation, which was consolidated in 1991.