More lawsuits for Ortho Evra patch filed in San Francisco

Christen Wiese

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More lawsuits have been filed in the San Francisco Superior Court against Ortho-McNeill Pharmaceutical Co., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of the Ortho Evra birth control patch.

One of the cases filed in the San Francisco court alleges that 43 women suffered health problems such as blood clots from the use of Ortho Evra. The second lawsuit contends that a 25-year-old woman died from blood clots in her legs and lungs as a result of using the drug.

The patch increases the risk of women developing blood clots in the legs and lungs through exposing women to an increased amount of estrogen and progestin through skin contact. The FDA issued a warning in September that use of the patch could increase the chance of developing blood clots. More than 400 cases have been filed nationwide.

Reich and Binstock currently has more than 40 cases filed for Ortho Evra. It will be interesting to see if and when OrthoEvra gets removed from the market as more cases are revealed and filed in court.