Bayer Still Faces 4,000 Yaz and Yasmin Lawsuits, Even After $2B in Settlements

Bayer Healthcare has paid $2 billion in Yaz and Yasmin settlements to resolve lawsuits over side effects of their popular birth control drugs. However, the company recently disclosed that there are still several thousand additional complaints pending from users who suffered severe and sometimes fatal injuries.

In an investor report issued this week for the second quarter of 2015, Bayer indicates that even after settling about 9,900 Yaz lawsuits, Yasmin lawsuits and other claims over birth control drugs containing drospirenone, about 4,000 claims remain unresolved.

All of the lawsuits involve similar allegations that Bayer failed to adequately warn women and the medical community about the potential side effects of Yaz and Yasmin, after the active ingredient drospirenone has been linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks, strokes and other injuries.

Bayer indicates that it has paid $1.97 billion to resolve claims involving venous clot injuries, such as deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Another $57 million will be paid to resolve Yaz gallbladder injuries.

As of July 17, about 1,200 of the remaining 4,000 claims involve arterial thromboembolic injuries, which the drug maker has previously indicated that it is not currently willing to settle.

Since October 2009, the federal Yaz and Yasmin litigation has been consolidated for pretrial proceedings before U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon in the Southern District of Illinois. At its peak, the litigation involved more than 12,000 complaints.

Due to a lack of progress in settling this last group of Yaz and Yasmin cases, Judge Herndon has indicated that he may begin remanding individual cases back to the U.S. District Court where they were originally filed for individual trial dates.