Missouri Personal Injury Blog

Two Killed In Crash Near Higginsville, Missouri

Brett Emison — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:10:03 GMT

The Missouri Highway Patrol and the Kansas City Star have reported that two men were killed in head-on collision between Higginsville, Missouri and Lexington, Missouri.

LEXINGTON, Mo. | Two people have died in a fiery head-on crash near Lexington.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the crash happened early Sunday on Missouri 13 south of the Lafayette County seat.

The patrol says 32-year-old Ronald A. Mason of Lexington was driving the vehicle that crossed the center line and collided with the vehicle that 59-year-old James F. Brown of Higginsville was driving.

Mason's vehicle overturned on its top and caught fire.

Both men were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Mason and Brown families.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effects: Bayer Profit Grows In Spite of Deadly Side Effects

Brett Emison — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:20:48 GMT

Industry site, bnet.com has reported that Bayer's profit from Yaz and Yasmin continues to grow in spite of serious -- even deadly -- side effects including heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and gallbladder disease.

Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin contraceptives appear to be recession- and scandal-resistant superbrands, if recent reports are to be believed. Bayer hit back at a German newspaper that reported the company was cutting back on pill production due to decreased demand.

***

But Bayer said the report was wrong:

“Revenue from our Yasmin product family continues to rise as planned,” a Bayer spokesman told Reuters on Sunday.

Yasmin is Bayer’s best-selling pharmaceutical product group. In the first quarter of 2009, Bayer reported sales of 319 million euros ($443.2 million) for the Yasmin range, a 7.4 percent year-on-year gain.

Those sales gains came despite the FDA forcing Bayer to spend an extra $20 million on “corrective” advertising to rebuff claims the company previously made that Yaz cures acne and PMS (it doesn’t).

Bayer continues to increase its profits at the expense of thousands of young women across the country. Bayer needs to be held accountable for putting profits and money over safety and lives. Why doesn't Bayer have to follow the same rules as everyone else?

If you or I put out a product that killed people, we would be held accountable. Why hasn't Bayer been held accountable? How many young women must suffer a heart attack or stroke before Bayer finally learns its lesson? Bayer's lesson will be learned only after it loses what it values most . . . money.

Why Are Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella So Dangerous?

Popular birth control pills, Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella, have been linked to serious and potentially deadly side effects. This deadly side effects affect women of all ages, including teens and young women.

Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella have been linked to serious side effects, such as heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), gallbladder disease and sudden cardiac death.

Despite these serious side effects, Bayer marketed these drugs to young women not only as a contraceptive, but to relieve symptoms of severe PMS and as an acne fighter.

The FDA reprimanded Bayer late last year for overstating the benefits and downplaying the risks of Yaz in television advertisements. The slogan for Yaz was "beyond birth control."

Bayer marketed Yaz to women in their 20s. Commercials cultivated a hip, youthful image set to rock music, and advertised Yaz as a treatment for acne and premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

The FDA called Bayer's advertisements "misleading" and reprimanded Bayer in a number of official FDA letters. Bayer's conduct was so egregious that the FDA ordered Bayer to run a $20 million "corrective" ad campaign.

"I can't think of anything even remotely as large scale as this corrective advertising," said Michael A. Santoro, an associate professor of business ethics at Rutgers University.

In August, the FDA again warned Bayer about poor quality control at a German plant that makes Yaz's key ingredient -- drospirenone.

How Does Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Cause Such Serious Side Effects?

Yaz and Yasmin contain the chemical, Drosperinone, which acts as a diuretic and causes fluid loss. This fluid loss decreases sodium in the blood and increases potassium. This imbalance causes irregular heartbeats and blood pooling, resulting in heart attacks, blood clots and stroke.

What Can I Do If I Have Experienced A Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effect?

Our firm has teamed up with the very best trial lawyers in the country to litigate Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits in the Multi-District Litigation (MDL) pending in the Southern District of Illinois, near St. Louis.

In fact, one of our team, Mark Niemeyer of Onder Shelton O'Leary & Peterson, LLC, is one of only three in the country to be selected by the Court to act as co-lead counsel for these Yaz and Yasmin cases.

"My role in this MDL is simply a reflection of the commitment of all us . . . to the women or families of women who suffered grave heath consequences after taking Yaz or Yasmin and just how seriously we take all our cases," said Mr. Niemeyer.

You can contact our team for a free case evaluation.

What Is An MDL? How Does An MDL Effect My Case?

You can find out more about MDLs and how they work at this recent post.

An MDL is like a class action, but with important differences. Instead of only one "case" (like in a class action), each plaintiff in the MDL maintains his or her own claim. However, because of many areas of common interest, the thousands of cases are consolidated for much of the pre-trial work up. For example, all of the cases filed in federal courts across the country will be transferred and consolidated in front of a single trial judge. The trial judge will appoint certain attorneys to represent all of the plaintiffs for various issues during pre-trial work up, such as discovery (fact-finding), motions, and scientific testing.

Lead counsel for the MDL is appointed by the trial judge. This small group of attorneys (for the Yaz MDL, there are only three attorneys appointed as co-lead counsel) will manage all of the pre-trial work up of all cases (potentially thousands) within the MDL.

If you file your Yaz or Yasmin claim in federal court, the three co-lead counsels -- including Mark Niemeyer of our team of attorneys -- will manage the work up of your case until trial.

Who Are Members Of This Team Of Attorneys?

The Onder Law Firm, based in St. Louis, Missouri has a track record of success and results for their clients in pharmaceutical litigation, personal injury claims, class actions and multi-district litigation (MDLs). Other lawyers across the country seek the firm's experience and expertise on complex litigation in specialty areas like dangerous drug cases.

Langdon & Emison, with locations in Chicago, St. Louis and near Kansas City, is one the country's premier trial firms, successfully taking on the largest corporations in the country. Langdon & Emison fought General Motors to the United States Supreme Court. . . and won. Baker v. General Motors held that corporations could not buy the silence of their employees and is taught in law schools across the country. The lawyers at Langdon & Emison actually try cases and have built a reputation for getting results for their clients with total recoveries of more than half a billion dollars. You can learn more by visiting Langdon & Emison's safety blog or profile.

Standly Hamilton, based in Dallas, Texas, litigates cases involving important social issues, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, catastrophic personal injury, and wrongful death.

Learn More

You can learn more about the serious side effects of Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella and find out what to do if you or a loved one have suffered any of these dangerous side effects at this Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella informational and safety web site.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Two Killed In Accident When Semi-Truck Fuel Tank Explodes

Brett Emison — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:18:50 GMT

NBC affiliate KJRH has reported that the driver and passenger of a tractor trailer were killed in an accident on I-44 near Tulsa when the fuel tank of the semi ruptured and exploded.

A semi erupted into flames on I-44 and 33rd W. Avenue Sunday morning. The driver and passenger of the semi died at the scene.

Gornwiga Nation lives near I-44 and 33rd W. Avenue in west Tulsa and caught the fiery accident on tape.

She describes the scene as a giant fire ball.

"You can see from the video my hand was shaking," said Nation

***

"We were hoping to help somebody, but the fire, it was just scary," said Hudson. "It was like the most scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and communites of those killed in this tragic event. Saddly, I suspect these deaths did not need to occur.

Car and truck manufacturers have recognized for years that vehicle occupants should be be killed by a vehicle fire if they survive the initial collision. The same is true for semi trucks.

Unfortunately, manufacturers often cut corners when designing and developing fuel systems. In tractor trailers, the onboard fuel -- diesel fuel -- is not nearly as volatile as ordinary gasoline. In fact, you can put out a match, by dunking it diesel fuel. Doing the same thing with gasoline would cause a violent explosion.

Many semi truck manufacturers place the fuel tanks in unguarded locations -- outside of the frame rails and exposed where minor collisions can rupter the tanks. More troubling, many semi truck manufacturers place cans of ether or other accelerants only inches from the unprotected fuel tanks. If both the ether can and fuel tank are ruptured, there is a high probability of explosion and massive fire.

It's time to hold these manufacturers accountable for such dangerous designs. You can learn more about fuel fed accidents and causes at our web site or at this recent blog post.

Become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

More Details In Deadly Diggins, Missouri Train Crash

Brett Emison — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:07:40 GMT

ABC affiliate, KSPR-33 has reported on more details in the deadly railroad crossing accident that killed Kristy Willis and injured her daughter, Kelsey.

I reported yesterday about this tragic train accident. Again, our thoughts and prayers to out to the family of Kristy Willis and her community.

Tim Bowden, whose children Tiffany Bowden and Carl Bowden survived the train crash by jumping from the pickup truck at the last second, said the train never blew its whistle or sounded a warning.

"It's a tragedy," he says. "From what my daughter told me, they pulled up on the tracks and nobody had even seen the train. The train didn't even blow a whistle, didn't blow a horn or nothing."

Neighbor, Nan Caldwell, confirmed that trains do not always blow their horn or sound a warning at this crossing. "You can't always here the train. They don't always blow the whistle," Caldwell said.

Missouri is one of the 10 deadliest states for train crashes and railroad crossing deaths. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad has been involved in many train-car collisions that have killed many drivers. In October, BNSF was hit with a $4 million penalty -- on top of a $21.6 million jury verdict -- because of its "staggering" pattern of misconduct that included destroying evidence in an attempted cover-up of its role in the deaths of four young people who were killed at one of its railroad crossings.

Railroad crossing collisions can have any number of causes. Some of these causes include:

Failure to install proper warnings, such as lights, alarms (crossing bells) or a functioning crossing gate
Defective warnings -- inoperable lights, bells or gates
Improper sight lines that prevent a vehicle's driver from seeing an oncoming train until it is too late
Failure to properly maintain the crossing -- such as allowing overgrown trees, vegetation and other foliage to obstruct or hide an oncoming train
Improperly parking a train at or near a crossing -- this not only hides an oncoming train from view, but gives motorists a false sense of safety in seeing a parked train at the crossing
Failure to sound the train's horn or whistle at or near the crossing
Other negligence that may appear on the train's data recorder or video recorder

Railroad companies should be held accountable for dangers railroad crossings that kill. Is there a different set of rules for railroad companies than for everyone else? If a railroad has a dangerous crossing where large trains speed through, shouldn't they warn approaching motorists? Why did the railroad never put up a proper warning device?

You can learn more about how to protect yourself at railroad crossings by visiting our railroad safety blog or web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Mother Killed; Child Injured In Diggins, Missouri Railroad Crossing Accident

Brett Emison — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:03:06 GMT

Several news sources, including The Kansas City Star, NBC KY3, and OzarksFirst.com have reported that Kristy Willis was killed and her daughter, Kelsey, was injured when their pickup truck was struck by a train in Diggins, Missouri in Webster County.

Diggins, Mo. -- A tragic accident between a pickup and a train at a Webster County railroad crossing late Friday afternoon. 33 year old Kristy Willis, who was driving the pick-up, died at the scene, and her eight year old daughter, Kelsey Turner was seriously hurt. Turner was airlifted to St. John's in Springfield. The accident happened around 4:00 Friday afternoon just after Turner and two other kids got off the school bus.

***

Willis was headed to her home on Greenbriar drive. There are only four homes past the private railroad crossing, and Nan Caldwell's is one of them. "Sometimes they come by a couple times an hour," says Caldwell.

She knows the crossing, which only has a stop sign and a railroad crossing sign, no crossing bars or lights, is dangerous. "You can't always hear the train. They don't always blow the whistle, because it almost happened to me, and thank God I stopped and saw it because it was right on me," says Caldwell.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to this young family and their community. Any loss of life from preventable tragedies is unacceptable.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) engineer claims that he blew the whistle and tried to stop, but that part of his story is disputed one of the pickup truck passengers.

"It's a tragedy," he says. "From what my daughter told me, they pulled up on the tracks and nobody had even seen the train. The train didn't even blow a whistle, didn't blow a horn or nothing."

According to emergency responders at the scene, the BNSF engineer agreed that Kristy Willis never saw the locomotive before it struck her vehicle.

"He just didn't think they seen them, and they just didn't have time to stop," says Captain James Merritt with the Southern Webster County Fire Protection District. The train was moving at about 50 miles an hour. It struck the front driver's side of the pickup, killing Willis.

Again, our prayers go out to the Willis family, their neighbors and their community. Tragedies like this don't have to happen if the railroad company takes proper precautions. There have been far too many train-vehicle crashes in recent weeks. There were at least two railroad crossing crashes in Missouri -- one in Campbell, Missouri and one in Marshall, Missouri -- just in November.

In fact, Missouri was one of the top 10 deadliest states or railroad crossing accidents in 2008.

In addition, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) has been under heated scrutiny in recent months. In October, BNSF was hit with a $4 million penalty -- on top of a $21.6 million jury verdict -- because of its "staggering" pattern of misconduct that included destroying evidence in an attempted cover-up of its role in the deaths of four young people who were killed at one of its railroad crossings.

The Court found that BNSF destroyed some evidence, fabricated other evidence, interfered with the investigation and purposefully lied and advanced misleading facts in order to conceal the truth.

BNSF's conduct in the Minnesota case was despicable. There conduct in Missouri may not be much better. Reports indicate that BNSF did not properly maintain or guard the crossing and that their engineers did not always sound the train's horn at the crossing as federal regulations require.

Railroad crossing collisions can have any number of causes. Some of these causes include:

Failure to install proper warnings, such as lights, alarms (crossing bells) or a functioning crossing gate
Defective warnings -- inoperable lights, bells or gates
Improper sight lines that prevent a vehicle's driver from seeing an oncoming train until it is too late
Failure to properly maintain the crossing -- such as allowing overgrown trees, vegetation and other foliage to obstruct or hide an oncoming train
Improperly parking a train at or near a crossing -- this not only hides an oncoming train from view, but gives motorists a false sense of safety in seeing a parked train at the crossing
Failure to sound the train's horn or whistle at or near the crossing
Other negligence that may appear on the train's data recorder or video recorder

You can learn more about how to protect yourself at railroad crossings by visiting our railroad safety blog or web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Toyota Recall: Time Magazine Suggests Recall Will Not End Sudden Acceleration Problems

Brett Emison — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:31:48 GMT

An article in Time magazine suggests that Toyota's massive recall will not end the controversy over the Toyota sudden acceleration defect.

But critics complain that Toyota was slow to acknowledge the problem, and may still not be dealing with it adequately. "I don't think Toyota has handled it well," says Clarence Ditlow, the director of the Center of Auto Safety in Washington, D.C. Ditlow says the record shows that Toyota executives first became aware of a possible problem 10 years ago — a scenario Toyota disputes — when the company replaced the floor mats on Lexus models sold in Great Britain. "There have been six different defect petitions [filed with the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, or NHTSA]," says Ditlow.

Other experts point to errant electrical signals that may be triggering some of the sudden accelerations. For some Toyota vehicles, reports of unintended acceleration and accelerator problems increased by more than 500% after the company adopted electronic drive-by-wire systems in its vehicles.

"With the electronic throttle, the driver is not really in control of the engine," said Antony Anderson, a Britain-based electrical engineering consultant who investigates electrical failures and has testified in sudden-acceleration lawsuits. "You are telling the computer, will you please move the throttle to a certain level, and the computer decides if it will obey you."

Time confirmed that Toyota's recall will change the shape of its accelerator pedal on millions of vehicles and that Toyota will install a brake-override system on some (but not all) of its vehicles. Experts continue to say that Toyota's recall effort is not enough and will not fix the underlying accelerator problems.

After ignoring this problem for more than five years and then lying to the public, Toyota appears to finally be doing something, but it doesn't look like it is doing enough or doing it soon enough.

More than 5 years ago, the Center for Auto Safety identified the electronic throttle control as the most likely source of the sudden acceleration defect. However, Toyota continues to public deny the possibility.

Toyota continues to deny that electronic technology was a factor in any reported case of unintended acceleration, said spokesman Mike Michels.

If there is no problem with the electronic throttle control system, then why is Toyota rolling out a "smart brake" technology to override the throttle when the brake is applied? If there is a problem with the electronic throttle control, then why doesn't Toyota provide the "smart brake" in all its vehicles. Clearly Toyota is not doing enough to protect its customers and the rest of us driving on American roads and highways.

Even the fixes Toyota has finally come up with won't be available until at least April of next year.

Other manufacturers have provided the "smart brake" system for years. This system overrides the throttle input when the brake is applied and makes sure that the car is able to stop. Toyota refused to provide this critical safety feature for years despite the ongoing sudden acceleration problems.

There have been more than 2,100 reported instances of Toyota sudden acceleration.

Why has it taken Toyota more than five years to finally address this problem? Why did so many Toyota owners and innocent passengers and other motorists need to be injured or killed before Toyota would do the right thing and at least try to fix the accelerator problem?

Did Toyota think it didn't have to play be the same rules as the rest of us?

You can learn more about the Toyota sudden acceleration defect by reading these previous reports of Toyota's sudden acceleration problem:

Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recall: Company Vows To "Make Better Cars"

Toyota Sudden Acceleration: Safety Experts Want Toyota Recall Expanded

Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recall: Company Focuses On Wrong Problem

Toyota Recall Won't Fix Accelerator Problem

Toyota Denied Sudden Acceleration Problem For More Than 5 Years

You can learn more about Toyota's dangerous sudden acceleration defect at our auto safety blog or by visiting our web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Mother, 3 Children Hurt When Semi Truck Runs Stop Sign In Spaulding County, Georgia

Brett Emison — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:57:27 GMT

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB TV have reported that a Hampton, Georgia mother and her three children were seriously injured when they were struck by a tractor trailer that had run a stop sign.

A mother and her three kids were transported to area hospitals after being involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer in Spalding Thursday afternoon.

The incident occurred around 2:35 Thursday afternoon at the intersection of High Falls Road and North McDonough Road.

Cindy Lynn Fain, 38, of Hampton, was driving her Dodge minivan west on High Falls Road when Solomon Debela, 37, of Tucker, ran a stop sign and slammed into the passenger side of the van. Debela was traveling south on North McDonough.

Fain and her three kids, Landon Todd, 2; Jason Todd, 4 and Josieanna Arriaga, 5, were injured seriously in the crash, said Lt. Paul Cosper, Georgia State Patrol spokesman.

The children were airlifted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. Fain was transported to Spalding Regional Medical Center. Their conditions were unknown by Cosper and would not be released by hospital officials.

The accident is still under investigation, said Cosper. Debela has been charged with failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to obey a traffic control device and charged for driving a truck on a no-thru truck road.

Too many people have been killed by semi truck crashes and trucking accidents.

Nationwide, large trucks (known as tractor trailers, semi trucks, eighteen wheelers, diesel, big rigs, or commercial trucks) make up only about 3% of the vehicles on the road. However, they account for far more traffic fatalities. For example, in Missouri, semi truck crashes make up as much as 15% of traffic deaths. In Illinois, tractor trailer crashes cause more than 10% of traffic deaths.

The National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") lists the following as some of the most common causes of big rig accidents:

Poor Driver Training

Driver Fatigue (Tiredness)

Speeding

Overloaded Trucks

Oversized Trucks

Brake Failure

Poor Driving Conditions

Driver Inexperience

Failure To Yield The Right-Of-Way

Driving Under The Influence of Alcohol Or Drugs

Aggressive, Dangerous Or Reckless Driving

Mechanical Failure (Or Improper Maintenance)

Defective Parts (Such As Defective Steering Or Brakes)

Truckers and trucking companies must be mindful of each of these trucking accident causes.

Visit our trucking accident web site to learn more about trucking accident safety or trucking accident investigation.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Toyota Recall: Simple "Off" Switch Would Prevent Sudden Acceleration Problem

Brett Emison — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:50:46 GMT

An op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal suggests that a simple "off" switch could have mitigated -- or even prevented -- many of Toyota's accelerator problems.

The millisecond-scale operation of an analog on-off switch is an eternity to a computer. Does that tremulous signal mean a finger meant to push the button once or twice? Is the computer being misled by microvoltages created by electronic interference? Did a user really push the button at all?

As one authority puts it, "Switches can do some really odd things. . . . Switches don't make and break cleanly on the time scales of digital systems."

Thus software "debouncers," or bits of code written to analyze the many states of a seemingly simple on-off switch, are one of the Faustian prices we pay for our digital plenty—though sometimes the burden is also partly borne by the user. A particularly unsuccessful mix of the two approaches is the ignition button in certain Toyota models that must be held down for three continuous seconds to turn off a runaway car.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that Toyota sudden acceleration events increased by more than 500% after Toyota introduced electronic throttle control -- sometimes called drive-by-wire -- systems. Toyota also failed to install a critical safety device that allows the brake to override the throttle the input. In addition to fail-safe braking systems, a simple kill switch could have prevented catastrophe in many cases.

Racecars and motorcycles increasingly have drive-by-wire systems too—but the trusty kill switch remains part of every design. Such systems need to work for people who are panicked and not able to think through their options.

***

[G]iven the impossibility (as Microsoft has repeatedly demonstrated) of debugging any software product fully before putting it on the market, Toyota's delayed "off" switch is inexcusable.

You can learn more about the Toyota sudden acceleration defect by reading these previous reports of Toyota's sudden acceleration problem:

Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recall: Company Vows To "Make Better Cars"

Toyota Sudden Acceleration: Safety Experts Want Toyota Recall Expanded

Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recall: Company Focuses On Wrong Problem

Toyota Recall Won't Fix Accelerator Problem

Toyota Denied Sudden Acceleration Problem For More Than 5 Years

You can learn more about Toyota's dangerous sudden acceleration defect at our auto safety blog or by visiting our web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effects: Thousands Sue Bayer For Birth Control Problems

Brett Emison — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:12:44 GMT

The Washington Times reported that thousands of women are suing Bayer because of serious side effects from its popular contraceptives (birth control pills) Yaz and Yasmin.

After 13 hours of intensifying pain, two trips to the emergency room and two CT scans, doctors finally found what was ailing Lottie Green.

In her left lung, the pulmonologist told her, was the largest blood clot they had ever seen and there were others in her right lung as well, she said.

Soon after the 41-year-old Bethesda, Md., resident was released from a hospital last month, Ms. Green joined hundreds of other women in lawsuits against Germany's Bayer AG, the maker of the popular oral contraceptive Yaz.

Her attorneys say thousands more lawsuits are forthcoming after the British Medical Journal in August published a study that found higher risks of clots, heart attacks and strokes with Yaz and its predecessor, Yasmin, compared with other contraceptives.

Why Are Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella So Dangerous?

Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella have been linked to serious side effects, such as heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), gallbladder disease and sudden cardiac death.

Despite these serious side effects, Bayer marketed these drugs to young women not only as a contraceptive, but to relieve symptoms of severe PMS and as an acne fighter.

The FDA reprimanded Bayer late last year for overstating the benefits and downplaying the risks of Yaz in television advertisements. The slogan for Yaz was "beyond birth control."

Bayer marketed Yaz to women in their 20s. Commercials cultivated a hip, youthful image set to rock music, and advertised Yaz as a treatment for acne and premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

"I can't think of anything even remotely as large scale as this corrective advertising," said Michael A. Santoro, an associate professor of business ethics at Rutgers University.

In August, the FDA again warned Bayer about poor quality control at a German plant that makes Yaz's key ingredient -- drospirenone.

How Does Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Cause Such Serious Side Effects?

What Can I Do If I Have Experienced A Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effect?

"My role in this MDL is simply a reflection of the commitment of all us . . . to the women or families of women who suffered grave heath consequences after taking Yaz or Yasmin and just how seriously we take all our cases," said Mr. Niemeyer.

You can contact our team for a free case evaluation.

What Is An MDL? How Does An MDL Effect My Case?

You can find out more about MDLs and how they work at this recent post.

If you file your Yaz or Yasmin claim in federal court, the three co-lead counsels -- including Mark Niemeyer of our team of attorneys -- will manage the work up of your case until trial.

Who Are Members Of This Team Of Attorneys?

Standly Hamilton, based in Dallas, Texas, litigates cases involving important social issues, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, catastrophic personal injury, and wrongful death.

Learn More

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Missouri Personal Injury Blog

Two Killed In Crash Near Higginsville, Missouri

Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effects: Bayer Profit Grows In Spite of Deadly Side Effects

More Toyota Problems: Government Investigates Toyota Stalling Problems

Two Killed In Accident When Semi-Truck Fuel Tank Explodes

More Details In Deadly Diggins, Missouri Train Crash

Mother Killed; Child Injured In Diggins, Missouri Railroad Crossing Accident

Toyota Recall: Time Magazine Suggests Recall Will Not End Sudden Acceleration Problems

Mother, 3 Children Hurt When Semi Truck Runs Stop Sign In Spaulding County, Georgia

Toyota Recall: Simple "Off" Switch Would Prevent Sudden Acceleration Problem

Yaz / Yasmin / Ocella Side Effects: Thousands Sue Bayer For Birth Control Problems