Ortho Evra Birth Control is an alternative patch to the usual birth control pill. This patch is placed on the skin for a week and gives the needed hormones. This method may seem a better option for forgetful people that have to take the pill everyday at the same time for its effects to be fully effective. However, the patch has seen its drawbacks as a viable birth control method because there have been numerous side effects associated with Ortho Evra. It is believed that this patch gives a significantly higher amount of hormones and this may be the reason for the increased risks.
Ever since it came out on the market in 2002, about 4 million women have been using it. Three years later, there have been numerous cases that denounce the horrible life-threatening side effects such as blood clots, strokes, heart attacks or pulmonary embolisms. Today, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc has been filed with a class action lawsuit for consumer fraud. It is still being investigated, but this lawsuit arose from the numerous cases of young women suffering from the use of the patch. There have been at least a dozen deaths among women in their late teens and twenties due to blood clots believed to be caused by Ortho Evra. There have a dozen other cases of stroke survivors, and 23 fatalities associated with the patch, even though the primary cause of death was not always clear. This still shows the threat posed at a higher rate than the regular pill and with a high frequency among younger women. There has always been a risk of blood clots associated with birth control, but it was usually associated with smoking and women over 30 years of age being at a greater risk. The patch inverses this trend and now affects those who have always maintained fewer risks.
The current lawsuit against Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals starts because it is believed that possible problems were visible with the patch before it was approved by the FDA. This negligence of providing this information is what caused numerous victims who were not aware of these deadly side-effects. The Associated Press has stated that in 2004 when over 800,000 women were using this patch, the risk of dying due to blood clots was believed to be about 300% higher than the regular pills. These facts were obtained through the Freedom Information Act which allowed for consumers to be aware of the possible dangers.
The news of the dangers caused by Ortho Evra were recently announced in 2005. The legal action taken against Johnson & Johnson and its division Ortho McNeil, the maker of the patch is taking place right now. This is a lawsuit from 10 women from across the USA, aged from of 18 to 47 who claim that the medicine was not labeled properly; it did not state all the possible dangers to health. If you or anyone you know has suffered from complications of blood clots or strokes due to the use of this patch, it may be a good time to join this class action lawsuit in order to have the possibility of some sort of compensation for the damages caused by the lack of information available about the patch.