Doctors are supposed to treat and alleviate unwanted health conditions of their patients. When they do commit mistakes in prescribing medicine though, the effect can be serious and even long lasting which is what happened with the case of 37-year-old Mariola Zapalski from suburban Chicago.
Zapalski was prescribed by her doctor, Zbigniew Aniol, a birth control pill Yasmin for her irregular bleeding in 2007 but nearly two weeks after taking the medication, Zapalski suffered a stroke that paralyzed her left side and caused her permanent brain injury. Zapalski, who had the stroke on her wedding day, sued her doctor but now depends on round-the-clock care. Her husband has, in fact, quit his job as a machinist to be her caregiver.
Zapalski's lawyer, Bradley Cosgrove, said that the combination of taking the birth control pill Yasmin and the patient's risk factors caused her stroke. Cosgrove said that Zapalski should not have been given the medication in the first place because of her age, high cholesterol and smoking habits. He also said that the defendant failed to inform Zapalski about the risks associated with taking the estrogen-based birth control pill.
On Friday, April 18, a Cook County jury reached a verdict on the lawsuit and awarded $14 million to Zapalski and her husband following a two-week trial.
"Under the circumstances for this patient, Yasmin was a dangerous drug for her and it was an inappropriate choice because of Mariola Zapalski's underlying risk factors," said Cosgrove, from the Clifford Law Office. "He could have prescribed a progesterone-only pill to manage her medical condition, which carries little to no risk."
The Clifford Law Office said that this is not the first lawsuit associated with the case. Earlier this year, the Zapalski couple was granted a $2.5 million settlement from Resurrection Medical Center, the hospital that referred Zapalski's to Aniol.
Chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer, the manufacturer of Yasmin has likewise faced several lawsuits from women who claim that the drug, which continues to be available in the market, causes blood clots that cause serious health consequences. Bayer as of July last year had already settled over 6,000 plaintiff claims totaling $1.4 billion but stands firm on the drug's safety when used as directed.
