Yaz, Yasmin Settlements Reached in More than 17,000 Cases: Bayer

About two years after Bayer began settling Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits, the drug maker indicates that it has now reached agreements to resolve more than 17,000 cases brought by women who allege they suffered blood clots and other injuries after using the popular birth control pills. However, the drug maker continues to face thousands of lawsuits involving the drugs, which may ultimately require trial dates throughout the country.

According to disclosures made in Bayer’s 2013 annual report, the drug maker has already agreed to pay about $1.69 billion to settle about 8,250 cases involving allegations that women suffered venous clot injuries, including a pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis. In addition, Bayer has agreed to pay a total of $24 million to resolve another 8,800 complaints brought by women who allege they suffered a gallbladder injury from Yaz or Yasmin.

As of February 10, Bayer indicates that about 4,600 Yaz lawsuits, Yasmin lawsuits, Ocella lawsuits and Gianvi lawsuits continue to be unresolved. In addition, at least 13 Yaz class action lawsuits have been served on the drug maker in Canada, with another in Israel.

Bayer is continuing to negotiate Yaz settlements on a case-by-case basis for claims involving a venous clot injury following a review of medical records and negotiations with lawyers across the country. The drug maker estimates that about 1,950 of the remaining lawsuits involve claims that the drug maker is considering settling.

That will leave more than 2,500 complaints unresolved, and the drug maker indicates that additional lawsuits are expected. Bayer stated in the annual report that it “believes that it has meritorious defenses and will continue to defend itself vigorously against all claims that are not considered for settlement.”

Yaz and Yasmin Litigation

Yaz and Yasmin are popular birth control pills that contain the fourth-generation progestin drospirenone, which has been associated with an increased risk of blood clots compared to the risk associated with some older birth control pills. Gianvi and Ocella are generic versions of the drugs, which were manufactured by Bayer and distributed by other drug makers.

All of the complaints involve similar allegations that Bayer failed to provide adequate warnings for women about the increased risk of injury associated with side effects of Yasmin and Yaz.

Women allege that they may have avoided serious and debilitating injuries if adequate warnings had been provided about the risk of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, gallbladder disease, heart attacks, and strokes. While all birth control pills carry an increased risk of blood clots, public attention turned to the problem after a number of deaths involving young, healthy women.

In the federal court system, the Yaz and Yasmin litigation has been consolidated as part of an MDL in the Southern District of Illinois, which grew at one point to become the largest consolidated litigation in the United States, with the total number of active cases surpassing the asbestos litigation last year.

If agreements are not reached to settle all cases, it is possible that lawsuits pending in the federal court system will be remanded back to the U.S. District Courts where they were originally filed for individual trial dates. However, the litigation has been essentially stayed since January 2012, when the first trial dates in the federal MDL were cancelled amid the start of settlement negotiations.