Yaz settlements dent manufacturer’s bottom line

Compensation for Yaz/Yasmin or ocella victims has surfaced in the manufacturer’s bottom line. Damaged patients have suffered from blood clots or, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refers to them, life-threatening “thromboembolic disorders and other vascular problems.”

Bayer makes the estrogen/progestin combination oral contraceptive, or COC, that is used to prevent pregnancy, to treat moderate acne for women at least 14-years-old, only if the patient desires an oral contraceptive for birth control, and to treat symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder for women who choose to use an oral contraceptive for contraception.

As Bayer prepares its financial analysis for all of 2012, Yaz settlements have made a dent in the German corporation’s ledger for the third quarter.

“Sales were up by 5.5 percent compared with the third quarter of 2011, at EUR 9.7 billion,” Bayer Chairman of the Board of Management Dr. Marijn Dekkers reported in his Oct. 30 news conference call centered on “currency- and portfolio-adjusted numbers.” “However, EBIT — in other words the operating result — receded by nearly 24 percent to EUR 0.8 billion. That was because we had higher special items than in the prior-year period, amounting to minus EUR 356 million.

“The largest item here was EUR 205 million in further accounting measures we took in connection with the oral contraceptives Yasmin and YAZ — without admission of liability — for all currently known cases involving venous clot injuries that Bayer considers to be worthy of settlement. The accounting measures taken in the third quarter were mainly based on additional claims asserted but not filed in court.”

Yaz lawsuits have been filed and Yaz settlements have been pursued in order to compensate women who took the drug and whose health was damaged in connection with the increased health risks associated with the drug, which Bayer had a duty to know and to disseminate.

The FDA in April 2012 OKd adding unreasonable risks to Yaz’s prescribing information. Since then, the association between Yaz and “thromboembolic disorders and other vascular problems” has been documented for patients and health care professionals.

Yaz contains drospirenone, which is abbreviated as DRSP. Since April, the FDA’s prescribing information contained the following: “Based on presently available information on DRSP-containing COCs with 0.03 mg ethinyl estradiol (that is, Yasmin), DRSP-containing COCs may be associated with a higher risk of venous thromboembolism than COCs containing the progestin levonorgestrel or some other progestins.” Additionally, epidemiologic studies showed that the risk increased by as much as three-fold.

The following are adverse reactions linked to taking Yaz:

• Blood clots
• Venous thromboembolism (VTE)
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
• Pulmonary embolism (PE)
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Death

A woman who has taken Yaz and who has suffered from any of these conditions or, as the case may be, the victim’s next-of-kin, can find an experienced Yaz attorney at Reich & Binstock who will offer a free consultation and will advise the potential claimant of the legal options.

The Yaz lawyers on the pharmaceutical litigation team of Reich & Binstock are accomplished at handling the most complex pharmaceutical injury cases. One may contact Reich & Binstock toll-free at 1-866-LAW-2400. Visit the national law firm online at www.reichandbinstock.com.

Introduced in the U.S. in 2006, Yaz by 2009 had become one of the nation’s more popular oral contraceptives.