The Food and Drug Administration has announced that it is updating the warning label for the Ortho Evra birth control patch. The new warning states that Ortho Evra users receive a much greater dose of hormones than do users of birth control pills. Because the hormones in the Ortho Evra patch can cause blood clotting, this may put women using the patch at a higher risk for strokes, heart attacks and other birth control patch side effects. (more…)

Ten women from various states across the country have filed an Ortho Evra lawsuit in New Jersey alleging serious injuries caused by the birth control patch. In the lawsuit, the women allege that using the Ortho Evra patch caused them to suffer strokes and blood clots, according to their attorney. (more…)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seeing more and more instances of scientific misconduct: plagiarism, lying, cover-ups and other sorts of misbehavior on the part of researchers thought to be seeking objective, scientific truth. And one of those cheaters—he was caught and confessed all—is now is the director of research at Ortho-McNeil, maker of the Ortho Evra birth control patch, which has been linked to such side effects as blood clots, stroke and even death. (more…)