Lawsuit filed over generic version of Yaz/Yasmin 

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, February 1, 2010
By Minnesota Lawyer

Following hundreds of lawsuits alleging injuries caused by the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, a new one has been added to the docket over the generic version, Ocella.

The plaintiff, Adrienne Cechura, suffered a stroke after taking Ocella for four months in 2009. Her complaint, filed on Dec. 28 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, alleges negligence, fraud, design defect and failure to warn, as well as warranty claims against Bayer.

The suit mirrors the hundreds of lawsuits involving brand-name versions of the drug, Yaz and Yasmin, in alleging that the fourth generation contraceptives contain a new progestin called drospirenone that causes blood clotting, strokes, heart attacks and death.

The case has been transferred to the multi-district litigation in the Southern District of Illinois under Judge David Herndon.

“It’s the same drug, manufactured by the same people, just distributed by someone different,” said Larry Helvey, an attorney in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who represents the plaintiff.

Recently, plaintiffs’ attorneys have begun investigating the large number of plaintiffs who have experienced gallbladder failure as well.

(Source: Lawyers USA)