Canadian women file lawsuit over Bayer side effects, advertising
March 11th, 2010 joshua
Two women are the latest to file a lawsuit against Bayer AG over claims it made about its popular birth control Yaz.
Yaz (Yasmin, Ocella) has been linked to numerous adverse side effects and in the lawsuit, filed in Ontario, Canada, the women claim it carries a four-times-greater risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism than other contraceptives. They claim Bayer hid this and other safety information, and misled consumers through its advertising campaign.
The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. charged Bayer last year with deceptive advertising after Yaz was linked to numerous reports of adverse reactions among women taking the drug, and after ads were found on the Internet containing no safety information.
More than 2 million prescriptions for Yaz were written in Canada during 2008 and the drug made Bayer nearly $2 billion in sales that year.
At least 300 lawsuits have been filed over Yaz in the U.S. concerning the health side effects. Bayer settled the deceptive advertising charges in a $20 million announcement last year.
