Mass Tort Status Requested for Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Contraceptives, by New Jersey Judge

According to a report on Law.com, New Jersey Judge Donald Volkert, Jr. has asked  the New Jersey judiciary to consolidate a number of cases stemming from strokes and other serious health complications suffered by women who have taken the oral contraceptives Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella.  Those products are manufactured and marketed by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella Can Higher Risk of Pulmonary Embolism

Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella all contain Drospirenone, a chemical ingredient not present in other oral contraceptives.  A recent study from the British Medical Journal has shown a higher risk of certain health complications from contraceptives with drospirenone.

Judge Volkert’s application suggests the consolidation would aid in efficiently resolving the claims.

More information on Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella oral contraceptive drug side effects

Yaz and Yasmin have been in the FDA’s sights at least since 2003. That year the FDA required Schering, the manufacturer, to cancel its TV ad for Yasmin because it misrepresented the benefits of drospirenone, the ingredient unique to Yaz and Yasmin and misled viewers about the potential risk it presented. Five years later Schering was at it again, claiming that Yaz was effective for acne and PMS. This was a big blunder, because the FDA rules are very clear: if the FDA hasn’t approved a medication as effective for a specific disorder, the manufacturer can’t advertise it for use against that disorder. This time, Schering not only had to withdraw its ads, it had to pay for a new ad campaign correcting the misrepresentations it had made in the earlier one.

The other major concern about Yaz and Yasmin is the increased risk of blood clots. All oral contraceptives carry some increased risk of clotting, but the risk for women who take Yaz, Yasmin, or Ocella, the generic form of the drug is substantially greater.

The British Medical Journal researchers found that women who used contraceptives with drospirenone, suffered significantly more blood clots than those who used contraceptives without drospirenone. Blood clots pose substantial health risks. If the clot stays where it forms, it may grow large enough to block blood flow entirely. If the clot breaks loose, there’s a risk of it lodging in the lungs or in a blood vessel near the heart, where it could block blood flow and lead to a heart attack.