A 33-year-old Colorado woman has filed an Ortho Evra lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, the maker of the popular birth control patch. She claims that she suffered serious birth control patch side effects after using Ortho Evra for less than a year.

According to the woman’s birth control patch attorneys, she began using the Ortho Evra patch in April 2002. Nine months later, she was hospitalized after suffering a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, two of the common—and yet severe—Ortho Evra side effects.

As a result of her injuries, the woman cannot use the Ortho Evra patch or any other form of hormonal birth control because of the risk of further side effects from her injuries. Because of tissue damage to her left lung from the embolism, her doctors also say that she runs a greater risk of an infection in the future.

Although the Ortho Evra patch has been prescribed for more than 4 million women, it has come under close scrutiny in recent years because of an alarming rise in the number of women suffering serious birth control patch side effects. Ortho Evra side effects include blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism. There have been at least 23 birth control patch deaths among Ortho Evra users since it was released in 2002.

The Food and Drug Administration released a revised safety warning in September 2006 because of the serious birth control patch side effects that women who use Ortho Evra face. This prompted Johnson & Johnson to revise the label on Ortho Evra, warning users of its potential side effects. However, this move may have come too late, since many women have filed Ortho Evra lawsuits against the company because of birth control patch injuries that they suffered after using Ortho Evra.