Suit filed against makers and pharmacies of Ortho Evra
Nine residents from Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas and New York have filed suit against the manufacturer of the birth control patch Ortho Evra and several pharmacies in St Clair County Circuit Court, Illinois. The suit alleges that Ortho Evra caused them pulmonary emboli, venous thromboembolism and other severe injuries. The pharmacies named in the suit are American Drug Stores, Osco Drug, Walgreens, B&D Pharmacy and Rite Aid. It further contends that Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson in negligence designed, developed, manufactured, tested, packaged, promoted, advertised, marketed and distributed the patch. The complaint states, “Defendants negligently and improperly failed to perform sufficient tests, if any, on women using and/or wearing the Patch during clinical trials, forcing Plaintiffs and their physicians, hospitals and the United States Food and Drug Administration to rely on safety information that applies to an oral contraceptive agent....” Further, the complaint states that defendants had a right to know that the patch administered a much higher level of hormone at a 60 percent level contrary to the 30 percent level when using the oral pill contraceptive. The suit was filed on November 1st and includes Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development and R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute as well.
