Yasmin Birth Control Pulmonary Embolism Lawsuit Filed in Canada

The family of a Toronto woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bayer, alleging that the side effects of Yasmin birth control pills caused her to suffer a pulmonary embolism.

The complaint is reportedly the first individual injury lawsuit filed in Canada over the birth control pill, according to a report by CBCNews. However, a Yasmin class action suit was filed last year on behalf of all women in Canada who took Yasmin or Yaz, a similar pill that also contains the “fourth” generation progestin drospirenone.

In the United States, more than 10,000 women have filed a Yasmin injury lawsuit or Yaz injury lawsuit after allegedly suffering a pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, heart attack, stroke or other health problem after taking the birth control pills. All of those complaints have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which has been centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

The Canadian lawsuit was filed by the family of Vicky Caprice Mersereau who died in 2009, as a result of a pulmonary embolism on Yasmin.

The complaint raises similar allegations to the Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits filed in the U.S., claiming that Bayer failed to adequately warn about the risk of blood clots from side effects of Yaz and Yasmin, placing their desire for profits before patient safety by minimizing the risk in aggressive direct-to-consumer advertisements for the birth control pills.

The lawsuit comes just days before an FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet to look at Yasmin and Yaz safety data and make recommendations to the U.S. regulatory agency about what steps should be taken to protect women in the United States from the potential side effects of the pills.

A joint meeting of the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee will be held on December 8, examining the findings of the FDA’s own drospirenone safety trials, which found that Yaz and Yasmin side effects appeared to double the risk of heart attacks and strokes when compared to older birth control pills that use the progestin levonorgestrel. The risk of blood clots and venous thromboembolic events (VTE) was increased by 75%. A number of non-FDA studies have had similar findings for birth control pills containing the progestin drospirenone.

Although the panel’s recommendations are not binding on the FDA, it usually factors heavily in the agency’s final decision on any regulatory actions.

Health Canada launched its own investigation into Yasmin and Yaz safety issues in May. That investigation is ongoing.