Is Yasminelle responsible for pulmonary embolism?

During years of legal conflict over a possible health threat of the "Yasminelle" anti-baby pill, a court called on opponents of an agreement. The case is complex and difficult, Judge Claudia Jarsumbek, president of the court, told the District Court of Waldshut-Tiengen (Baden-Württemberg) on ​​Thursday. Settlement in court or settlement is the best solution. There is time until December 20th. Otherwise, a high-risk process for both sides could take years.

These are complex legal, medical and liability issues. It could hardly be answered clearly.

The case concerns a 34 year old woman. Since June 2011, he has been complaining about the ongoing civil litigation against the Bayer chemical and pharmaceutical group based in Leverkusen. This distributes the pill.

The woman is responsible for contraception with her drug Drospirenone for health problems and a high risk of thrombosis. After taking it in June 2009, she had bilateral pulmonary embolism and circulatory collapse with cardiac arrest and nearly died. According to court information, she was saved after an operation lasting several hours.

Even today, she suffers the consequences, said Thursday the woman living near Offenburg in Ortenaukreis. She claims damages from Bayer and compensation of at least 200,000 euros (Az: 1 O 73/12).

The pharmaceutical company considers that the claims made in the complaint are unfounded, said the company's lawyer, Henning Moelle. There is no indication that the contraceptive pill is responsible for the health problems of the claimant. Scientific evidence has confirmed that the pill and the active substance, if taken correctly, would not pose the risk mentioned in the complaint.

For an agreement or an amicable settlement, there is currently no basis, said Moelle. The applicant Felicitas Rohrer and her lawyer, Martin Jensch, however, said they could imagine an agreement.

A medical examiner had Thursday, the cause of health problems can not clarify clearly. The woman's potentially fatal disease is most likely due to the previous taking of the pill, the doctor said. Other causes are very unlikely. However, they could not be excluded without the slightest doubt.

After the report, many questions remained unresolved, the judge said. There are many probabilities and uncertainties. She therefore recommends an agreement. If the process continues, the fundamental issues will have to be resolved and require a lot of work. This is also a burden on the applicant.

The tablets in the product group are taken millions of times a day, according to Bayer, in more than 100 countries. Bayer has already won five processes in Germany, where the controversial drug was being discussed, the company said.

According to the company, several thousand women have filed lawsuits against Bayer in the United States. As of October 2016, the company had compared approximately 10,600 women for a total of approximately $ 2.1 billion, without recognizing a legally effective liability. Other complaints and requests from women would still be examined, it was said.

In the case heard in Landgericht-Waldshut-Tiengen, in December 2015, there was the first and only date of the trial until Thursday. Previously, participants had exchanged writings. At the time, the court had appealed to the medical expert, who was now submitting his three opinions to the civil division of the court.