Courts Consolidate Dozens of Cases Against Bayer Over Yaz

(MoneyWatch)  Plaintiffs are filing lawsuits over Bayer's Yaz contraceptive so fast that the New Jersey state court system is considering consolidating 39 cases under a single judge with a "mass tort" status; and 32 federal cases have been given multidistrict litigation status in a single court in Southern Illinois. Bayer faces at least 129 cases nationwide over Yaz. In general, courts consolidate cases when they expect so many to be filed that it would be unwieldy to handle them on an individual basis. Thus the news is not good for Bayer.

Plaintiffs mostly allege the same thing: That the drospirenone fourth generation progestin ingredient in the drug causes potentially fatal blood clots. Some of the new cases, however, are alleging ever-more novel theories of injury.

Melissa Johnson claims Yaz gave her gall stones, necessitating the removal of ger gall bladder, in Ilinois federal district court.

And the family of Autumn Plevniak, who committed suicide in October 2007, while using Yaz and the Barr acne drug Claravis, claims in Mahoning County Court, Ohio, that Yaz gave their daughter suicidal thoughts.

Most suits, however, follow similar claims to those of Candice Atkinson of Rock Hill, S.C., who at 33 discovered multiple blood clots in both lungs while she was using Yaz.

• Previous items on Bayer and contraception:
• Bayer's Translation of Swiss Study of Yaz Blood Clot Risks Is Not Complete
• Bayer's Legal Woes: 125 Suits Over Yaz; FDA Allegedly Not Told of Trasylol Study
• On Yaz, Bayer Believes "a Multiple of a Rare Event Is Still a Rare Event"
• BMJ: Ingredient in Bayer's Yaz Causes More Blood Clots Than Rivals
• Suits Claim Bayer's Yaz Caused 50 Deaths; Novel Theory of Blood Clot Causation