Ortho Evra Risks Undisclosed
More than 4 million women use the birth control patch, but the patch may hold risks they may not be aware of. A number of women told Denver 7NEWS they all made the choice to use the patch because they said they were told it was just as safe as other birth control. Six Colorado women said they believe they were victims of a corporate secret. Three of the women had pulmonary embolisms and three had blood clots. All six said they never were informed about the greater risks associated with taking the Ortho Evra birth control patch. After an FDA requirement to provide better warnings Ortho-McNeil and Johnson & Johnson added a 98 word warning inside the 19,000-word insert. 7NEWS Investigator Tony Kovaleski asked the group of women if they believed Ortho Evra is properly informing women today. They all said "no." Colorado attorney Michael Burg said, "They didn't do enough testing and they ultimately didn't know how much estrogen the patch was going to deliver." Burg represents some of the more than 4,000 women nationwide claiming they were injured by the Ortho Evra patch. "Their lives have changed for the rest of their life because Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil told them, 'Change your contraceptive. It's more convenient,' without telling them, 'Oh, by the way, we're going to double your risk of getting blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, strokes and heart attacks.' It's outrageous," Burg said.
