Yasmin and Yaz are birth control pills manufactured by Bayer Healthcare. The generic brand Ocella is marketed and distributed by Barr Laboratories, Inc. Yasmin and Yaz both contain drospirenone, which causes an increase in potassium levels in the blood. The FDA has warned Bayer that “increased Serum potassium can be dangerous.” Excess serum potassium can lead to a condition know as hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia can cause heart rhythm disturbances, such as extrasystolies, pauses or bradycardia. If left untreated, hyperkalemia can be fatal and lead to heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.
From 2004 through 2008, over fifty deaths in users of Yasmin and Yaz have been reported to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). These include numerous deaths with reported cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, intracardiac thrombus (blood clots in heart), pulmonary embolism (blood clot in lungs), gallbladder disease, and stroke in women in their child bearing years. Reports of elevated potassium levels are frequently included among the symptoms of the women suffering fatalities while using Yasmine or Yaz.
Meyerson & O’Neill is actively pursuing a number of claims on behalf of women who have suffered serious injury from the use of Yaz and Yasmine. We are accepting these cases on a contingent fee basis. Each of these cases has been filed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which we regard as a very favorable jurisdiction for claims of this type, including an award of punitive damages against Bayer the pharmaceutical manufacturer.
If you or a loved one suffered serious injury or death while using Yasmine, Yaz, or Ocella, please
contact one of our lawyers at Meyerson & O’Neill for a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys would like to help you with your case.