TORONTO - A law firm representing some Canadians preparing to take a global pharmaceutical giant to task over its popular birth control products has turned to social media to drum up business.
The class action lawsuit against numerous divisions of Germany's Bayer AG has no official status, either in court or on its Facebook page, but nearly 1,500 women already say they "like" it.
Siskinds LLP, a law firm based in London, Ont. launched the suit in march on behalf of three Canadians alleging safety concerns over the contraceptive drugs Yasmin and Yaz. It established the Facebook page in October to try to spread the word about the lawsuit and encourage other plaintiffs to get on board.
Siskinds lawyer Matt Baer, who is spearheading the effort, said the case was an ideal testing ground for what he describes as a novel legal advertising strategy. He said the law firm decided to depart from the traditional method of putting a notice of the class action in a newspaper.
"It's very ineffective in most cases in getting the people's attention that the case applies to," Baer said in a telephone interview. "So what we thought we would do in this case, especially because the demographic of this class is young women who are more internet savvy and tend to use Facebook, we thought, 'why not make a Facebook page to spread awareness of the class action?"'
Such an approach would not be appropriate for other suits with a different target demographic, Baer added, saying efforts to find plaintiffs for a price fixing case or a suit related to dentures would likely not benefit from an online presence.
The gamble appears to have paid off. The page, entitled "Take Your Body Back," has attracted 1,497 fans in the past two months and has become the central hub of information for the pending Bayer suit.
Visitors to the page can read updates from the law firm, review allegations put forward in the statement of claim, share pictures and engage in discussions about the birth control pills with other users.
The lawsuit alleges Bayer did not warn Canadians about risks associated with the Yasmin and Yaz contraceptives.
Referencing the statement of claim, Baer said the pills contain a chemical that is not present in any other birth control treatment and increases the risk of developing medical conditions including blood clots, heart attacks, strokes and gall bladder and kidney stones.
"Bayer did not provide adequate safety data to Health Canada with respect to Yasmin and Yaz," Siskinds said in its statement of claim. "Bayer knew or should have known that Yasmin and Yaz were unsafe, defective, unreasonably dangerous, and not fit for their intended purposes. At all materials times, Bayer knew or should have known that the risks of using Yasmin and/or Yaz included severe and life threatening complications and side effects."
Bayer Canada spokeswoman Adrienne Jackson said the company stands by the safety of both Yasmin and Yaz, but was not able to discuss details of the pending suit, the allegations of which have not been proven in court.
Baer said court proceedings will likely not get under way until late next year, since the suit has not yet been certified. The response to the Facebook page bodes well for the case, he said, adding that not everyone who has supported the webpage will be eligible to sign on as a plaintiff.
