Judge Herndon determined that the best interests of the litigation will be better served by delaying the start of the bellwether trial, which was designed to help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to evidence that will be presented in many of the cases. He appointed ProfessorStephen Saltzburg of George Washington School of Law to serve as Special Master for purposes of mediating the entire litigation. The leadership teams for the plaintiffs and Bayer were ordered to meet with Saltzburg and to negotiate in good faith. Professor Saltzburg was recently the mediator that helped reach settlements in thousands of lawsuits over the side effects of Seroquel; an antipsychotic by AstraZeneca which many say causes diabetes and weight gain. In July, AstraZeneca reported it had reached settlements in more than 28,000 of those claims.
Over 10,000 women have filed a lawsuit against Bayer alleging that they suffered injuries as a result of the drug maker’s failure to adequately warn about the side effects of Yaz, Yasmin and other drosperinone-based birth control pills made by Bayer. Drospirenone is a newer type of progestin that is used in combination oral contraceptives that also include estrogen.
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