French contraceptive pill Mélanie and USA contraceptive YAZ are both manufactured by Bayer

French case of young woman who suffered stroke and coma apparently due to contraceptive Mélanie pill sold in France stirs comparisons.  In the USA, 13,500 women taking the YAZ pill have filed suits. The UN's autonomous agency, Business and Human Rights is circulating information about the case. The manufacturer in both countries is Bayer, and the French health watchdog agency, ANSM, is also in question for not stopping the drug.

— Albert Gedraitis

Radio France International Service english (Jan23,2k13) via Business & Human Rights (en français ici)

French woman sues Bayer 

over 3rd-generation contraceptive pill

Meliane pills

DR

By RFI

A French woman is suing pharmaceutical giant Bayer after suffering a stroke that she blames on a third-generation contraceptive pill. He lawyer says that a new case for involuntary homicide is in the works.

Marion Larat, 25, who has been classified as 25 per cent handicapped, has filed a case against Bayer and the French health watchdog, ANSM, after suffering a stroke and a coma in 2006. She has also suffered many after-effects, she says, including speech and memory problems.  Larat says she did not make the connection with the Méliane pill until 2010 when she changed gynaecologist.  “Nobody, but nobody, should take the third- or fourth-generation pill,” she told the AFP news agency.

At present between 1.5 million and two million women take the pills in France.

Although the ANSM has warned of possible dangers, Larat argues that it should have ordered the pill to be taken off the market.

Her lawyer, Jean-Christophe Coubris, said Friday that the parents of a young woman who was taking the pill and died from a blood clot on the lung may launch legal action against Bayer in the next few weeks.

Apart from expressing sympathy for the pain of the plaintiff, the company has refused to comment.

About 13,500 suits have been filed in the US by women who have taken Bayer’s YAZ pill.

TAGS: CONTRACEPTION - FRANCE - HEALTH - LAW - MEDICINE - UNITED STATES