NuvaRing Lawsuit Filings Mount Against Organon Over Blood Clot Risk

Organon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. faces nearly 300 state and federal lawsuits over NuvaRing side effects; a number that has continued to grow since the litigation was centralized for pretrial proceedings with eight cases on file in August 2008.

Court documents indicate that at least 200 federal lawsuits and about 90 state NuvaRing lawsuits have been filed against the Organon over its popular birth control ring. All of the claims involve allegations that NuvaRing side effects caused women to suffer blood-clot related injuries, such as pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), heart attack, stroke or sudden death.

NuvaRing birth control is a vaginal contraceptive device manufactured by Organon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which releases etonogestrel and ethinyl estradiol through a ring that is inserted into the vagina once a month. The release of hormones is designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but plaintiffs allege that drug maker failed to adequately warn about the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening NuvaRing problems.

The 200 federal NuvaRing birth control cases are part of a consolidated Multidistrict Litigation (MDL), which is centralized before Judge Rodney W. Sipple in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

According to Conditional Transfer Order issued by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on November 13, there have been 192 new NuvaRing lawsuit filings against Organon since the MDL was created with eight cases in August 2008. All of the cases have been found to involve common questions of fact and circumstances that would allow them to be included in the MDL.

In addition to the federal cases, Organon disclosed in a recent filing that there are another 89 NuvaRing lawsuit filings in state courts. Most of the state court cases are pending in New Jersey, where the NuvaRing litigation has been consolidated for mass tort treatment under Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Bergen County Superior Court. There are four state court cases pending outside of New Jersey, with one case each in Arizona, New York, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Judge Sipple has scheduled a Science Day for December 1, 2009, where presentations will be made from the plaintiffs’ side and drug maker’s perspective to educate the court about the side effects of NuvaRing alleged in the lawsuits, including what effect the combination of hormones contained in the birth control ring has and whether it increases the risk of blood clots.

The presentations are deemed confidential, will not be done under oath and will not contain information about specific plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit over NuvaRing.