News

Monday February 22, 2010


Women Sue Birth Control Manufacturer over Serious Health Issues

Indiana, February 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Over 50 women in Indiana have filed lawsuits against Bayer Pharmaceuticals charging that use of the company’s Yaz and Yasmin hormonal birth control pills caused conditions ranging from gallbladder-related injuries to strokes.

There are now over 25,000 similar reported cases across the United States.

In December LSN reported that over 100 lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. against Bayer, alleging that the company has overstated the benefits of the drugs, downplayed the side-effects, and failed to conduct proper research before releasing them onto the market.

William Riley, the lawyer who is representing many of the women, told Fox 59 that he believes the company was aware of the danger that their product presented. “They’re not doing adequate clinical studies and they are aggressively marketing this to women, young women,” he said.

“We’re seeing an increasing awareness of the very real health risks associated with hormonal birth control,” said Marie Hahnenberg, project director of American Life League’s The Pill Kills project. “For years, criticism of birth control has been a sacrosanct topic, but the victims of hormonal birth control are too numerous to ignore any longer.”

American Life League’ s annual Protest the Pill Day on June 5 seeks to educate women on the dangers of hormonal birth control – a class one carcinogen on the same level as tobacco – through protests and activism at birth control retailers nationwide.

“The birth control pill, patch, IUD, and similar birth control products can cause blood clots, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms,” Hahnenberg said. “How many lawsuits, injuries and even deaths could be prevented if only women were properly warned, or better yet, if these dangerous drugs were taken off the market?”