Yaz / Yasmin Class Action vs. MDL Consolidation
A panel of judges ordered this week that all federal lawsuits over problems with Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills will be consolidated into an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, for pretrial proceedings in the Southern District of Illinois. Many people equate this with a Yaz / Yasmin class action, but each Yaz lawsuit or Yasmin lawsuit will remain an individual claim and if a settlement is not agreed upon during pretrial litigation, each plaintiff will still have a jury will determine the amount of damages they are entitled to in their case.
>>JPML LINK (PDF): Yasmin / Yaz MDL Order
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ยง1407, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation can consolidate and centralize pretrial proceedings for related actions. The MDL process is designed to eliminate duplicative discovery that is common to many cases, avoid inconsistent pretrial rulings on similar issues and to serve the convenience of the witnesses, parties, attorneys and the judiciary.
In the Yasmin / Yaz litigation, there are currently at least 32 federal lawsuits pending throughout the United States in at least 9 different districts. However, all of the cases involve common allegations that Yaz or Yasmin, two similar birth control pills manufactured by Bayer that both contain the new progestin drospirenone, caused the plaintiff to suffer severe or fatal injuries, such as heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder disease or sudden death.
Unlike a class action lawsuit, where a large group of people collectively bring one claim through a class representative, an MDL is the combination of a large group of individual claims for coordinated discovery and scheduling. In fact, this litigation will involve at least one Yaz class action suit among the individual cases, filed on behalf of a nationwide class of purchasers of the birth control pill who claim that compensation is owed as a result of false, misleading and fraudulent advertisements.
Although the Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits from across the United States will be centralized in an MDL for pretrial litigation, and the discovery will share many attributes with how a class action lawsuit over Yaz or Yasmin would be handled, the cases remain individual claims. Each plaintiff retains their own Yaz / Yasmin attorney and maintains the right to present their case to a jury in the district where the case was originally filed.
YASMIN / YAZ ATTORNEYS FOR INDIVIDUAL INJURY CASES
The attorneys at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. represent women throughout the United States who have filed or intend to file a lawsuit over Yaz or Yasmin side effects, which Bayer failed to adequately research and warn about before aggressively marketing the birth control pill. Potential Yazmin and Yaz injury lawsuits are being investigated for women who have suffered:
- Strokes or Heart attacks
- Pulmonary emboli, or lung blood clots
- Deep vein thrombosis or DVT
- Gallbladder problems or gallbladder removal
- Wrongful death from Yaz or Yasmin
To review a potential case with our Yas / Yasmin attorneys on behalf of yourself, a friend or family member, request a free consultation and claim evaluation.
