Ortho Evra Attorney
Ortho Evra Medical Information
Find medical information about the increased risks associated with the use of the the Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch.
Ortho Evra Blood Clots Continue
Category: Ortho Evra Legal News
A recent story out of New Jersey brings more Ortho Evra blood clots to light. Twenty-year-old college student Kristin Ribakusky-Templin rushed to the emergency room at her local hospital after two weeks of leg pain had gotten so bad she was unable to walk.
Doctors discovered multiple blood clots in her leg and lungs, and kept her in the hospital for two weeks, during which time she underwent two procedures and a surgery. After assessing the health issues of this otherwise healthy runner and karate black belt, doctors pointed to her use of the Ortho Evra birth control patch as the cause of her clots.
Why Does More Estrogen Exposure Increase Risk?
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
The Ortho Evra birth control patch raises great concern because of its extremely high estrogen exposure to patients. Some studies have shown that the patch releases up to three times as much estrogen as birth control pills.
These levels of estrogen in the blood stream have been known to cause blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, heart attacks, strokes, and even death! Women should be warned of these birth control patch side effects and dangers, and not just told that it's a safe alternative to regular birth control pills.
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Heart Attack Treatment - Get a Specialist
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
Heart attack is one of the injuries that can arise from the Ortho Evra Patch.
The studies consistently found that patients of generalists were at greater risk of mortality from both cardiac and noncardiac risk factors and had higher unadjusted mortality rates. Studies varied as to whether or not generalists had higher mortality rates after adjusting for risk factors.
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Detection of Blood Clots in the Lung
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
Jerry Parker was kind to send me the following article which may benefit those with an injury from the Ortho Evra birth control patch:
Study Finds Ways to Improve Detection of Blood Clots in the Lung
Enhancing Diagnostic Tests Could Reduce Deaths from Pulmonary EmbolismA new study of a commonly used imaging test of the chest to detect potentially deadly blood clots in the lung shows that extending the scan to the legs - where the clots typically originate - or adding a standard clinical assessment significantly improves physicians' abilities to accurately diagnose pulmonary embolism. A sudden and potentially deadly blockage in a lung artery, pulmonary embolism affects an estimated 600,000 Americans each year, making it the fourth most commonly occurring cardiovascular problem in the United States. The multicenter study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
New Treatment for Strokes
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
Ortho Evra users may be able to benefit from the latest treatments.
Each year, about 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke, according to the American Stroke Association. It is the third leading cause of death in the country, after heart disease and cancer, claiming 157,000 lives a year.
A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked either by a blood clot or the bursting of a blood vessel. This event deprives the brain of oxygen and nutrition, causing the affected part to die. For every second that a stroke goes untreated, 32,000 brain cells die -- nearly 2 million a minute. Depending on the severity of the damage and which part of the brain is affected, a stroke can cause paralysis, vision problems, behavioral changes, speech problems and memory loss.
The good news is that several treatments greatly reduce the damage a stroke can inflict on the human brain. The bad news is that a lot of people don't get to the hospital early enough for therapies to be administered. One therapy, the popular clot buster known as Tissue Plasminogen Activator, or tPA, must be administered within the first three hours for a stroke to be effective.
Ortho Evra Stroke - Ischemic not Hemmorhaggic
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
Many women who may have suffered a stroke wihile on birth control may not know the distinction between a bleeding (hemorhaggic) stroke and a blockage (ischemic) stroke. Strokes from Ortho Evra and other birth control products are normally ischemic (a blood clot stops blood from reaching areas of the brain) and hemorhaggic stroke invole bleeding into the brain and are not generaly caused by birth control. Here is some good information on hemorhaggic strokes:
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) implies the presence of blood within the subarachnoid space from some pathologic process. SAH occurs in various clinical contexts, the most common being head trauma. The common medical use of the term SAH refers to the nontraumatic types of hemorrhages, usually from rupture of a berry aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation (AVM). The scope of this article is limited to these nontraumatic hemorrhages.SAH comprises half of spontaneous atraumatic intracranial hemorrhages, the other half consist of bleeding that occurs within the brain parenchyma. Intracranial hemorrhage as a whole comprises 20% of all strokes. SAH is a devastating condition with high morbidity and mortality, and, in the United States, it is associated with an annual cost of $1.75 billion. The silver lining is that the condition often presents with a so-called "warning leak" that leaves the patient neurologically intact. Diagnosis and intervention during this stage of the disease is associated with an excellent outcome. Consequently, clinicians must be on the lookout for clinical presentations that suggest a leaking aneursym or malformation.
Risk factors include cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. Although hypertension has been identified as a risk factor for aneurysm formation, the data with respect to rupture are conflicting. However, certain hypertensive states, such as those induced by use of cocaine and other stimulants such as amphetamines, clearly promote aneurysm growth and rupture earlier than would be predicted by the available data.
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Treatment for DVT
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
One of the problems we see with the Ortho Evra patch is Deep Vein Thrombosis, which is basically a blood cliot getting stuck in your veins. It can be a very serious condition, usually treated with blood thinning agents. The Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) developed a position statement on the use of catheter-directed intrathrombus thrombolysis (CDT) for treatment of acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the legs, which was published in the April issue of the Journal of Vascular & Interventional Radiology. Despite a lack of research studies, the authors suggest that CDT may benefit those who are otherwise healthy and at low risk of bleeding. Using imaging guidance, CDT involves delivery of a pharmacologic thrombolytic agent directly into the venous thrombus through an infusion catheter and/or wire embedded within the thrombosed vein. Based on available evidence, adjunctive CDT plus anticoagulant therapy is acceptable for initial treatment in many patients with acute iliofemoral DVT.
History of Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
The Ortho Evra Patch was introduced in 2002 as a relatively "safe" alternative to the birth control pill. Scientists, doctors, and the women who use birth control are generally familiar with the risk associated with "the pill" and have been since the pill was first introduced decades ago, in 1960.
Birth control pills introduced in the 1960's had a much higher dose of Estrogen than was deemed necessary to achieve the desired results. By 1961, doctors were observing much higher risks with blood clots causing heart attacks and strokes and in the years that followed, the doses of Estrogen delivered were lowered significantly.
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Serious Side Effects of Ortho Evra
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
Ortho Evra's side effects have led to the patch maker issuing a health warning and a large number of lawsuits. Besides the more common side effects, such as headache, application site reaction, nausea, upper respiratory infection, menstrual cramps, and abdominal pain, Ortho Evra has been linked to a number of severe conditions which could result in death, including:
Blood Clots,
Strokes,
Heart Attacks,
Pulmonary Embolisms, and
Deep Vein Thrombosis, aka DVT
The severity of Ortho Evra's side effects first came to light in April 2004 when an 18-year-old New York fashion student died while using the patch. Her autopsy revealed that
Increased Risks of Heart Attacks on Ortho Evra
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
The Ortho Evra contraceptive patch made headlines in 2005 after the product's maker, Ortho McNeil, issued a warning to millions of women revealing that the patch exposes them to higher levels of estrogen and may put them at risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke or blood clot.
A young woman of 23 years old, Jessie D'Amato of Connecticut, suffered massive blockage of her right pulmonary artery after just 9 months on the patch, resulting in two surgeries. Another, Tammy Leitheiser, died after suffering clots in both right and left pulmonary arteries. Many users of the patch are coming forward to complain about the lack of education on the risks of using the patch. A slick campaign featuring sexy super model Naomi Campbell helped sell the patch to hundreds of thousands of woman around the world, many of whom want answers.
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Ortho Evra Stroke Information
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
Physicians and attorneys are researching the birth control patch more closely after health officials revealed that the product may lead to an increased risk of stroke in women who use it as their primary means of birth control. Attorneys began investigating the patch in 2004, when an othersie healthy 18-year-old New York fashion student died while using the Ortho Evra patch. A pulmonary embolism, or blood clot had reportedly moved into her lung. Nearly 20 fatalities have been linked to the patch since its introduction.
A stroke occurs in a persons brain, and is caused by loss of oxegyn to brain tissues. A stroke is usually the result of a blood clot or ruptured blood vessel in the brain and can cause severe injuries or death. Stroke symptoms include, but are not limited to, partial paralysis, memory loss, pain, loss of cognitive functions. If you or someone you know has suffered any of these stroke symptoms, regardless of using the Ortho Evra birth control patch, seek medical help immediately.
Ortho Evra FAQ's
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
What is Ortho Evra used for?
Ortho Evra is the first transdermal (skin) patch approved for birth control.
How does Ortho Evra prevent pregnancy?
The weekly prescription patch releases norelgestromin (a progestin hormone), and ethinyl estradiol (an estrogen hormone), through the skin into the blood stream to prevent pregnancy.
When was Ortho Evra approved?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Ortho Evra, manufactured by Ortho McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in November 2001.
Ortho Evra Blood Clot
Category: Ortho Evra Medical Information
In April 2004, an 18-year-old girl died while using the Ortho Evra contraceptive patch. According to the medical examiner, a blood clot had moved into the victim's lung, which may have been a direct result of the contraceptive. Since then, Ortho Evra blood clot lawyers across the country have been filing lawsuits against the patch maker, Ortho McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.