Multi District Judge David Herndon – the judge presiding over the 3,000 lawsuits against Bayer in East St. Louis, Illinois – recently ordered the company to reveal formerly redacted information in millions of pages of documents submitted to the courts, an article in the Madison St. Clair Record reports. Workers are currently searching over 33 million pages of documents to find each redaction and determine whether it must be un-redacted before the court proceedings.
Judge Herndon told Bayer that they must produce unedited documents regarding their sales strategy of Yaz, Yasmin, and other drugs containing drospirenone. Herndon had previously ordered that Bayer could “black out strategy information for drugs with the same ingredient, drospirenone,” the Record reported.
The redaction rule was repealed and changed because, “it was clear that the redaction complained of made the production virtually useless in too many instances,” Herndon wrote. Newsome Law Firm reports that Bayer must also provide reasons for each redaction as workers restore the more than 30 million pages of documents to their original un-redacted state.
Herndon scheduled a conference on October 12 to assess the progress of the pending litigation and to proceed further. Bayer faces litigation over the potentially deadly side effects of Yaz and Yasmin including increased risk of heart attack, stroke, gall bladder disease, and blood clots. Plaintiffs in more than 3,000 cases claim that Bayer had known the danger inherent to the drugs for years and failed to adequately warn consumers. Further, Bayer was forced to correct misleading advertising that encouraged young women to take Yaz and Yasmin for benefits beyond birth control that had not been approved by the FDA.
References:
Korris, Steve. (October 1, 2010) “Bayer must un-redact sales strategy for lawyers in Yaz litigation.” Retrieved on October 8, 2010 from the Madison St. Clair Record.
Newsome Law Firm Staff. (October 4, 2010) “Yaz Lawsuits No Longer Allow Bayer to Censor Material.” Retrieved on October 8, 2010 from the Newsome Law Firm.
If you or a loved one has experienced a serious side effect or symptoms of side effects related to Yaz, Yasmin or related birth control medications, contact Newsome Law Firm and fill out a case evaluation form today. Our team of attorneys has experience specific to complications associated with prescription medication recalls. Not only can they give you the legal guidance you need, they can help you get the compensation you deserve.