Contact our Ortho Evra® birth control patch attorneys so we can evaluate your coma or wrongful death claim.
Douglas & London, P.C.
111 John Street
14th Floor
New York, New York 10038
P: 212.566.7500
F: 212.566.7501
When a woman uses combination hormonal contraceptives, she is exposed to additional estrogen, increasing her risk for serious health problems such as heart attack, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, blood clot, or a related injury. Until November 2005, the makers of Ortho Evra® had not released information about the amount of estrogen in the patch, claiming that it was the same as the amount found in most birth control pills. In reality, Patch users are exposed to 60 percent more estrogen than Pill users.
Tragically, the health problems caused by the Ortho Evra® birth control patch have resulted in cases of coma and wrongful death. If your loved one was an Ortho Evra® user who fell into a coma or died due to a blood clotting problem, you have a right to take legal action against the manufacturers of the Patch.
A coma is a deep state of unconsciousness in which a person is alive, but unable to move or respond to outside stimuli. A coma is often the result of a serious injury or medical problem, such as a stroke. Typically, a coma does not last longer than a month. After that time, patients usually regain consciousness, die, or shift into a persistent vegetative state. Individuals in a persistent vegetative state are not aware of their surroundings and cannot think, speak, or respond to commands. While a few patients regain some degree of awareness after being in a persistent vegetative state, others remain in that state for many years.
When a person falls into a coma, life can become extremely difficult for family members and friends of the comatose victim. They often spend endless hours at the hospital, waiting and hoping that their loved one will regain consciousness. They face significant financial hardships as they are forced to miss work and pay extremely expensive medical bills. If the comatose person falls into a persistent vegetative state, family members may even have to make difficult life-and-death decisions for their loved one.
If your family member or friend fell into a coma due to a possible side effect of the Ortho Evra® birth control patch, contact Douglas & London. Our firm can help protect your legal rights by pursuing compensation for long term medical care, physical and emotional suffering, lost wages, and loss of the victim’s future earning potential.
In some cases, the serious side effects of using the Ortho Evra® birth control patch have resulted in wrongful death. Wrongful death is a term used to describe a death that was caused by negligence. In the case of deaths linked to Ortho Evra® use, the attorneys at Douglas & London allege that Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C., are responsible because they made inaccurate claims about the safety of the Patch.
Reports show that the deaths of at least seventeen young American women may be linked to use of the Ortho Evra® birth control patch. The first death that was publicly linked to Ortho Evra® occurred in April 2005, when a Manhattan student collapsed in a subway station. An autopsy revealed that a blood clot had moved into the victim’s lung and a medical examiner ruled that the clot was a side effect of the Patch. In August 2005, Douglas & London filed the first nationwide Ortho Evra® Birth control patch class action suit on behalf of another woman who died, as well as two other women who developed life-threatening blood clots.
Deaths that occur from heart attack, strokes, and various types of blood clots are typically very sudden and can be devastating for the victim’s loved ones. If your family member was a birth control patch user who died as a result of a clotting problem, please contact Douglas & London, P.C., immediately. Our Ortho Evra® birth control patch lawyers will evaluate your wrongful death case and fight to recover damages for medical expenses, funeral expenses, physical and emotional suffering, and lost wages.