Ortho Evra Lawsuit Settlements Exceed $68.7 Million So Far
Published: October 13th, 2008
Bloomberg News reports that Johnson & Johnson has paid at least $68.7 million so far to settle Ortho Evra lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots as a result of their birth control patch. However, the drug maker continues to face thousands of other cases that have not resolved.
Ortho Evra is a contraceptive patch that women wear on their skin to prevent pregnancy as an alternative to an oral birth control pill. It is designed to be more convenient and to promote continued use, as the patch only needs to be changed once a week.
Studies, however, have established that the birth control patch delivers up to 60% more estrogen than the pill, which increases the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening injuries. Side effects of Ortho Evra have been associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis and other blood clot injuries.
Ortho-Mcneil Pharmaceuticals, which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, faces approximately 4,000 Ortho Evra lawsuits filed in state and federal court on behalf of women who allege injuries caused by the birth control patch’s side effects.
Reports have emerged of various individual cases which settled as their trial dates approached, even though Johnson & Johnson has tried to keep all settlements confidential.
Last year, Bloomberg News reported that Johnson & Johnson reached a confidential $1.25 million settlement for one Ortho Evra birth control patch lawsuit filed by a 14 year old girl who suffered two blood clots in her lungs after using the patch for several weeks. The details of that settlement were made public after the news agency received a copy of settlement documents from a court clerk.
As of March 31, 2008, Bloomberg estimates that Johnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million on confidential settlements in the Ortho Evra litigation. The news agency based this figure on the size of a common benefit fund that receives 3% of every Ortho Evra settlement to compensate lawyers who performed common benefit services and collected evidence which is used by all attorneys pursuing cases.
While Johnson & Johnson has been negotiating confidential settlements to avoid trials, many Ortho Evra lawyers representing women who used the patch have not agreed to settle for the amount they were offered, and the first cases are expected to go to trial next year.
Related Articles
- Ortho Evra Patch Blood Clot Risk Requires New Warnings: FDA Panel (12/12/2011)
- Evra Birth Control Patch Class Action Lawsuit Settled in Canada (3/2/2009)
- Lawsuits Over Ortho Evra Birth Control Continue to be Filed Even as Older Cases Settle (12/5/2008)
- Ortho Evra Lawsuits (10/3/2008)
- Ortho Evra Recall Urged by Public Citizen (5/8/2008)
Pingback by Ortho Evra Lawsuits : AboutLawsuits.com on 13 October 2008:
[...] Evra Lawsuits have been filed in state and federal court, and hundreds of these cases have reached confidential settlements. However, Ortho Evra lawyers are continuing to review new [...]
Pingback by Lawsuits Over Ortho Evra Birth Control Continue to be Filed Even as Older Cases Settle : AboutLawsuits.com on 5 December 2008:
[...] & Johnson has already agreed to pay over $68.7 million to settle Ortho Evra lawsuits over their birth control patch, yet new cases continue to be filed by women who have suffered a blood clot injury caused by the [...]
Pingback by Evra Birth Control Patch Class Action Lawsuit Settled in Canada : AboutLawsuits.com on 2 March 2009:
[...] the United States, it was reported that Johnson & Johnson paid at least $68.7 million to settle Ortho Evra lawsuits as of October 2008. Since that time they continued to reach confidential settlements for hundreds [...]
Comment by vera on 3 September 2009:
I was given ortho evra patches by my physician over 4 yrs ago
and about 2 yrs ago I was diagnost w/ a blood clot in my lungs
it was determined that it was from the patches. I was hospitalized for 2 days and I had to take coumadin and also had to inject myself in the my abdomen area daily. I was taking off of the patches but I still want to know if I could file a claim against the makers of ortho evra
Comment by stacey on 8 October 2009:
i was on the patch for three years and went i went off the patch i started having issues to were my period was absent all the time now i have to take a medication to get my period and now i cant have children now can someone help me
Comment by beth b on 16 October 2009:
I developed breast cancer as a result of using Ortho Evra. My life has forever changed. I would have never used the product if I had been warned of the risks .. I have always wondered if the people responsible for testing the patch allowed their , mothers, sisters, aunts friends to use their product.
Comment by Bri on 2 June 2010:
I too believe that I developed breast cancer from the Ortho Evra Patch. I’m 29 years old, and have no one else in my family that has had breast cancer… Does anyone know where this should be reported? I’ve just started my research………
Comment by Michelle on 24 September 2010:
I suffered an embolism in 2004 after taking Ortho Evra. At the time, I did not know one could file a lawsuit and that the use of this drug was so controversial. I recently learned that Johnson & Johnson settled numerous claims. Based on my sufferings, I believe I should be entitled to some level of settlement. I almost died. Moreover, I am only 42 years old and because of this epidsode, I continually have headaches. Additonally, most insurance companies do not want to write life insurandce policies on my hebalf given the fact I suffered a stroke at such a young age.
Comment by Sarah on 27 September 2010:
I was on Ortho Evra and after taking it for a while i will never have children again i ended up having to have hysterectomy at age 33. For 5 plus years i fought with several doctors because i was having period problems where i at first never had one then i it went to non stop period to where i could go any where. I was unable to drive from passing out from so much loss that i would black out. In the end i finally convinced a doctor i was right and i had a 8lb tumor removed from my uterus.
Comment by Janet H. on 27 October 2010:
I started using the patch in 2004 and in 2006 I found out that I had an aneurysm. No family history of aneurysm, so I strongly believe that it was caused by the Ortho Evra Patch. If the patch can cause stokes, heart attacks, and blood clots then it could probably cause aneurysm to. Some of the cases that ended in death, their family’s probably thought that it was due to something else.
Comment by Lily T on 10 November 2010:
When i was 21 I had my child. Two days latter whale still in the hospital i was diagnosed with 3 blood clots in my left leg.. Having to have a filter and LOts od pain for took Ortfrom 2005 untill the middle of 06! I now have headachs and all kinds of other problems..I didnt get in on the settlement cause i was so sick in 2007 and half of 2008 that i had no idea there was a settlement.. I Think i should be entitled to compensation for my pain and because of all three blood clots in a row caused me to miss almost two years of life.. Birth control users please be careful!!!!
Comment by Karen on 4 January 2011:
same as lily t above i was also in and out of the hospital but when I tried to file they told me because they found the blood clot while me being1month pregnet I had no case, I was taking the patch and had many symptoms prior to my pregnacy, many doctors didnt know what was going on, I got off the patch and still felt pain, thats when a few monts later i went into the hospital and they found it. all these check ups for the same pain are documented by the hospital and where I had the pain was a blood clot. does that make sense, is there any thing i could do? time line is about 07
Comment by Jennifer R on 17 January 2011:
About 7 years ago I was on the ortho evra patch for about 2 weeks when I had a heart attack. I was 28 yrs old. I had a blood clot. I was hospitalized for 5 days had every test under the sun but nothing was found except the use of the patch.
Comment by Crystal on 15 May 2012:
In 2002 or 2003. I was on Ortho Evra Patches.. I was having pain in the back of my leg behind my knee cap.. I was due to go to jury duty the following day..I went to jury duty then that evening I was in the shower and I could no longer stand, the pain was horrible.. My husband told me that I was going to the hospital.. The er Dr. took a doppler test and found that I had a blood clot.. The Dr. then told me that if I had waited one more day ,that I would have died beause the blood clot was moving.. They put me on coumadin, or maybe it was warfarin..