Forty-three women, formerly users of the Ortho Evra birth control patch, are claiming that the contraceptive should be withdrawn from the market because it poses a major risk of birth control patch side effects. (more…)

Ortho-McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is named in a lawsuit filed by an Idaho woman who was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis after just one month of using the Ortho Evra birth control patch. (more…)

The first lawsuit involving the Ortho Evra birth control patch was filed in Austin, Texas in October 2004 on behalf of a woman who suffered a stroke and became paralyzed after wearing the patch for just 12 days. It cited records from the Food and Drug Administration that between May 1, 2002 and April 30, 2003, almost 50 women who were using the patch had died or suffered injuries related to blood clots. (more…)

The Ortho Evra birth control patch sparked no fewer than 9,116 adverse reaction reports to the Food and Drug Administration between April 2002 and September 2003 (just 17 months). Compare that with the six-year period between 1997 and 2003 when the Ortho Cyclen birth control pill generated merely 1,237 such reports—and six times more women were using it. (more…)

Lawyers for Johnson & Johnson say the company is anxious to settle the many Ortho Evra lawsuits it is currently facing. Johnson & Johnson is the parent company of Ortho-McNeil, maker of the Ortho Evra birth control patch. More than 500 Ortho Evra lawsuits have already been filed, many of which have already been settled with women who suffered Ortho Evra birth control patch side effects. Johnson & Johnson has told many of the plaintiffs, judges and Ortho Evra lawyers that it is looking to quickly settle these as well. (more…)