Bayer Settles Yaz Lawsuits

In November 2012, ABC News reported Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz, a birth control pill, settled Yaz lawsuit claims at a fast pace. Bayer appears to be taking the approach to compensate those injured and put the situation to rest.

RD Legal Funding issued a press release on the Yaz or Yasmin birth control pill allegedly having caused people to suffer blood clots.  ABC News reported the pill also caused individuals DVT, stroke or Pulmonary Embolism.

The Yaz Resource Center cautions victims to seek a lawyer with experience in defective drug litigation, and recommends people engage lawyers and law firms who have already settled Yaz lawsuits. According to the Yaz Lawsuit Center, Yaz lawsuits are handled on an individual basis, rather than as a single Yaz class action lawsuit. A class action lawsuit bundles together cases against a common defendant and if successful, a court grants a settlement that is equally split among individual class members according to predetermined calculations.

A Yaz class action lawsuit has not been the standard choice for most claims against the makers of the drug. However, Yaz lawsuits are still considered complex cases.  They are filed individually as a part of the Yaz multi-district litigation or as a mass tort case.

In mass tort or complex personal injury cases, there may be a lead counsel appointed.  A lead counsel may owe a fiduciary duty to all parties and parties’ counsel. When lead attorneys are fiduciaries to all plaintiffs and lawyers, they are not permitted to engage in self-enriching behavior, and play the role of trustee, rather than agent as an ordinary attorney would be to a client.  The lead attorney may make tradeoffs to maximize the value of all claims in a group, and need only be reasonable and fair when making the tradeoffs similar to a trustee.

A federal Multi-District Litigation court was established in Illinois to handle Yaz lawsuits filed by those injured. The formal case is known as Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2100, Southern District Illinois). The court estimates that more than 10,000 patients have filed a claim.

The latest financial report from Bayer, a Germany drug maker, indicates the company has reserved an additional $262.5 million to settle Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits over blood clots.  The settlement per case average is $212,000.