Birth Control Patch Lawsuits Being Settled Early By Johnson & Johnson
Ortho Evra Contraceptive Patch Causes Blood Clots Resulting In Strokes, Heart Attacks, Pulmonary Embolism, And Deep Vein Thrombosis
According to a May 16, 2006 article in the New Jersey Law Journal, Johnson & Johnson has said it wants to settle those lawsuits where a woman who used its skin patch Ortho Evra was hospitalized with any of the following serious side effects:
- strokes;
- heart attacks;
- pulmonary embolisms; and,
- deep vein thrombosis.
The Ortho Evra patch lawsuits have been designated for multi-district litigation, or MDL, treatment in the federal court system, and designated as a mass tort by the Supreme Court in New Jersey, where Johnson & Johnson has its headquarters. According to the May 16 New Jersey Law Journal article, lawyers for Johnson & Johnson announced their "quick-settlement strategy" on May 2, 2006 during conferences with the respective judges who are presiding over the Ortho Evra MDL cases and the New Jersey Ortho Evra consolidated cases.
At a May 2 status conference with U.S. District Judge David Katz in Cleveland, where 73 cases from around the country have been consolidated, a Johnson & Johnson lawyer announced that the company is prepared to settle all suits in which plaintiffs were hospitalized for stroke, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms or deep vein thrombosis. . . .
The same day, Johnson & Johnson lawyer Susan Sharko wrote to Superior Court Judge Peter Bariso in Hudson County that the company had reached confidential settlements with 11 of the 12 plaintiffs who sued there. . . .
The Ortho Evra lawsuits generally allege that this contraceptive patch causes blood clots due to heightened estrogen levels, with the result being that relatively young and healthy women -- mostly in their teens and twenties -- using the Ortho Evra patch have suffered heart attacks, strokes, and even death.
Reportedly, since January 2006 about 30 Ortho Evra lawsuits have already received confidential settlements, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has told plaintiffs lawyers that the drug company wants to evaluate their remaining personal injury and wrongful death cases for the purpose of settling those Ortho Evra cases.
The Ortho Evra patch was introduced in 2002 and remains on the market, but reports of birth control patch side effects prompted the FDA in November 2005 to order that J&J put a stronger warning on the Ortho Evra package insert, or label, regarding the increased risk of blood clots for women using this contraceptive patch.
(Posted by: Tom Lamb)
