http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivedrugs/nuvaring.html
Resource4thePeople announced today its latest update of state and federal NuvaRing lawsuits alleging that women who used the popular contraceptive allegedly suffered serious blood-clotting side effects.
The latest developments involve the filing of an additional federal NuvaRing lawsuit* on behalf of a Georgia woman who is claiming in her lawsuit that she suffered an acute pulmonary embolism and the dismissal of several state court cases consolidated before a New Jersey judge.***
"It is to be expected that when there is litigation involving a substantial number of lawsuits involving allegations that a medical product, such as the NuvaRing birth control device, can cause serious side effects that new cases will be added and others will be dismissed," said Resource4thePeople.
"In response to the inquiries that we have been receiving from consumers about what legal options they may still have as this litigation moves forward we are now offering free consultations through our national network of attorneys to advise them about the merits of their cases."
In the Georgia case, the woman is alleging that her use of the NuvaRing caused her to suffer the embolism for which she had to be hospitalized and is continuing to seek treatment, according to the court file in the case.
It was not immediately clear from the filing whether her claims of life-threatening blood-clotting problems, which mirror those of over a thousand of other women whose cases have been consolidated before a federal judge in Missouri,** will be transferred to that multidistrict litigation.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey judge overseeing the multicounty litigation involving state cases*** there has dismissed seven cases, ruling that the plaintiffs were unable to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims, according to the court file.
The first bellwether trial selected from a pool of federal lawsuits** involving claims that the NuvaRing puts women at higher risk of suffering blood clots than other contraceptives has now been scheduled to begin in October.
The court records in the NuvaRing multi-district litigation show that the number of cases has increased to nearly 1,100** with the common allegations, according to the court files, involving claims that the NuvaRing puts women at higher risk of suffering a blood clot than with other birth control methods.
For example, said Resource4thePeople, another one of the most recent such NuvaRing lawsuits**** was filed recently by a Philadelphia woman who claims she suffered a venous sinus thrombosis and an intracranial hemorrhage last year.
In her lawsuit, the woman is claiming that those problems were caused by blood clotting caused by her use of a NuvaRing IUD over seven years. In her court filing, the woman said she has been forced to undergo a daily Coumadin regimen for her health problems, and suffers from depression and social anxiety.
Named as defendants are Organon Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Organon International Inc. and Schering-Plough Corp., who, according to the court file, allegedly falsely marketed and sold the NuvaRing as a safe, efficient alternative to birth control pills.
As with the NuvaRing lawsuits in the multidistrict litigation, the Philadelphia woman claims that the defendants were negligent in not fully informing the public and health care professionals about increased risk of blood-clotting from the use of the contraceptive, according to the court filing.
The allegations cited in the multidistrict litigation claim that the NuvaRing, described by company officials as the first hormonal IUD, puts women at risk of suffering blood clots that can lead to life-threatening health problems because of the hormone mixture that prevents pregnancies.
The NuvaRing was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001 after being created by Organon as a flexible IUD, or ring, hence the name. The IUD releases a low dose of etonogestrel and estrogen over three weeks, providing women the flexibility of a monthly contraceptive.
This flexibility was one of the marketing factors that made the NuvaRing what was described as an easy and healthy contraceptive choice to women who were not satisfied with the side effects caused by birth control pills and the necessity of taking them each day.
However, by 2011 the FDA released the findings of government research that put women who used the NuvaRing or other IUDs with a similar mixture of hormones at a 56 percent higher risk of suffering blood clotting that led to deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms than women on birth control pills.*****
Resource4thePeople also notes that NuvaRing has now posted warnings about the increased risks of suffering blood clots on the companys web site under the heading of IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION.*****
"Our legal consultations can spell out the options available to women who may have suffered health problems from blood clotting, such as deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolisms, strokes and heart attacks," said Resource4thePeople.
Legal assistance also is available to those who may have lost a loved one and may be seeking information about the facts involved in a wrongful death.
Multidistrict litigations are designated by a special panel of federal judges in cases in which large numbers of plaintiffs file similar allegations against common defendants in the interest of judicial efficiency and to avoid duplicative and conflicting legal proceedings.
In such litigations the judge oversees pre-trial evidence-gathering and legal requirements, schedules bellwether cases to allow both plaintiffs and defendants to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of their cases and presides over mediations and settlement discussions.
Sources:
*Case No. 1:13cv0052 U.S District Court, Southern District of Georgia
** In re: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation, No. 08-md-1964, JPML, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
*** Multicounty District Litigation BER-L-3081-09 MT Bergen County Superior Court of New Jersey
**** Case No. 2:13cv0099, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
*****http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM277384.pdf FDA Oct. 27, 2011
****** http://www.nuvaring.com/Consumer/index.asp
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