Heartbreaking Tragedies

For some families in the U.S., the Ortho Evra patch has allegedly caused incredible tragedies. In one case, a 25 year-old woman had a stroke and was placed in the Intensive Care Unit, where her condition was so fragile that her family was unable to speak to her, nor could they touch her, because even the slightest amount of stimulation--even a light touch of the hand--could create a fatal level of pressure on the brain.

Despite this, after days of horrible headaches that the coroner stated were brought on by the use of the hormones in Ortho-Evra, this beloved sister, daughter and wife passed away. The family never did get to touch their loved one or speak to her again after her stroke.

This incident is a nightmare for other families with a loved one who may have been affected so horribly by this medication.

One very disconcerting aspect of this alleged issue is the age of the women that are most adversely affected. These are young women who are normally at low risk for blood clots. For example, and 18 year -old Manhattan student collapsed and died in a New York Subway Station last April. A 25 year -old mother of two from The Bronx, New York died after being on the patch for six weeks in March of 2004.

These tragedies may be well be happening on a larger scale where the coroner or doctors involved did not consider the effect of the patch in the fatal or near-fatal event, or they failed to report it to the government--which apparently is not uncommon.