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NuvaRing & Breaking the Silence
Washington, DC: Blood clots, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, liver tumors, and death — these are not things you would associate with birth control — especially a device like NuvaRing, a form of birth control that is supposed to make your life easier, not shorter. However, hundreds of women across the North America have experienced these types of events and sadly some have died.
Unfortunately, it is likely that many women more will suffer the potentially debilitating if not life-threatening adverse events if Schering Plough is allowed to continue marketing this deadly device.
 NuvaRing is one of what are known as third generation contraceptives. According to the national, non-profit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, the risk for blood clots in women using third generation contraceptives is 30 per 100,000 compared with 15 per 100,000 for women using second generation birth control. That’s double the risk for a potentially lethal event.
It seemingly all comes down to the differences in the synthetic formulations of estrogen and progestins. The difference between second and third generation contraceptives is in the progestin. In the US, all third generation forms of female birth control--which are the newest generation of products on the market--contain desogestrel. This form of progestin is associated with serious cardiovascular events including stroke and blood clots.
In fact, the risks were known and made public before the turn of the century, and in 2001 the British Journal of Medicine published a meta-analysis--a type of study that rigorously evaluates all the published studies on a certain topic, looking for trends or significant outcomes. This meta-analysis was looking at third generation oral contraceptives and whether or not they increased the risk for blood clots.
The investigators found that the risk of venous thrombosis (blood clots) is increased compared to second generation contraceptives. The authors noted in their paper that while this has been debated for some time, their study found no room for doubt: “The increase cannot be explained by several potential biases. Women taking third generation oral contraceptives have a 1.7-fold increased risk of venous thrombosis compared with those taking second generation oral contraceptives. Risk is highest in first time users,” (BMJ 2001).
One 27-year old woman in the United States has had enough and wants to warn others about the dangers of the birth control ring. The now famous Misty Liebert suffered a blood clot as a result of wearing the ring. She decided to use the device after she had had a child. Prior to starting a family, Misty had used oral contraceptives for a decade without incident. But just three weeks after inserting the NuvaRing, Misty developed potentially fatal blood clots in her lungs, but she was unaware of this. She did know something was wrong because she woke up one morning coughing up blood!
She went to hospital and the doctors did all the appropriate blood tests and found she had two blood clots in her left lung. Interestingly, they ruled out any likelihood of her having a genetic predisposition for clotting.
In 2005 a woman in St. Louis died after using NuvaRing for just one month. She collapsed while running on a treadmill; she was training for a marathon. Pulmonary embolism was determined as the cause of death.
In a recent interview Misty said, "There are probably other women out there having problems and just don't even know the cause of it. It's scary. Every day, a new woman goes on this."
NuvaRingLegal Help If you or a loved one have experienced blood clot, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, liver tumor or death after using the NuvaRing contraceptive please send your claim to a lawyer who will review your case at no cost or obligation. Possible [NuvaRing Lawsuit]
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