TORONTO – A law firm in Thunder Bay, Ont. is launching an $800-million class action lawsuit against Apotex, the distributors of birth control pill Alysena that was recalled earlier this month.
Meanwhile, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq has launched an investigation into the timing of Apotex’s recall, which some have said was unduly delayed.
Thunder Bay-based law firm Watkins Law Professional Corporation says Apotex didn’t protect its consumers from faulty packaging, in which an extra row of placebo pills were included in a batch of Alysena 28.
“This drug has now been subject to a recall, but in its wake consumers have been left in emotional shock and turmoil and now face the life-altering consequences of this serious product and/or manufacturing defect. Consumers have detrimentally relied upon this product,” the statement says.
Lawyer Christopher Watkins says women could join the class action on the premise if they got pregnant because of the placebo, or if they experienced emotional stress from taking the recalled product. So far, about half a dozen women have joined the class action.
“They do not have to have gotten pregnant to join the class action,” Watkins told Global News.
He said that in some instances, if women deliver babies with birth defects or any issues that would need additional care, they could sue for damages linked to these costs. Meanwhile, other women may have taken time off work to deal with pregnancy, the fallout of relationships or health concerns.
“The gamut is very wide,” Watkins said.
Read the law firms statement on the class action here.
- What is a halal mortgage? How interest-free home financing works in Canada
- Ontario doctors offer solutions to help address shortage of family physicians
- Capital gains changes are ‘really fair,’ Freeland says, as doctors cry foul
- LGBTQ2 rallies will be held across Canada next month. Here’s what to know
On April 8, Health Canada warned women that the product contained two weeks’ worth of placebos instead of one.
It added that the “possibility of unplanned pregnancy cannot be ruled out.”
About 50,000 packets of the product with the recalled lot number LF01899A was distributed across Canada, except for in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Days later, the recall was expanded to include 11 additional lots of the pill, but only as a precautionary measure.
Now, Watkins is appealing to women across Ontario and other parts of Canada to contact him on the firm’s website or to call 807-345-4455.
Watkins says that he filed the class action after a few women reached out to him. Only three people are needed to form a class action.
The claim has been issued in the Superior Court of Justice in Thunder Bay, Watkins said. He says he anticipates that other provinces could be taking on their own cases.
Aglukkaq has ordered an investigation into why Canadian women were not immediately informed of the recall. An initial recall notice by Apotex was sent to retailers and distributors but a public notice wasn’t released until five days later.
“I am concerned that Canadians may not have received important information in a timely manner,” the minister said in an e-mailed statement.
American and Canadian lawyers say that it’ll be tricky to prove pain and suffering or that pregnancy occurred as a direct result of taking the recalled birth control.
“The short story is that people will very likely bring lawsuits in Canada against this manufacturer,” said Harvard University professor and Canadian Glenn Cohen. “They’ll have to show the mistake regarding the placebo caused them to be pregnant and had it not been one of these placebo pills, they would not have gotten pregnant.”
Dr. Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at New York University, says suing for emotional stress will be an uphill climb.
“The pain and suffering side strikes me as hard to show. That said, this is exceedingly unlikely to go to trial—there will be a settlement,” Caplan speculates. He’s head of the division of medical ethics at New York University medical school.
Apotex spokesperson Elie Betito told Global News that the company will not comment on legal proceedings before the court.
Last week an Ontario judge gave the green light to a class action lawsuit against Bayer regarding birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin.
Read more: Ontario judge gives green light to Yasmin, Yaz class action lawsuit
At the heart of this class action are allegations that women across Canada were kept in the dark about the increased risk of blood clots, stroke, heart attack and gallbladder disease and other medical conditions they had from taking these contraceptives compared to other birth control pills.
Similar cases have already taken place in United States, and some have already resulted in multi-million-dollar settlements.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai
Comments