Death of 18-Year Old College Student Leads to Yaz Lawsuit
Last September, Michelle Pfleger was walking to her morning class at Elon University in North Carolina when she suddenly collapsed. Michelle was taken to a nearby hospital, but despite the efforts of the medical professionals, she died. The autopsy report showed that Michelle died from cardiac arrest triggered by a pulmonary emboli, which is a blood clot in the lungs that can lead to abnormally low blood pressure and sudden death. Michelle was prescribed Yaz for the treatment of acne.
“One day she was a freshman at college so full of hope and promise and the next she was gone,” said Michelle’s mother, Joan Cummins on the date she filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz. “I can only hope that by publicizing what happened to Michelle, I can keep another family from having to go through this.”
Photo: Michelle Pfleger
The lawsuit follows the publication in the British Medical Journal in April 2011 of two studies finding that women taking oral contraceptives with the hormone drospirenone, which includes Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin, have a three-fold or two-fold increased risk of developing serious blood clots than women taking earlier-generation oral contraceptives that do not contain drospirenone. In one study, the risk of blood clots in the veins and the lungs was more than three times greater for women prescribed contraceptives containing drospirenone.
Contact Lieff Cabraser
If you or a family member have suffered a serious injury or a loved one died after taking Yaz, or similar drugs Yasmin and Ocella, please read Lieff Cabraser’s Yaz side effects FAQ webpage to learn more about your legal rights and submit a complaint.
Photo: Yaz Birth Control
Update June 2, 2011
The CBS Early Show interviewed Joan Cummins and profiled the risks of Yaz.
Trademark Notice
Yaz and Yasmin are registered trademarks of Bayer Schering Pharma Aktiengesellschaft. Ocella is a registered trademark of Barr Laboratories, Inc. The use of these trademarks is solely for informational and product identification purposes.
