More lawsuits filed over Yaz and Yasmin 

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, October 19, 2009
By Correy E. Stephenson

Two new lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, the manufacturer of the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, by pension funds for Pennsylvania firefighters and city employees.

The suits are similar to hundreds of other lawsuits pending across the country, which allege that the company concealed health risks associated with the pills — such as an increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and blood clots — and lied about their effectiveness.

Yaz and Yasmin are “fourth generation” birth control pills which contain a new ingredient — drospirenone —– and combine estrogen and progestin to prevent pregnancy.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys allege that drospirenone, a diuretic, causes an increase in potassium which can lead to “hyperkalemia” or unsafe levels of potassium that disrupt heart rhythms and slow the flow of blood, leading to clotting.

The funds claim that Bayer defrauded investors by hiding the risks of these side effects, which led to incorrect estimates about the value of the company and Yaz and Yasmin (the company’s top-selling pharmaceuticals last year, with global sales of $1.8 billion).

In addition to the lawsuits, the drugs remain under scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration.

Just last month, the FDA issued a letter to Bayer warning about quality control issues at a company plant that makes drospirenone.

And the company has been warned repeatedly about advertising for Yaz and Yasmin, from ads that overstated their safety to others that inaccurately touted effectiveness in treating acne and premenstrual syndrome.