More Yasmin Lawsuits, More Women Alleging Dangerous Side Effects

San Jose, CALawsuits filed against Bayer's Yasmin allege a host of problems ranging from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) to heart attack to gallbladder failure. Understandably, women are concerned that the birth control pills could cause other problems as well. "I took Yasmin for a few years and now my heart rhythm is out of control," says Yvonne. "I had to get a defribulator implanted and I can't help but wonder if Yasmin is the cause."

"A few years ago I had a weird burning feeling in my head so I went to the ER. Turns out I was in cardiac arrest. I was only 40, in good health, I wasn't overweight and I didn't smoke. How could this happen to me? It was terrifying.

"I didn't have a heart attack but the doctors said my heart rhythm went out of control. They needed to do a lot of tests to determine why it happened—medically this 'incident' should have killed me. They didn't find anything wrong, nothing with my blood or heart. They asked what meds I was taking and I told them I was on nothing but birth control; they said it wasn't an issue, but I wonder if they would consider Yasmin an issue today.

"The doctors still don't know the cause of my irregular heartbeat. I had to go through a long recovery process, and since then my health has gone rather downhill—I don't feel the same anymore. I have to take meds daily and probably for the rest of my life.

"I'm not sure that Yasmin is to blame but I stopped taking it just in case. After hearing about Yasmin and Yaz so many times in the media, I decided to contact an attorney. Maybe this irregular heartbeat has happened to others."

Thousands of women have suffered adverse side effects from Yasmin/Yaz and over a thousand lawsuits have been filed against Bayer nationwide. Now a class action lawsuit is underway in Canada, filed on behalf of dozens of Canadian women who claim that Yaz and Yasmin caused blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, gall bladder removals, and other serious medical emergencies.

All federal cases of Yasmin are combined into a multidistrict litigation located in Illinois for pretrial litigation. As well, lawsuits have been filed at the state level in California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania courts.

A California woman recently filed a lawsuit in San Mateo County Superior Court alleging major health problems, including gallbladder failure. The suit states that "Bayer's behavior is despicable and so contemptible that it would have been looked down upon and despised by ordinary people."

Despite these lawsuits, Bayer still claims that its birth control pill is safe. In response to complaints, the company said that the serious and potentially life threatening side effects can be found on the label. However, the lawsuits claim that Bayer knows or should know that the pills, which contain an insufficiently tested synthetic hormone called drospirenone, created a higher risk for strokes, heart attacks, deep vein thrombosis and liver and kidney disease than other birth control pills.

It's up to plaintiffs' lawyers to convince "ordinary people" that Bayer is putting women's health at risk.