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.
          "I just had really bad cramping in the left side of any chest and I went over to the emergency room," said Sanchez.
          Doctors found a blood clot in her lung and treated her at the hospital. She immediately took the patch off, did some research, and found out she wasn't the only one having problems.
          "People need to know how many people it has happened to,” said Sanchez.
          In her lawsuit Sanchez's attorneys say that Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, owned by Johnson and Johnson, and the FDA knew in clinical trials that women were three times more likely to develop blood clots and six times more likely to experience embolisms--or blockage--while on the patch compared to the birth control pill.
          The patch was still approved by the FDA in 2001. The lawsuit goes on to say that the company failed to disclose those serious and possibly deadly health risks and printed only that the patch had "similar" risks associated with other contraceptives such as blood clotting strokes and heart attacks. Johnson & Johnson responded to the lawsuit by saying that they won't comment on litigation.
          Just a few months ago the company updated the label telling users that they are exposed to about 60% more estrogen on the patch. However, doctors say that it’s still safe.
          "Every 24 hours you get a certain dose of the drug. It's not releasing it all at once. It's not different than taking the pill,” said Dr. A. David Lerner, Camellia Women's Health.
          Sanchez says she was once on the pill and never experienced any side effects until she switched to the patch. She said that she's suing so the drug companies do more research and testing before women's lives are put on the line.
          "Just be really careful and really consider what could happen,” said Sanchez.