› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the Ortho Evra (norelgestromin/ethinyl estradiol) birth control patch, has updated the drug’s warning label to include new data on the odds ratio estimates of venous thromboembolism risk in women on Ortho Evra compared to users of oral contraceptives. The new label was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Alisha Gutcher was just 24 years old when she suffered from chest pains and lightheadedness. “My heart was just freaking out,” she said to the Sault Star. “You could see it jumping in my chest.” When she phoned a friend and complained that she couldn’t breathe, her friend took action, driving her to the emergency room where she was immediately admitted. Doctors told her that blood clots had formed in her lungs (pulmonary embolism) and leg (deep vein thrombosis), and she was on the verge of dying. But what would cause an otherwise healthy young woman to become so seriously ill? Doctors confirmed, it was her birth control patch.
Leslie Niedner can’t make sense of the death of her 17-year-old daughter Adrianna. She was a healthy and active college freshman. It was later revealed that what killed her was a blood clot in her lung, also known as a pulmonary embolism. But how could such a condition happen to someone so young and healthy?
A new provision in the proposed budget signed by President Barack Obama last week could help significantly reduce the cost of birth control for young women by allowing pharmaceutical companies to reinstate discounts on contraceptives that they had previously offered to family planning clinics.
A new program in Wayne County, Michigan, is giving financially strapped women access to free family planning services, health care and birth control. However, women should be advised to consider their birth control options even if they come at no cost.
Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the Ortho Evra contraceptive patch for women, has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by Canadian women who suffered from blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the patch. The drug maker avoided trial by spending more than $68 million to settle similar claims by women in the United States, according to Bloomberg.
Students at Texas Christian University (TCU) now have access to more affordable contraceptives through the university’s Health Center, according to the TCU news Web site Daily Skiff. The Health Center negotiated a contract with drug companies to offer the discounted rates to students requesting contraceptives such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen and the Ortho Evra Contraceptive Transdermal Patch.
Ortho Evra manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, recently settled a lawsuit with the family of a 14-year-old girl killed by the defective birth control patch. The case is just one of many Ortho Evra lawsuits settled by Johnson & Johnson prior to going trial.
