Bayer reports 70 Yaz, Yasmin settlements

Listen to this article

By Pat Murphy
Dolan Media Newswires

Bayer has agreed to settle about 70 of the approximately 11,300 product liability claims involving the oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin, according to the drug company’s latest annual report.

“As of Feb. 13, 2012, Bayer had reached agreements, without admission of liability, to settle the claims of approximately 70 plaintiffs in the U.S. at terms and conditions which Bayer views to be reasonable,” the company said in the legal risks section of its 2011 annual report. The terms of those settlements were not disclosed.

According to the report, as of Feb. 1, there were about 11,300 lawsuits pending in the U.S. filed on behalf of those alleging injury or death as a result of the use of Yaz and Yasmin, or the generic versions of the drugs, Ocella and Gianvi.

Yaz and Yazmin are in a class of drospirenone-containing oral contraceptives. Recent studies have found that drospirenone causes a greater risk of blood clots than similar ingredients used in previous types of birth control pills. The lawsuits against Bayer allege that taking Yaz and Yasmin can cause heart attacks, strokes and gallbladder failure, and that the drug company failed to warn of those risks.

All cases pending in federal court have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation in Illinois. In a decision last May, the MDL judge denied the plaintiffs’ request for class certification. The first bellwether Yaz and Yazmin trials were originally scheduled to begin in September 2011.

However, the MDL judge has steadily been pushing the parties towards settlement. Bayer’s annual report notes that, in December, the MDL judge stayed the first case set for trial and ordered the parties to mediation.

Bayer acknowledged in its report that it expected additional Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits.

“Bayer believes that it has meritorious defenses and will continue to defend itself vigorously against all claims that are not considered for settlement,” the report states.