Lawsuit over Gallbladder Failure from Yaz Filed in West Virginia

A West Virginia woman has filed a Yaz gallbladder failure lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare, claiming that the birth control pill caused organ damage and led her to attempt to commit suicide.

The Yaz lawsuit was filed on May 28 in Mason Circuit Court by Megan M. Stewart, 21, who took Yaz for about two years. She alleges that the oral contraceptive caused her gallbladder to fail and the organ eventually had to be removed in August 2008. Stewart also alleges that Yaz caused her to suffer severe depression and suicidal thoughts, leading to two attempted suicides.

The case is one more than 1,100 Yaz lawsuits and Yasmin lawsuits filed on behalf of individual women who allege that they suffered injuries as a side effect of the birth control pills. In addition to lawsuits over gallbladder problems, cases have been filed by women who allege that side effects of Yaz or Yasmin caused them to suffer blood-clot related injuries, such as a stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis. The plaintiffs claim that Bayer failed to adequately research the birth control pills or warn about the increased risks when compared to other available forms of oral birth control.

Yaz and Yasmin are newer types of birth control pills, which contain a “fourth” generation progestin known as drospirenone. The progestin is only found in Yaz and Yasmin, which are both manufactured by Bayer, and a generic version of Yasmin marketed as Ocella.

Gallbladder failure from Yaz and Yasmin has been reported among many former users of the birth control. The gallbladder assists the body in the digestive process and stores bile produced by the liver, and many women have required removal of the organ.

Stewart’s lawsuit accuses Bayer and several subsidiaries of negligence, product liability, breach of warranty, fraud and is seeking unspecified damages.

All federal Yaz and Yasmin cases are consolidated in an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, centralized in the Southern District of Illinois for pretrial litigation. There are also state level Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits consolidated in Pennsylvania and New Jersey courts. As Yasmin and Yaz lawyers continue to investigate and review potential new cases, it is expected that the number of cases filed will increase dramatically over the next year.