On the heels of its latest FDA warning, Johnson & Johnson will soon be defending the safety of Ortho Evra, its popular and profitable contraceptive, against 44 more lawsuits, adding to an existing 500 claims reported last month.
One joint suit filed by a group of 43 women blamed blood clots and other health problems. A second lawsuit was filed on behalf of the family of a 25-year-old woman who died from severe blood clots in her legs and lungs shortly after wearing the Ortho Evra patch.
The newest lawsuits, filed yesterday in a San Francisco court, cite Johnson & Johnson as well as California distributor McKesson Corp. as defendants and claim Johnson & Johnson failed to insure Ortho Evra's safety and misled consumers about its side effects.
Unfortunately, this may the last time you hear about them, because Johnson & Johnson is attempting to settle many of these cases before they make it court, if for no other reason, than to protect its drug cash cow. Just know, you don't need a patch or an implantable device that dispenses harmful, synthetic hormones, when there's safer and just as effective methods of birth control available.
USA Today November 1, 2006