Deadlines for Yaz Lawsuits Pushed Back, Allowing Further Settlement Talks - 2012-05-15

Bellwether trials were set to begin the beginning of this year, but judges in both the Illinois multidistrict litigation and the Pennsylvania state court consolidated litigation moved the cases to mediation.  

More than 11,500 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, the maker of Yaz, claiming that women have been harmed by taking Yaz or Yasmin, including accusations of approximately 100 deaths linked to the contraceptives.

In January an order from Judge David Herndon required parties to mediate, suspending bellwether trials just 9 days before the first trial was set to begin. Judge Herndon clarified that currently pending case-specific and generic discovery will continue as such discovery will provide information that is critical to the valuation of these cases for settlement.

In addition, deadlines for lawsuits over the side effects of both Yaz and Yasmin have been moved back another 90 days, allowing another chance for injured individuals to file cases, and for settlement negotiations to continue. The extreme cost of litigating thousands of individual cases puts increased pressure on Bayer - who manufactured Yaz - to mediate and negotiate Yaz settlements in good faith.

Since these cases are currently in settlement talks, if you would like to have our team of mass torts lawyers look at potential cases in this area, please call us at 800.397.4910 for a free review.