• Home
• Defective Drug Index
• About A Drug Recall
• Contact A Defective Drug Lawyer

We Can Help.

Some Docs Stop Giving Ortho Evra

–November 23, 2005

According to a Wall Street Journal report, many doctors have stopped prescribing the Ortho Evra contraceptive patch due to its increased risk of serious side effects. Ortho Evra, made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho McNeil, has been aggressively marketed since its FDA approval in 2001. On 8 November 2005, the FDA announced that Ortho Evra can increase a woman's risk of suffering blood clots, stroke, and death. Women using the patch receive 60 percent more estrogen than women taking oral contraceptives.

Earlier this year, the Associated Press uncovered alarming evidence of several deaths in women using the Ortho Evra patch. Most of these victims were young and healthy when they developed deadly side effects shortly after beginning Ortho Evra. Women, as young as 14, are dying from possible Ortho Evra side effects. Despite these serious risks, the FDA and Ortho McNeil have chosen to allow Ortho Evra to remain on the market. Because these groups have decided to do little to protect women from Ortho Evra side effects, many doctors are taking this duty upon themselves by refusing to prescribe Ortho Evra.

Doctors are saying they do not want to take any chances when it comes to their patient's health. For most people, the added benefits of using the patch, applied once a week, are not exceeded by the potential side effect risks. Some doctors have chosen to stop prescribing Ortho Evra and others are urging their patients to switch from Ortho Evra to another form of contraceptive.

A representative of Ortho McNeil says that a decrease in Ortho Evra use is expected. He still maintains there is no evidence of an increased risk of bad events. This statement, of course, runs completely contrary to the company's other comments about the increased risk of Ortho Evra side effects and the over one-dozen women who have died and hundreds of women who've suffered serious Ortho Evra side effects. The company is currently reviewing large-scale clinical trials involving Ortho Evra but has made no plans to recall this dangerous product to protect women.

 More Recent Defective Drug News