KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 30, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Kansas City based law firm, Peterson & Associates, P.C. (www.petersonlawfirm.com), announced that is has filed suit against Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), on behalf of a 46-year-old woman and her husband. The woman suffered a stroke while using the Ortho Evra(r) Birth Control Patch for only three months. The suit was filed in The Superior Court of New Jersey near Johnson and Johnson's world headquarters. For more information on Ortho Evra(r), please visit www.petersonlawfirm.com.
To the best of its knowledge, Peterson & Associates, P.C. is the first Kansas City based law firm to file suit in a New Jersey Court relating to the side affects of the Ortho Evra(r) Birth Control Patch.
In October 2004, the injured woman began experiencing severe headaches and was taken to a nearby emergency room. Soon after, she was diagnosed as having suffered from a stroke on the left side of her brain. Because of the stroke, she suffers from permanent memory loss.
The Ortho Evra(r) Patch is an adhesive, transdermal birth control patch that is worn on a woman's arm, abdomen, torso or buttocks. It is intended to administer 150 mcg of norelgestromin and 20 mcg of ethinyl estradiol into the bloodstream per 24 hours. The patch is worn for one week and then replaced. No patch is worn in the fourth week during menstruation. Over 4 million women have used the Ortho Evra(r) Birth Control Patch.
On November 10, 2005, Ortho McNeil and the FDA issued a warning about the increased risks of blood clots associated with using the Ortho Evra(r) Patch. In the new warning, Ortho McNeil admitted that women who use the Ortho Evra(r) Patch are exposed to up to 60% more estrogen than women who use the birth control pill. The FDA announcement can be found at www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2005/NEW01262.html. In 2001, when Ortho Evra(r) was first put on the market, Ortho McNeil represented that women on the patch are exposed to the same amount of estrogen as those who take the birth control pill.
Strokes, which damage nerve cells in the brain, are often caused by interrupted blood flow from a blood clot. Depending upon the area of the brain that is damaged, strokes can cause coma, paralysis, speech problems, dementia and death.
In addition to causing strokes, Ortho McNeil warns that the Ortho Evra(r) Birth Control patch may cause heart attacks, pulmonary emboli and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), all of which may ultimately result in death.
It is alleged that Ortho McNeil and its parent company Johnson and Johnson were aware of the increased medical risks associated with Ortho Evra(r) before the drug was approved by the FDA. It is also alleged that even after the drug was approved, both companies failed to adequately warn patients about the risks. Evidence allegedly shows that the risk of developing blood clots and injuries caused by them (such as strokes) is significantly higher using the Ortho Evra(r) Patch versus the birth control pill.
The FDA logged 9,116 reports of adverse reactions to Ortho Evra(r) in the seventeen month period from April 2002 through September 2003. By way of comparison, the leading oral contraceptive, Ortho Tri-Cyclen(r) (which has six times as many users as Ortho Evra(r)), only generated 1,237 adverse event reports to the FDA during the six year period from November 1997 through September 2003.
About Peterson & Associates, P.C.
Peterson & Associates, P.C. is a leading products liability and personal injury law firm that has collected over $300 million in settlements and judgments for its clients. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri on the Country Club Plaza, Peterson & Associates, P.C., represents clients nationwide. Under the guidance of the firm's president, David M. Peterson, Peterson & Associates, P.C. has collected compensation for thousands of clients who have suffered injuries from using dangerous medications. The Firm is currently representing individuals injured by Vioxx(r) Bextra(r) Celebrex(r) Zyprexa(r) ACE Inhibitors, Fen-Phen and exposure to Benzene. For more information on Peterson & Associates, P.C., please visit www.petersonlawfirm.com or call 1-800-305-7552 or 816-531-4440.
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