First of Bellwether Yaz Lawsuits is Postponed
The much-anticipated first Yaz bellwether trial has been postponed. FiercePharma has written a report which states that U.S. District Court Judge David Herndon, who is presiding over the bellwether trial, has ordered the lawsuits into mediation.
The first of the bellwether test trials over Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills was supposed to start January 9. However, on December 31, and order by Judge Herndon appointed a mediator to the preceding. That master’s name is Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington. Herndon basically told Saltzburg to think about getting both sides to agree to potential “settlements in this litigation.” Herndon also ordered lawyers for both sides to meet with him “without delay” so that they could to negotiate in good faith.
FiercePharma says that this type of mediation is not new to Saltzburg, who has already handled mediation in more than 20,000 Seroquel lawsuits. Herndon’s current order in the bellwether cases could jeopardize the other Yaz bellwether trials by leaving them up in the air. For its part, FiercePharma promised to work toward settlements last year, but Herndon wants something done about the Yaz lawsuits sooner.
Bayer, along with all of the makers of generic forms of Yaz and Yasmin, has been listed as a defendant in over 10,000 lawsuits involving the serious adverse side effects that have been linked to the drug. Some of those side effects include blood clots, gallbladder disease, heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolisms. Yaz blood clots have been the subject of much controversy as it has been reported that women taking Yaz are 75 percent more likely to develop blood clots than the women that are taking other birth control pills. Only a month ago, an FDA advisory panel recommended that the Yaz labels be updated to include stronger warnings about the risks of blood clots, but considering the serious nature of the side effects, many feel that the drug should be recalled from the market altogether.
