Ortho Evra Press Articles

San Francisco Chronicle, "Ortho Evra weekly birth control patch target of lawsuit"

          The maker and distributor of a widely used once-a-week birth control patch were the targets of lawsuits filed Wednesday in San Francisco by the mother of a 25-year-old woman who died after using the patch and by 44 other women who blame the device for blood clots and other illnesses. More...

MSNBC.com, "Ortho Evra Birth-control patch label warns of blood clots"

Oral contraceptives may be a safer option for some women, FDA says

          Women were warned Wednesday that their risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs may be higher if they use the birth-control patch instead of the pill. More...

Washington Post, "Group Says FDA, Advisory Panels Show Bias Toward Drug Approvals"

          The panels of experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration to advise it on whether to approve new drugs and medical devices are often biased in favor of recommending approval, according to a consumer group's analysis released yesterday. More...

Trial, "Dangers of Birth Control Patch Come to Light"

          The Ortho Evra contraceptive patch is marketed as an easier alternative to oral contraceptives. But this convenience comes at a price: a greater risk of side effects, especially blood clots. The patch and the pill contain similar hormones, but studies have revealed that the patch delivers more estrogen and may be more dangerous than the pill. More...

Newsday, "Problems Cited with Drug Patches"

          About 12 million people use sleek medical patches that deliver medication through the skin. But despite the ease of use provided by the transdermal patches, serious side effects - ranging from blood clots to deaths - have been blamed on some of them.
          Debra Roinestad, 37, a former bit-part actress on "Saturday Night Live" and Hofstra University graduate student, points to her use of the Evra birth control patch made by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary in Raritan, N.J.
          On a sunny Friday morning last September, Roinestad and her husband, Kurt, had just eaten a waffle breakfast at a local restaurant. As they returned to their home in Sound Beach, Roinestad said, she felt a sensation "like a ton of elephants crushing my chest." More...

The Philadelphia Inquirer , "Experts: Patches + heat = danger"

          Medical experts say medicated patches, used by 12 million people for a range of ailments, can become unsafe when heated by exercise, soaking in a hot tub, or even a high fever. And they think patients should be warned.
          "Most people don't realize that heat is going to increase absorption rates, even to toxic levels," said Michael Cohen, director of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, an industry watchdog in Huntingdon Valley.
          Last week, the Food and Drug Administration said it was launching an "exhaustive review" of the safety of the patches themselves. Part of the review specifically studies how heat affects the products. More...

Associated Press, "Birth-Control Patch Users Face Clot Risk"

          A new study shows that women using the Ortho Evra birth-control patch have double the risk of developing blood clots than those who take the pill, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
          But the agency said the results are preliminary and do not require immediate action other than advising women to discuss the risk with their doctor. More...

The Madison Record, "Glen Carbon woman asking for $75 million from Ortho Evra producers"

          Jennifer McNichols of Glen Carbon is suing the maker of a skin patch contraceptive for $75 million claiming it caused blood clots.
          Ortho Evra and its makers Ortho McNeil and Johnson & Johnson, already targets of at least seven lawsuits in district court in East St. Louis, were sued in Madison County Circuit Court on Jan. 23.
          According to the complaint, McNichols had to undergo anti-coagulant therapy and vascular surgery because of blood clots in her right calf and thigh. More...

Southeast Missourian, "Health issues from birth control patch spark lawsuits from local women"

          Marketed to be as effective as the pill, Ortho Evra is the first skin patch approved by the FDA for birth control. But several months after Jackson resident Rachel Cook started using the patch last year, she experienced chest pains and was hospitalized for blood clots in her lungs.
          "The doctor took me off the patch and told me the blood clot was because of the patch," said Cook, who was hospitalized twice more for blood clots. More....

The Madison Record, "Women claim contraceptive didn't come with blood clot warning"

          The popular contracreptive Ortho Evra is the target of seven product liability suits filed by women claiming the drug maker failed to warn them about the risk of developing blood clots.
          The suits, filed in in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Jan. 23, each seek damages in excess of $75,000 against defendants Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals and its parent company Johnson & Johnson.
          "Defendants failed to warn consumers and their health care providers that the Ortho Evra transdermal birth control patch is more likely to cause blood clots than oral contraceptives," the complaints state. More...

CBS 13, Sacramento, "Lawsuit Grows Over Birth Control Patch"

          Ortho Evra is the first and only birth control patch on the market. It's marketed to be as effective and an equal to the birth control pill, but in the lawsuits, many women say there are serious health concerns that its parent company, Johnson & Johnson knew of but purposely never disclosed.
          Just a couple of months after using the Ortho Evra patch, 37-year-old Stephanie Sanchez from Roseville says she knew something was wrong. More....