An Illinois jury has awarded $14 million in damages to a woman who alleges that side effects of Yasmin birth control caused her to suffer a stroke, ruling that her doctor should not have prescribed the oral contraceptive given her risk factors for developing blood clots. The medical malpractice complaint was brought by Mariola Zapalski, against Dr. Zbigniew Aniol, and claimed that Aniol knew or should have known that Zapalski had a greater chance of suffering a Yasmin stroke complication, due to risk factors that increased her chances of developing blood clots on birth control.
Yasmin is an oral contraceptive manufactured by Bayer that contains a fourth generation progestin known as drospirenone. Along with a newer version of the birth control pill sold under the brand name Yaz, Yasmin is one of the most widely-used birth control products in the United States. However, serious concerns have been raised in recent years about the safety of drospirenone-based oral contraceptives, as research has found an increased risk of blood clots, stroke, pulmonary embolism and other serious side effects with these potentially dangerous birth control pills.
According to the medical malpractice lawsuit, Zapalski was prescribed Yasmin birth control in 2007, and just 13 days after beginning treatment suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side and has caused her to experience speech problems and other permanent injuries. The verdict in Zapalski’s Yasmin lawsuit comes as Bayer faces thousands of similar complaints alleging that the drug company failed to provide consumers and the medical community with adequate warnings about the increased risk of blood clot-related injuries linked to drospirenone-containing birth control products.
Bayer has already agreed to pay more than $1.7 billion in Yaz and Yasmin settlements in cases filed on behalf of women who have suffered blood clot injuries like deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and hundreds more birth control lawsuits are pending against Bayer in federal courts throughout the country. If you took Yasmin, Yaz, or another potentially defective birth control pill, and you have since suffered a major side effect like stroke or heart attack, our consumer advocates at the Consumer Justice Foundation can help put you in touch with an experienced Yasmin lawyer today.
