The New York Times reported on September 25, 2009 in an article titled “Health Concerns Over Popular Contraceptives” focused on side effects of Yaz and Yasmin, which are popular oral birth control pills used by over 1.6 million women.  The side effects include life threatening strokes, heart attacks, DVTs, PEs.  In addition, Yaz lawsuits have been filed alleging these injuries, and others, including gall bladder disease, from Yaz and Yasmin.

You can read the full text of the New York Times Yaz and Yasmin story by going here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/health/26contracept.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=yasmin&st=cse.  Various comments posted about the New York Times site about the article, can be read here.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP is currently investigating and filing Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits against Bayer related to side effects from Yaz and Yasmin, including strokes, heart attacks, DVT’s, PEs, gall bladder disease and other injuries.  We are one of the few firms in the country who has filed cases and we represent women from across the country.  Contact us today at info@consumerinjurylawyers.com or (877) 779-1414 for a free and confiential Yaz/Yasmin case evaluation by one of our Yasmin lawyers.

On October 7, 2009, Bernstein Liebhard LLP filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against Bayer, the manufacturer of Yasmin and YAZ birth control pills, on behalf of a California couple, Scott and Heather Crawford,Crawford v. Bayer et. al. 7:09-cv-8550 (S.D.N.Y.) The complaint lists eleven causes of action including claims for strict product liability, negligence, breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation and/or fraud, violation of New York’s General Business Law and loss of consortium.

The Crawfords’ lawsuit alleges that, as a result of Bayer’s misleading claims regarding the effectiveness and safety of YAZ, Ms. Crawford was prescribed and began using YAZ in 2007. The lawsuit further alleges that Ms. Crawford suffered a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs) later that same year as a direct result of her use of YAZ. Click here for more information.

Yesterday the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Richmond, Virginia heard arguments for and against establishing a multidistrict litigation (MDL) for all federal Yaz and Yasmin litigation. A ruling on the matter is expected within a few weeks.

If the panel of federal judges opts to establish an MDL, all Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits pending in various federal courts throughout the United States will be consolidated before one judge for coordinated pre-trial proceedings. This will benefit the plaintiffs in the Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits by allowing them to share the costs of pre-trial discovery and avoid duplicative discovery. For example, in an MDL, depositions of certain people can be taken just once, every plaintiff gets to use them, and the cost is split among everyone.

While an MDL and a class action lawsuit are sometimes confused with one another, they are not the same thing. A class action is one case with many plaintiffs in it, whereas an MDL consists of many individual cases brought together for a short time.

As litigants await a ruling on the Yaz and Yasmin MDL petition, lawsuits continue to mount against Bayer Pharmaseuticals, the maker of the popular birth control pills. The lawsuits generally allege that Yaz and Yasmin cause life-threatening side effects and that Bayer failed to adequately warn consumers about those side effects. Serious Yaz side effects and Yasmin side effects may include heart attacks, strokes, gallbladder disease, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism. Additionally, Yaz and Yasmin may both put patients at risk for a condition known as hyperkalemia. This condition is marked by increased potassium levels in the blood and often has no symptoms at all. If left untreated, it can lead to cardiac arrest and kidney failure.

If you or a loved one experienced serious side effects after taking Yaz or Yasmin, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. For more information about a Yaz lawsuit or a Yasmin lawsuit, contact one of Bernstein Liebhard’s Yasmin lawyers or Yaz lawyers for a confidential and free case evaluation.

Various lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts around the country on behalf of women who used Yasmin or Yaz birth control and suffered a stroke, heart attack or gall bladder damage.    Yaz and Yasmin both contain a combination of ethinyl estradiol, which is used in many oral contraceptives, and drospirenone, a new type of progestin that is unique to Yaz and Yasmin.  Soon, a panel of federal judges is scheduled to hear arguments about whether to consolidate and centralize all Yasmin and Yaz litigation pending in various federal courts throughout the United States.

Most recently, a new lawsuit was filed in St. Clair County, Illinois over the birth control pill Yaz by a woman who claims the drug caused a blood clot in her lung, also known as a pulmonary embolism.
According to a local newspaper, the St. Clair record, Kerry Sims filed the The Yaz blood clot lawsuit on August 18, 2009.  The defendant in the Sims Yaz lawsuit is Bayer, which is the maker of both Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills.  Ms. Sims also sued Walgreens pharmacy, where she purchased the medication. Ms. Sims’ Yaz lawsuit alleges that Bayer misrepresented the benefits and safety of the birth control pill.  Her Yaz lawsuit further claims that she would not have used Yaz birth control had she been fully informed of the health risks.

Sims alleges that she began taking the Yaz birth control pill when it was known as Yasmin. Bayer reformulated the pill and renamed it Yaz after acquiring Yasmin’s original manufacturer, Berlex, in 2006. As a side effect of Yaz, Sims alleges that she suffered a pulminary embolism, which is a blood clot in her lung and an infection of the area surrounding the blood clot.

For more information about a Yaz lawsuit or a Yasmin lawsuit, contact one of Bernstein Liebhard’s Yasmin lawyers or Yaz lawyers for a confidential and free case evaluation.

On August 14, 2009, the British Medical Journal Online published two studies that contain significant findings for women who use the oral contraceptives Yaz or Yasmin. One of the studies was supervised by a leading authority on oral contraceptives, Dr. F. R. Rosendaal, of Leiden University in Leiden, Netherlands, and involved 1524 women. The other study involved all of the women in Denmark, 10.4 million women years.

Yazmin and Yaz Related Studies

The two studies include: The venous thombotic risk of oral contraceptives, effects of oestrogen dose and progestogen type: results of the MEGA case-control study, van Hylckama Vlieg, Helmerhorst, Vandenbroucke, Doggen & Rosendaal, BMJ 2009;339:b2921; and Hormonal contraception and risk of venous thromboembolism: national follow-up study, Lidegaard, Lokkegaard, Svendsen, & Agger (all of Copenhagen, Denmark), BMJ 2009;339:b2890.

Findings of the British Medical Journal Online Yasmin Studies

First, the studies concluded that women taking combination oral contraceptives (OC) containing drosperinone, such as Yaz and Yasmin, are six to seven times as likely to suffer a thromboembolism (such as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) or Pulmonary Embolism (PE)). This risk is equal to other third generation birth control pills.

Second, the studies found that Yaz / Yasmin did not provide any increased benefit for acne or weight loss, which are benefits Bayer previously touted for the drug. The study also found that there was no proof of improved effectiveness of treatment for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or similar premenstrual symptoms.

Third, the study also showed that women are at the highest risk of developing having a thrombotic event in the first three months of taking the OC.

A large number of women participated in the study, which was conducted by well-credentialed clinical investigators and, therefore, Bayer really must reexamine its warnings on Yaz and Yasmin to better educate and warn women about the risks of using these products, which includes the risk of DVT, PE and gull bladder injury, among other Yasmin side effects.

Contact a Yaz Lawyer or Yasmin Attorney Today

Bernstein Liebhard LLP is vigorously investigating and pursuing claims on behalf of injured women nationwide. Contact one of our Yasmin lawyers today for a free Yasmin lawsuit or Yaz lawsuit today.

In December 2008, the Ecri Institute released it second annual report on the top 10 technology hazards that should be on every hospital’s list of safety concerns for medical-device use.  The Ecri Institute conducts patient-safety research and investigates medical-device incidents.   Five of the hazards on the list are new. However, all of the five hazards dropped from the list are still seen as “significant concerns.”  The five new hazards just caused more problems in the past year, including retained devices and air embolism from contrast media injectors, causing them to placed on the list. 

The top 10 technology hazards are listed in order as follows:

1.  Alarm hazards
2. Injuries from needle sticks and other sharp objects
3. Air embolism from contrast media injectors
4. Retained devices and unretrieved fragments left in patients
5. Surgical fires
6. Anesthesia hazards due to inadequate pre-use inspection
7. Misleading displays
8. CT radiation dose
9. MR imaging burns
10. Fiberoptic light-source burns
     

While some problems involve a defective medical device, it tends to be inexperience and/or lack of knowledge on the user’s part that causes these devices to be hazardous.  Few people read the manual. If devices are used safely, fewer incidents would occur.  Every participant in the chain during the process has a responsibility to prevent a problem from arising. If you have been a victim of one of these technology hazards or any other technology, you may have a medical malpractice or hospital negligence lawsuit and may be entitled to a medical malpractice settlement.  You should contact a medical malpractice lawyer today for more information.

In news that is unfortunately starting to sound all too familiar, another lawsuit has been filed due to E. coli food poisoning. On July 16, 2009, attorneys filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in the Eastern District of Washington against JBS Swift & Company on behalf of a 16-month-old boy who was hospitalized after eating meat products manufactured and distributed by JBS Swift. After consuming the meat, the boy was rushed to the emergency room “writhing in pain” with severe gastrointestinal symptoms, including intense and bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Stool samples revealed an E. coli infections and blood tests showed that he had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli infection which caused his kidneys to fail. After being hospitalized for three weeks and undergoing dialysis and blood transfusions, the boy was released. However, he still suffers from long-lasting damage from his illness and his kidneys are only functioning at 30% of normal.

The lawsuit is related to an E. coli outbreak in Swift meat products across nine states that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) linked to making at least 23 people sick. As a result of that outbreak, Swift had issued a voluntary recall of 420,000 pounds of beef on June 24, 2009.

E. coli outbreaks, as well as many other food poisoning outbreaks, have become more commonplace in recent years, which is a troubling sign. Consumers must be wary of such foodborne illnesses, and be on the lookout for possible food poisoning symptoms, such as severe diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and severe abdominal cramping. For more information about E. coli lawsuits, contact an E. coli food poisoning lawyer today.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is conducting an investigation into a top orthopedic surgeon and associate professor at its medical school for failing to disclose financial connections to several companies whose products he was researching. Dr. Jeffrey Wang lost his position as the co-executive director of the UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center for failing to report stock options, payments, and royalties he received from five medical device and drug companies between 2002 and 2008. While Wang is still on the school’s faculty, UCLA is investigating his work and considering further disciplinary action against him.

Dr. Wang failed to disclose ownership of stock options in Facet Solutions Inc. and Paradigm Spine LLC, and did not report royalties and consulting payments from Johnson & Johnson, FzioMed Inc., and Medtronic Inc., all of which manufacture products on which Dr. Wang was conducting research. Failing to report such financial relationships violates UCLA’s guidelines, and most medical schools have rules limiting how much money and gifts their doctors can receive from drug and device companies. The university is currently looking into whether the payments and stock interests impacted Wang’s research.

Medtronic has previously been scrutinized for allegedly having financial relationships with doctors conducting research on its products. The Department of Justice is currently investigating consulting payments made by the medical device company to Dr. Timothy Kuklo, a former Walter Reed Army Hospital surgeon who has been accused of falsifying the results of a study concerning Medtronic’s Infuse surgical grafts. As a result of incidents like those involving Wang and Kuklo, Senators Charles Grassley (R, Iowa) and Herb Kohl (D, Wisconsin) have proposed a federal law requiring companies to disclose all payments over $100 made to doctors. Information about abuses of University policy and illegal or improper kickbacks are often brought to light by whistleblowers. Read more about issues related to medical research, such as defective medical devices and medical malpractice.

According to researchers, carbon nanotubes, which have been called a “wonder material for the 21st century,” could pose similar health risks as asbestos fibers. Asbestos, a wonder material of an earlier age, was used in thousands of products for decades before it became known that asbestos exposure can lead to life-threatening health conditions, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung caner. 

A study published this year by the journal Nature Nanotechnology revealed that nanotubes, which are needle-like carbon molecules one-50,000th the width of a human hair, caused disease symptoms in mice just like those caused by asbestos fibers. Specifically, when injected into the abdomens of mice, nanotubes caused the mice to develop lesions similar to the lesions that people who inhale asbestos fibers develop on the lining surrounding the lungs.

In the case of asbestos, the lesions on the lining surrounding the lungs eventually become mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer. The researchers in the nanotube study, however, portrayed their results as good news because people who work with nanotubes can now take steps to prevent future exposure.

“In a sense, we’re forewarned and forearmed now with respect to nanotubes,” said Anthony Seaton, a professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

Discovered in the early 1990s, nanotubes are essentially rolled-up sheets of carbon that can be used to produce materials that are far lighter and stronger than steel. Nanotubes are found in a wide range of common consumer products, such as high-tech tennis rackets, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.

The recent nanotube study did not look at how easily nanotubes become airborne or whether they become lodged in the lungs if inhaled. Doctors and scientists believe, however, that the people in greatest danger are those working with loose nanotubes at factories and laboratories. In other words, nanotubes embedded in consumer products, such as golf clubs and bicycle frames, probably do not present any danger. 

Still, there is some concern that nanotubes in products could be released later, just as asbestos in concrete and automobile brake pads was inhaled by construction workers and mechanics. Consequently, more research is needed to determine the extent of the risk posed by nanotubes.

If you or someone you love has developed mesothelioma cancer (or a family member has died from mesothelioma cancer), contact us today for a free and confidential assessment of your case.

On June 29, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that samples of cookie dough taken from the Nestle factory in Danville, Virginia tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Nestle recalled its refrigerated cookie dough products on June 19 when the FDA announced that it believed people were getting sick from eating raw dough contaminated with E. coli. The outbreak is surprising because cookie dough is not normally associated with E. coli contamination, although salmonella is sometimes a concern because raw dough contains uncooked eggs. Only Nestle refrigerated cookie and brownie dough has been recalled; other Nestle products appear to be unaffected.

E. coli is a bacterium that can cause infections in people when consumed in contaminated food products. So far 69 cases in 29 states have been reported to the Center for Disease Control. Of these, 34 required hospitalization and nine have developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which can cause kidney failure, but there have been no deaths linked to the outbreak.

Nestle cookie and brownie dough has been pulled from store shelves and the FDA is advising people who had previously purchased these products to throw them away. The agency also advises against baking the dough because it might contaminate kitchen utensils. Individuals who experience E. coli symptoms after consuming Nestle refrigerated cookie or brownie dough should see a doctor immediately. Read more about dangerous products.