Ohio Woman Sues Bayer Over Yaz Blood Clot Injuries

Ohio plaintiff Jessica Prather is suing Bayer Pharmaceuticals for the injuries she allegedly sustained from using Yaz birth control pills. Prather alleges that she suffered severe physical injuries as a result of using Yaz.

According to the Yaz lawsuit, Prather was prescribed Yaz as her choice of birth control and used it regularly, following both the instructions of her physician and those listed on the drug’s label. Despite following the instructions, she reportedly started experiencing debilitating pain and other unexplained side effects, prompting a medical check-up. She was diagnosed with multiple blood clot-related injuries, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.  

Allegedly, neither Prather nor her physician was aware of these potential Yaz side effects until after Prather developed the blood clots. It was not until her diagnosis that Prather says she was aware that these conditions were even a possibility. In her Yaz lawsuit, Prather states that Bayer had the responsibility to warn her of these and other side effects because she was relying on the information they had provided about the drug’s risks.

Overview of Yaz Complications

Yaz is one of the only combination oral contraceptive pills, which means that it contains both an estrogen and progestin component in its pharmaceutical makeup. The drug was first approved as an oral contraceptive by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006. It is one of the only birth control pills in the United States to contain a “fourth generation” progestin called drospirenone. The only other birth control pills that contain drospirenone are Yasmin and Ocella. 

Prior to the 2001 creation of Yasmin, the older version of Yaz, drospirenone had never been used in the United States. Because drospirenone is a relatively new ingredient, it has not had much post-market data collected on it. According to most medical studies, not much was known about drospirenone in the pre-clinical trials either. 

A known fact about drospirenone is that it acts as a diuretic, which can increase the potassium levels in the blood to dangerous levels. These increased potassium levels cause the blood to slow down, which could allow the possibility of blood clots to form, leading to the possibility of Yaz side effects such as pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. A recent study released in the August 2009 edition of the British Medical Journal found that Yaz and Yasmin are more likely to cause such side effects in women when compared to other oral contraceptives.  

The women ranged in age from 15 to 49 and had no history of heart disease or any related complications. The study found out of the entire subject-population of 3.3 million women taking oral contraceptives, there were 4,213 venous thrombotic events. Out of this number, nearly half of these women were using contraceptives with drospirenone.

By filing the Yaz lawsuit, Prather is seeking compensatory damages, medical expenses, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any other relief the court finds appropriate. She has demanded a trial by jury.

Prather’s Yaz lawsuit has joined ongoing multidistrict litigation, In Re: Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Relevant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2100, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. 

File a Yaz Lawsuit Today

If you believe that you or a loved one have been the victim of a Yaz blood clot, you have legal options. Please visit the Yaz/Yasmin, Beyaz & Ocella Birth Control Pill Class Action Lawsuit Settlement & Investigation. There, you can submit your claim for a free legal review and if it qualifies for legal action, a seasoned Yaz lawyer will contact you for a free, no-obligation consultation. You will be guided through the litigation process at no out-of-pocket expenses or hidden fees. The Yaz attorneys working this investigation do not get paid until you do.