Ortho Evra
December 12, 2006New Ortho Evra lawsuits filed in San Francisco
The mother of a 26-year-old woman and 55 more women from across the country have filed Ortho Evra lawsuits in a San Francisco court. All of the women allege that they suffered birth control patch side effects, including blood clots and strokes, after using the Ortho Evra patch.
Celena Devault experienced a pulmonary embolism and blood clots after using the Ortho Evra patch in April 2003. She died two months later as a result of her birth control patch injuries. The Ortho Evra lawsuit filed on her behalf was brought by her mother.
Like Devault, the other plaintiffs allege that the injuries they suffered were caused by their use of the Ortho Evra patch. In their Ortho Evra lawsuit, they allege that Ortho-McNeil, the maker of the Ortho Evra patch, knew of its risk for birth control patch side effects but concealed them from the public.
Brian Kabateck, an Ortho Evra lawyer in the women’s case, says that Ortho-McNeil failed its customers by neglecting to better investigate the risk of Ortho Evra side effects. “We believe Ortho-McNeil knew of the dangers of the Ortho Evra patch sold in the U.S. and chose to ignore them,” he says.
The Food and Drug Administration warned in September that women using the Ortho Evra patch face an increased risk of blood clots and other birth control patch side effects. One study found that the patch releases a 60% higher dose of estrogen into the bloodstream compared with birth control pills. Because estrogen increases blood clotting, this can increase a woman’s risk of Ortho Evra side effects.
Twenty-three birth control patch deaths and dozens more injuries have been linked with the Ortho Evra patch since it was released in 2004. Many of these women have filed Ortho Evra lawsuits against Ortho-McNeil or its parent company, Johnson & Johnson. Officials with the company have been eager to settle many of these birth control patch lawsuits because the Ortho Evra side effects experienced by women on the patch—including blood clots, heart attack and stroke—are so rare in young women.