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More Ortho Evra® News
Ortho Evra® is the only birth control patch on the market today. Ortho McNeil and Johnson & Johnson have marketed it to be as effective as the birth control pill, but lawsuits claim the companies knew about and concealed the serious health risks.
After using Ortho Evra® for only 2 months, Stephanie Sanchez, 37, says she knew something was horribly wrong. "I just had really bad cramping in the left side of my chest and I went over to the emergency room," said Sanchez. Doctors found a blood clot in her lungs and treated her at the ER. She immediately stopped using Ortho Evra®, did some quick research, and found out that she was not alone.
Sanchez's lawsuit states that Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and the FDA knew in clinical trials that women were three times more likely to develop blood clots and six times more likely to experience embolisms while on the Ortho Evra® patch compared to the birth control pill. The lawsuit goes on to say that the companies failed to disclose the serious and deadly health risks and only labeled that the patch had similar risks associated with other contraceptives.
Sanchez says that when she was on the pill she never experienced any side effects until she switched to the Ortho Evra® patch. She said that her purpose in suing is to force the drug companies to do more research and testing before women's lives are put at risk.
The firm representing Stephanie Sanchez is also representing three other Ortho Evra® victims in three other states. It is estimated that there are 40 to 50 more lawsuits already filed across the U.S.
Reference:
"Lawsuit Grows Over Birth Control Patch," CBS13/UPN31, Brandi Hitt, January 2006.
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