Ortho Evra Lawsuits

Since 2004, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the pharmaceutical company, Ortho-McNeil, alleging that its birth control patch, Ortho Evra, has caused serious physical injuries. The lawsuits allege injuries ranging from fatal blood clots to miscarriages. Johnson & Johnson, the parent corporation of Ortho-McNeil, has also been named a defendant in the actions.

According to an April 9, 2006 report by the New York Post, at least a dozen claimants have settled their suits out of court. One woman purported to have settled her case is 37 year-old mother of two, Philomena Ugochukwa, who suffered a thombotic stroke and brain damage after having used the patch for just two weeks. The New York Post estimated Ugochukwa's settlement award to be more than $10 million.

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The patch lawsuits began after the Ortho Evra related death of a New York college student made national news. Zakiya Kennedy, an 18 year-old fashion student, collapsed on a New York City subway platform in April 2004 and died an hour later. According to the medical examiner, Kennedy's cause of death was a pulmonary embolism attributable to Ortho Evra.

In October 2004, a man in Austin, Texas filed a lawsuit against Ortho-McNeil, claiming that Ortho Evra caused his wife to suffer a stroke after using the patch for twelve days. Since then, as reported by CBS News, Johnson & Johnson's latest SEC filing indicates that approximately 500 women or their families have filed claims against Ortho-McNeil and Johnson & Johnson alleging injuries suffered from Ortho Evra. The claims are based upon legal theories such as negligence, strict products liability, breach of express and implied warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, violations of business law and negligence per se. Many of the claimants are seeking substantial compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages where available.

The Ortho Evra lawsuits that have been covered by the news media describe compellingly similar accounts of formerly healthy young women who say they have experienced grave injuries caused by the patch.

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In September 2005, CBS News reported the story of a 25 year-old Connecticut woman who claims Ortho Evra caused a bilateral pulmonary embolism that has left her with only 20% lung capacity. "I can't take a shower and get dressed right away," Jennifer Cowperthwaite told CBS reporters. "I can't go out and go shopping or walk around or stuff like that with friends because I get out of breath."

In a similar report, CNN covered the story of 19 year-old, Amanda Bianchi of Colorado, who developed a 10-inch blood clot in her brain that doctors concluded was a direct result of her using Ortho Evra for just three months. When asked by CNN why she filed suit against the patch's manufacturer, Bianchi replied, "I don't want any other woman to have to go through what I'm going through. I don't want them to have to deal with this pain and suffering that I'm going through. It's not fun to have to get up and not be able to go to school and live the life that you were living."

In November 2005, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning that Ortho Evra exposes its users to 60% more estrogen than a norgestimate birth control pill containing 35 micrograms of estrogen. The FDA also requested that Ortho-McNeil change the product label for Ortho Evra to include the warning.

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Two weeks after the FDA's announcement, 26 year-old Aliza Zelin filed a federal suit in the Eastern District of New York. Her claim asserts that Ortho-McNeil and Johnson & Johnson negligently relied on data about birth control pills in evaluating and communicating the risks associated with increased estrogen exposure. After using the patch for less than two years, Zelin suffered an embolic stroke that required heart surgery. The same day that the Zelin action was filed, three federal claims were filed in the Southern District of Ohio after one plaintiff suffered two deep vein thromboses and required a metal filter in her vein to prevent future blood clots, another suffered a pulmonary embolism, and the third suffered a heart attack at the age of 22. All three claimants allege that their injuries are a direct result of using Ortho Evra.

In order to better manage the increasing number of lawsuits filed in federal courts, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order in March 2006 to consolidate the pre-trial proceedings of nearly a hundred federal lawsuits. The panel assigned the cases to U.S. District Judge, David Katz, of the Northern District of Ohio.

Attorneys handling the Ortho Evra lawsuits claim that Johnson & Johnson knows the cases will not be an easy win for the company. Attorneys point toward the fact that the Ortho Evra lawsuits involve generally healthy young women who, had it not been for their use of Ortho Evra, would have been at little to no risk of developing blood clots and other conditions that are essentially unheard of in teenagers and women of child-bearing age. Some plaintiffs who have suffered strokes allegedly caused by Ortho Evra are as young as twelve years old.

According to the New Jersey Law Journal, lawyers for Johnson & Johnson announced at the first status conference before Judge Katz on May 2, 2006, that the company is prepared to settle all actions in which plaintiffs have been hospitalized for stroke, heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, or deep vein thrombosis. The Journal further revealed that, on the same day, another attorney for Johnson & Johnson contacted the Superior Court in Hudson County, New Jersey to inform Judge Peter Bariso that the company had reached confidential settlements with eleven of the twelve plaintiffs who brought suit in New Jersey.

Even with hundreds of pending lawsuits concerning Ortho Evra, the patch still remains on the market and accounts of its debilitating and fatal side effects still make headlines. On May 12, 2006, Knight Rider newspapers reported the case of nursing student, Kristin Ribakusky-Templin. Upon visiting her local emergency room for a shooting pain in her leg, doctors diagnosed the 20 year-old with multiple blood clots deep in the veins of her lungs and leg. Her doctors attribute the cause of her trauma to the Ortho Evra patch she had been using for less than two months.

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Ortho Evra lawsuits are also being filed in other countries. On July 28, 2006, a class action was filed in Canada contending that Johnson & Johnson and another of its subsidiaries, Janssen-Ortho, failed to adequately warn consumers and doctors that the patch was associated with an increased risk of developing blood clots, pulmonary emboli, strokes, heart attacks and deep vein thrombosis.

The FDA recently upgraded its warning for Ortho Evra. As of September 20, 2006, the FDA has required the Ortho Evra product label to include the results of a study that suggests Ortho Evra may subject its users to twice the risk of blood clots compared to those who use a similarly formulated birth control pill.

If you or a family member have experienced severe side effects while using the Ortho Evra contraceptive patch and would like to speak to legal professional regarding your rights, please fill out this short form and a member of Seeger Weiss's legal staff will contact you. Seeger Weiss LLP has offices located in New York and New Jersey and New York and its attorneys are available to practice in courts throughout the country.