Gutcher was one of thousands of women worldwide who use the Ortho Evra birth control patch. The contraceptive allows women to apply a patch once weekly as opposed to taking a pill every day. For a young woman with an active lifestyle, the patch seemed ideal. But what Gutcher says she didn’t know was that using the Ortho Evra patch put her at greater risk of developing life-threatening blood clots.

Ortho Evra makers Johnson & Johnson have spent millions settling lawsuits it faced against women who said they were injured by the birth control patch, and in 2006 changed its warning label to reflect a greater risk associated with use on the patch.

Inadequate warnings on birth control pills and patches has spurred another series of lawsuits for drug makers from women who claim they were never warned that by using the birth control they were at greater risk for serious complications such as blood clots. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s popular Yaz birth control pill, also known by the brand name Yasmin and generic Ocella, is now the focus of numerous lawsuits from women who say they have suffered heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmias, gallbladder problems and blood clots because of the meds but were not adequately warned.

SOURCE: Ortho Evra and Blood Clots › Birth control patch caused woman to develop life-threatening blood clots

Leslie cannot remember who first raised the question of whether Adrianna was on the birth control patch. But the suggestion sent her searching the Internet for answers. She quickly found dozens of other stories like Adrianna’s – of healthy young women on the Ortho Evra transdermal contraceptive patch who mysteriously suffered sometimes fatal heart attacks, strokes or blood clots.

“Why would they prescribe this?” Leslie asked the Boston Globe. The question is even more painful to ask, knowing that that thousands of lawsuits have mounted against Johnson & Johnson, makers of the Ortho Evra patch, by women who have been injured or died after using the patch. Johnson & Johnson has paid $70 million to settle the lawsuits.

The bad press has dropped sales of the patch by 75 percent, but the drug is still approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration. “It’s needlessly dangerous,” says Sidney Wolfe, director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization in Washington, during an interview with UPI.

The birth control patch was marketed to younger women because the weekly patches provide a more convenient alternative to daily birth control pills. However, those patches have been found to deliver far more estrogen than birth control pills, Those higher estrogen levels can double a woman’s risk of blood clots.

SOURCE: Ortho Evra and Blood Clots › Mother of Ortho Evra user asks why her daughter had to die

Johnson & Johnson, which makes the Ortho Evra (norelgestromin/ethinyl estradiol) Transdermal System, has been the focus of hundreds of lawsuits filed over the past two years by women who suffered blood clots and other serious side effects from heightened estrogen levels caused by the birth control patches. Some reports include fatalities. J&J has already settled several of the lawsuits, and the company has told plaintiffs attorneys it is ready to settle remaining ones.

The new labeling on the Ortho Evra packaing includes
- CONTRAINDICATIONS – The term “significant hypertension” was replaced with actual blood pressure values.
- WARNINGS – Under “Elevated Blood Pressure,” providing more complete guidance to health care providers regarding use in women with hypertension.
- ADVERSE REACTIONS – Under “Clinical Trial Experience, Postmarketing Experience,” editorial revisions to provide for use of MedDRA terminology and a more user-friendly format.

The Ortho Evra patch was approved by the FDA in 2001. In 2008, J&J updated its labeling on the birth control patch after testing revealed women between the ages of 15 and 44 on the patch are at higher risk for pulmonary embolism. Serious side effects related to Ortho Evra include heart attack or stroke; blood clots in the legs, lungs (pulmonary embolism), or eyes, or in the deep veins of the legs; chest pain, breast cancer or cancer of the lining of the uterus, cervix or vagina; liver tumor (benign or cancerous); severe high blood pressure; and diabetes with complications of the kidneys, eyes, nerves or blood vessels.

SOURCE: Ortho Evra and Blood Clots › New warnings, adverse reactions added to Ortho Evra