in brief: law firm investigates case for class action over popular birth control pill
Image via Wikipedia
An Adelaide law firm is looking at a case for legal action on behalf of women who suffered side-effects as a result of taking the popular contraceptive pill Yasmin and its alternate, Yaz.
Forty women so far have contacted the firm Tindall Gask Bentley over the case. Their website states that ‘Australian women who use the popular Yasmin or Yaz birth control pills may be entitled to compensation.
‘The Yasmin and Yaz contraceptives have been associated with an increased risk of health issues, including stroke, blood clots, and heart attack.’
This claim is supported by evidence from a 2011 study that found that the risk of blood clots associated with Yasmin was three times higher than that associated with other contraceptive pills.
Media reports suggest that litigation against the company that produces the drug, Bayer, first began in 2009, in the United States. Thousands of cases have been settled, to the cumulative value of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Skikos firm notes that these overall settlement figures are publicly available and indicate an average Yaz lawsuit settlement amount of over $207,000 per case.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it closely monitored all contraceptive medicines, including Yaz or Yasmin.
‘There have been no new safety concerns identified for this product,’ a TGA spokeswoman said.
Information from the TGA website shows that there have been 30 cases of pulmonary embolism in associated with Yasmin in Australia since 2000, three of which have resulted in death.
If you have suffered ill-effects as a result of Yasmin, let us know in the comments below.
Got a spare minute? Why not fill out the Lip reader survey, for your chance to win a free copy of issue 23 + an awesome Lip tote bag? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
Just as a personal note; I posted this on my facebook wall and four women immediately commented that they had suffered ill-effects of Yasmin. This ranged from mood-swings to gall stones and blood clots. I’m not trying to be alarmist or anything though! But I am morbidly interested to see how this story goes.
I was on Yasmin when I injured myself which ended in me getting a D.V.T. It was so painful.
This is a worry. I have used Yasmin and it’s generic version Isabelle for around 7 years now and love it. I struggled to find the right pill for a while and since finding Yasmin have been very content with my choice. I might have to visit my GP to hear her opinion on this pill and it’s link with clots etc.
My wife was on Yasmin following the birth of our second child who is now five. On Mother’s Day this year (May 2013) she had a stroke – making it a Mother’s Day we will never forget. The Neurosurgeons have pointed the finger firmly at the choice of contraceptive pill as the cause of clot and resulting stroke.
After about 2 years on Yaz I myself found I was always ill (constantly sick) and was having constant arm throbbing and chest pains. Worried as I was just about to go overseas, I went to my doctor. She gave me a D-dimer blood test, which I was called later that night to tell It came back positive. She seemed worried about it and sent me to hospital in which I had extra blood tests and a lung scan. My lungs came back fine, no blood clots. However, she made me go off the pill straight away, and I started seeing a blood specialist (Not to mention being told not to sit for more than 1 hour straight on a 10 hour plane flight).
Few months after the pill the arm pains and chest pains never came back, blood returned to normal, and i haven’t been sick since. However 5 months after Yaz, I came out with horrible pimples all over my face,arms and back, which I had never had before (which was weird because nobody in my family ever had pimples). Still can’t get rid of them (10 months after Yaz), although they have gotten much better (a lot of scarring though).
Yaz cost a lot of money, and caused a lot of drama, and till this day I am still suffering (horrible pimples ). Would never ever recommend it to anybody. I’m just glad I got off it when I started to notice the signs.
I developed a calf dvt after knee surgery and had taken yasmin for years