Bayer is the leading manufacturer of birth control pills, and their development of a new contraceptive pill comes at a time when Bayer is still dealing with the fall out from alleged serious side effects from its previous birth control drug Yaz.

Across the U.S., almost 3,000 women are suing Bayer alleging serious injuries related to the use of the drug. Side effects may include blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, strokes, heart attacks, gall bladder damage, and kidney problems. In certain cases, women have died suddenly. Learn more about dangerous Yaz side effects and Yaz lawsuits.

Yaz side effects and Yaz lawsuits

GlaxoSmithKline insists that the study was reliable and that it demonstrated that the drug is safe. Critics assert that the study conducted by GlaxoSmithKline was flawed, manipulated and that its findings cannot be trusted.

The nation’s leading medical advisory group, The Institute of Medicine, released a report last week “concluding that Avandia increased the risks of stroke, heart failure and death compared with Actos.”

Beginning today, the FDA will determine in two days of hearings on whether Avandia should be withdrawn from the market.

Read an earlier entry outlining a New York Times report that exposed how Avandia is linked with risks of heart failure.

Patients taking Avandia that suffered serious side effects are welcome to contact a Lieff Cabraser attorney to learn about their legal rights for no charge or obligation.

As published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one study found that Avandia, as compared with other diabetes medications, increased the risk of heart attacks by 28% to 38%.  The other study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that Avandia, as compared with another diabetes drug, Actos, increased the risk of stroke by 27%, heart failure by 25%, and death by 13%.

Both studies were released in advance in the Food and Drug Administration hearing that will determine if Avandia should stay on the market.  In the meantime, The American Diabetes Association has recommended doctors to discontinue prescribing Avandia.  The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance called for Avandia’s removal and charged the FDA with knowledge of the drug’s dangerous link to cardiovascular health risks before it was reported to the public.

The manufacturer of Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline, defended the safety of the drug and denied the findings reported by studies.

Read an earlier entry explaining a New York Times report that exposed the heightened heart failure risks of Avandia.

Patients taking Avandia that suffered serious side effects are welcome to contact a Lieff Cabraser attorney to learn about their legal rights for no charge or obligation.

Paxil, Paxil Oral Suspension, and Paxil-CR are trade names of the drug Paroxetine, which is a member of a class of drugs known as “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs). A 2005 study based on 3,500 pregnant women, linked Paxil to twice as many birth defects compared to other antidepressants when taken during the first three months of pregnancy.

The birth defects identified in the study included congenital defects, heart defects and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a potentially fatal disease.

If your child was born with birth defects and you were prescribed Paxil or other antidepressant drugs while pregnant, please contact our law firm to learn about your rights for no charge or obligation.

Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market. The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart.

Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.  “Rosiglitazone should be removed from the market,” one report, by Dr. David Graham and Dr. Kate Gelperin of the Food and Drug Administration, concludes. Both authors recommended that Avandia be withdrawn.

Millions of diabetics have been prescribed Avandia sold by GlaxoSmithKline PLC since it came on the market in 1999.  In May 2007, Avandia was linked to a 43 percent greater risk of heart attack and death in a scientific analysis published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Upon the release of the 2007 study, GlaxoSmithKline downplayed the report and encouraged continued use of Avandia.  Dr. Lawson McCartney, who led Glaxo’s diabetes drug development, said, “We remain very confident in the safety and of course in the efficacy of Avandia as an important diabetic medicine.”

Soon thereafter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked  Glaxo to carry a more prominent warning, a so-called black box warning, of Avandia’s heart risks because “despite existing warnings, these drugs were being prescribed to patients with significant heart failure.” Glaxo continued to maintain the safety of Avandia, and the drug has remained on the market.

Learn more about the legal rights of patients that suffered serious side effects from Avandia.

In a report by the CBS affiliate TV station in Nashville, Tennessee, Traci Mayfield spoke of her love for her 20-year old daughter Leah, “We were more than mother/daughter, we were best friends. She blossomed into a beautiful young lady [in college].”

Leah and Traci Mayfield

Traci Mayfield has filed a lawsuit against Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz, for death of her daughter, and is warning others of the dangers of Yaz.  (Ms. Mayfield is represented by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP). Watch the news report.

If you or a loved one have been injured or died as a result of taking Yaz or Yasmin, please visit Lieff Cabraser’s Yaz/Yasmin legal information page or call us toll-free at 1-800-541-7358. Our personal injury attorneys and legal nurse consultants will promptly review your case for no charge or obligation on your part.

Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit stimulate the formation of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the bone marrow. They are given to patients with anemia due to cancer treatment and kidney disease to reduce or eliminate the need for blood transfusions.

The FDA’s action follows publication of studies showing that high dosages of anemia drugs might worsen the survival rate of patients with cancer, diabetes or chronic kidney disease. Patients with these diseases receiving high concentrations of anemia drugs were found to at a greater risk of an adverse cardiovascular event, stroke, and death. In a related story, the San Francisco Chronicle today observed that Amgen’s shares dipped in the wake of the FDA drug re-examination announcement.

If you took Aranesp, Epogen or Procrit and suffered a stroke or other cardiac event, please feel free to contact a personal injury attorney at Lieff Cabraser.

Exposure to gadolinium based dyes prior to MRI or MRA scans has been linked to the development of the debilitating disease Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), which can be fatal. NSF is caused solely by gadolinium and gadolinium can only get into a person’s system by injection prior to a MRI with contrast or MRA medical scan.

There has been a black box alert since 2006 regarding the risk of NSF associated with MRI and MRA contrast agents containing gadolinium. The Food and Drug Administration issued further warnings in May 2007. As of December 2006, 90 cases of NSF have been reported to the FDA.

If you have developed a serious such as Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis after receiving an MRI or MRA, please contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser. There is no charge or obligation for our review of your case.

Alternatively, you may contact Lieff Cabraser personal injury attorney Heather Foster at 1-800-541-7358 (the call is toll-free).

Reglan has been linked to Tardive Dyskinesia (TD), a neurological disorder which can include involuntary spasms and movements. TD has no cure and TD patients often suffer from depression.  In lawsuits filed against Reglan drug manufacturers, patients who developed TD allege that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn physicians and patients of the link between Reglan and TD.

If you or a family member have suffered a serious injury or a loved one died after being prescribed Reglan, contact a Reglan injury attorney at Lieff Cabraser.

Ms. Fleishman also discusses the risks of these drugs in a YouTube video entitled:  Yaz | Yasmin Drug Side Effects & Dangers Explained

If you or a loved one have been injured or died as a result of taking Yaz or Yasmin, please visit Lieff Cabraser online at http://www.personalinjurylawyeramerica.com/medical/yasmin-yaz.htm or call us toll-free at 1-800-541-7358. Our personal injury attorneys and legal nurse consultants will promptly review your case for no charge or obligation on your part.