Nearly 20,000 women have brought claims against Bayer for its failure to warn about Yaz’s association with increased risk of clotting. Women suffered deep vein thromboses, pulmonary embolis and death. Although Bayer has paid out approximately $1.7 billion in settlements to Yaz claimants approximately 3400 claims remain.
U.S. District Judge David Herndon expressed disappointment that Bayer has been unwilling or unable to settle out of court. Most of the remaining cases involve catastrophic injuries to women with patent foramen ovale and/or arterial clotting.
On February 13, 2015, Judge Herndon issued a case management order that provides for all Yaz actions that were initially transferred from outside of Southern Illinois to return to their home courts. And the trials originally scheduled for May 4, 2015 have been cancelled or continued. The Judge has scheduled a Yaz trial to begin in his courtroom on June 15, 2015.