Bloomberg Speculates on how much J&J has paid to settle Ortho Evra cases
According to a Bloomberg Health New report Johnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company’s Ortho Evra birth control patch. J&J has avoided trials through the confidential settlements and court papers do not indicate how much the pharmaceutical company has paid in each case.. Bloomberg reviewed 562 complaints alleging the patch caused deep-vein thrombosis - blood clots in the legs and pulmonary embolisms – blood clots in the lungs. The complaints also blame Ortho Evra for the deaths of 20 women, Bloomberg wrote. Complaints filed on behalf of 4,000 women in state and federal courts claim the company hid or altered data about the risks of high levels of estrogen released by Ortho Evra. Janet Abaray, an attorney for the plaintiffs, is helping lead the litigation before U.S. District Judge David Katz in Toledo, Ohio where 1,330 patch cases have been combined into a class-action suit. Abaray said in an April 17 court document that, “Several hundred individual cases” had been settled by March 31 and “there have been a significant number that have settled since then.” Attorneys requesting anonymity and who are familiar with the litigation told Bloomberg that J&J typically settles the death cases for more than $1M, deep-vein thrombosis cases for $125,000 to $175,000 and pulmonary embolisms for $140,000 to 300,000. The amounts vary according to each woman’s circumstances.
