Ortho Evra
September 22, 2006Ortho Evra lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson piling up
Johnson & Johnson is now facing 500 Ortho Evra lawsuits related to deaths and injuries caused by the birth control patch. As the company’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes, “These claimants seek substantial compensatory and, where available, punitive damages.”According to legal experts, the 500 claims are only the beginning, since thousands of young women all over the country have suffered Ortho Evra side effects like blood clots, heart attacks and strokes—and are not yet aware of the culprit. Last year alone, doctors wrote more than 9.4 million prescriptions for the Ortho Evra birth control patch.
Johnson & Johnson seems to realize that these cases can be easily won by the plaintiffs. This is because, in contrast to most other cases that involve a certain drug, women in this age group have no preexisting conditions. And the Ortho Evra side effects are almost unheard of in young women of childbearing age.
As a result, Johnson & Johnson has chosen to settle its Ortho Evra birth control patch lawsuits as quickly and quietly as possible. Critics say that the deaths, injuries and settlements are just a part of doing business in the modern pharmaceutical world. But without coercion from the Food and Drug Administration, the company is not likely to remove the profitable Ortho Evra birth control patch from the market and lose billions of dollars in ongoing sales.