Bayer, the manufacturer of the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, is facing additional lawsuits that recently filed by firefighter and municipal employee pension funds. The new suits are similar to hundreds of other individual lawsuits pending across the country alleging Bayer concealed health risks such as increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and blood clots associated with its pills.
The ingredient at issue is drospirenone which is combined with estrogen and progestin to prevent pregnancy. The plaintiffs allege that drospirenone causes an increase in potassium which can lead to hyperkalemia. This condition is marked by unsafe levels of potassium that can disrupt normal heart rhythms and slow the flow of blood leading to potential clotting.
These new suits allege the pension funds were defrauded by Bayer’s hiding the risk of the side effects which led to incorrect estimates of the value of both Bayer as a company and Yaz and Yasmin as the company’s top-selling pharmaceutical product totaling $1.8 billion last year. Just last month, the FDA warned Bayer about quality control issues at a company plant that produces the drospirenone. That followed previous repeated warnings about Bayer’s inaccurate advertising about Yaz and Yasmin’s safety and effectiveness.
Women should carefully consider before using risky pharmaceutical products whose efficacy is in doubt and the benefits are far outweighed by the potential side effects.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2010
