Women who’ve taken the birth control pills Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella or Gianvi were alerted to a new safety warning last month when the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency advised the drugs could cause blood clots.
This follows years of warnings about Yaz blood clots from experts around the world including the FDA, Health Canada, European Medicines Agency and New England Journal of Medicine.
However, what many victims don’t know is that Bayer, the company that makes Yaz, is continuing to pay billions in settlements to those injured.
In fact, FDA records show more than 20,000 women have suffered blood clot-type injuries while using Yaz or Yasmin, but only half of those have filed lawsuits.
So many have joined the legal action that a special federal court was created to expedite the process. Instead of facing trial, Bayer agreed to compensate those who suffered blood clots, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and some strokes.
In their last financial report, Bayer admitted they’ve spent almost $1.7 billion already to settle around 8,250 of these cases, at an average of more than $200,000 per victim.
They also said they’ll continue to review claims from those injured.
Lawyers say in most cases, women had to have suffered a blood clot, DVT, pulmonary embolism or stroke while taking Yaz or a similar drug prior to mid-2012, when label warnings were added. Some injuries occurring after they stopped taking the drug, or from generic versions will also be considered.
Bayer has compensated victims who suffered blood clots more than 10 years ago. However, lawyers warn that time is running out to file a claim.
Blood clots can cause serious injury if they block blood and oxygen to the legs (deep vein thrombosis), the brain (stroke) or the lungs (pulmonary embolism). In most cases victims are hospitalized and have to undergo long-term medical treatment.
Authored by Chris Schroeder
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