Bayer Hit With Yaz Lawsuit Alleging Pulmonary Embolism

South Carolina resident Donna Ingold is pursuing a Yaz class action lawsuit against Bayer Pharmaceuticals, alleging that the Yaz birth control pills caused her to suffer a severe and life-threatening medical condition.

Ingold was prescribed Yaz as an oral contraceptive by her health care provider. After prolonged ingestion of the Yaz product, Ingold was allegedly diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism on May 19, 2011. The resulting medical investigation confirmed that Ingold’s medical condition is “a direct result of her use of Yaz,” according to her Yaz lawsuit.

Ingold is filed the Yaz lawsuit against Bayer, which designed, manufactured, supplied, marketed, and distributed the Yaz birth control, allegedly leading to Ingold’s pulmonary embolism. As a result, Bayer is hereby charged with defective manufacturing and design, product misrepresentation, failure to adequately test product, negligence, breach of express and implied warranty, and fraud.

The South Carolina woman is seeking more than $75,000 in monetary compensation for physical and emotional pain, suffering, and distress, loss of enjoyment of life, resulting medical expenses, and damages.

Overview of Yaz Birth Control

Yaz and its sister product Yasmin were introduced to the American market back in 2001. Yasmin and Yaz birth control pills are an estrogen and progestin combination based oral contraceptives designed to suppress ovulation, fertilization, and implantation of fertilized ovum to ultimately prevent pregnancy. However, while Yasmin and Yaz are marketed similarly to other oral contraceptives on the market, Yasmin and Yaz contain drospirenone, a type of progestin not found in any other birth control in the United States.

According to the Yaz lawsuit, Bayer strongly promoted their product which they claimed provided “the same efficacy as other birth control pills in preventing pregnancy, but with additional benefits.”

However, on July 10, 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) objected to Bayer’s marketing claim that Yaz products containing drospirenone were more effective or beneficial than other types of progestin based birth controls. In fact, a public warning was issued, stating, “the FDA is not aware of substantial evidence of substantial clinical experience demonstrating that Yasmin is superior to other COCs [combination oral contraceptives] or that the drospirenone in Yasmin is clinically beneficial. On the contrary, FDA is aware of the added clinical risks associated with drospirenone.”

On Oct. 3, 2008, Bayer was issued a warning by the FDA for misleading advertisements and for promoting Yaz as a treatment for medical conditions, such as acne and PMS, which are not approved by the FDA, thus overstating the Yaz birth control efficacy.

Yaz Birth Control Side Effects

Recent FDA studies also demonstrate that drospirenone has potentially dangerous side effects, including blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. In cases like Ingold’s, a blood clot may become lodged in the lung and cause a pulmonary embolism resulting in pain, suffering, and possibly death.

Like Ingold, other Yaz and Yasmin consumers have also suffered “significant mental anguish and emotional distress and will continue to suffer physical limitations, pain, injury, damages, harm, and mental and emotional distress in the future.” Many consumers claim that if they had known the risks of taking Yaz and Yasmin products, they and their physicians would have pursued and prescribed another form of birth control.

Join a Free Yaz Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you or someone you know suffered a birth control blood clot injury such as a stroke, heart attack, deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism, you have legal options. See if you qualify for compensation by submitting your information for a free and confidential case evaluation:

Oops! We could not locate your form.