Politics
Monday September 20, 2004
FDA Reveals 17 Fatalities in Two Years from Contraceptive "Sex Patch"
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
NEW YORK, September 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The contraceptive "sex patch" has been found responsible for 17 deaths in women age 17 to 30 since its release in 2002, according to a recent exposé by the New York Post. The Post used Freedom of Information laws to obtain records from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which also revealed 21 other "life-threatening" conditions such as blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks.
The contraceptive, marketed by ads with super models and Olympic athletes, is touted as a sexy alternative to the Pill. The Ortho Evra patch's manufacturer, Ortho-McNeil, claims the patch is easier to remember than the pill because it requires only a once-weekly replacement, rather than the Pill's daily dose.
Doctors who reviewed the report were staggered by the numbers. "This is a cause for concern," NYU Medical Center gynecologist and professor Dr. John Quagliarello said. He said it was the first time he'd heard there was such a high death rate from the patch.
The Ortho Evra patch delivers a dose of contraceptive hormones into a woman's blood stream via the skin. These hormones can trigger fatal heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots.
Ortho-McNeil claims the death rate from its patch is "consistent with the health risks" of taking the Pill. According to them, the Pill kills 0.3 to 1.9 women out of every 100,000 15 to 29 year old users. Smoking significantly increases the risk of death.
A spokeswoman for the UK's Family Planning Association told the BBC news that "Women shouldn't suddenly stop using the patch as they could then be at risk of unplanned pregnancy."
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
18 Year-Old New York Student Dies Suddenly from Birth Control Complications
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/apr/04040606.html
tv
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- 32 States Saw Personhood Initiatives in 2009 - Movement Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary
- Call for Reform of U.S. Bishops' CCHD Bolstered by New Evidence
- New Zealand Study Finds Abortion Increases Risk of Mental Health Problems
- United Nations Report Pushes for Right to Sex-Change Operations
- Never Mind: Judge Yanks 15-Year-Delayed Illinois Parental Notice Law Back Into Legal Limbo
- Confusion about Euthanasia Must be Dispelled Says Prominent Anti-Euthanasia Activist
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to State's Homosexual Partnership Law
- Courageous Pro-Life Former MP Gus Mitges Passes Away
- Ad Depicting Nude Couple Having Sex Not Pornographic: UK Advertising Standards Authority
- Pro-Life Lawmakers Condemn 'Sham' Health Bill Abortion Compromise
- Conservative Pro-Life, Pro-Family Dark Horse in NY 23 Race Defeated in Close Race
- No British Referendum on Lisbon Treaty: Tory Leader
- Letters to the Editor - Nun Abortion Clinic Escort
Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Gardasil Researcher Admits Vaccine May Be More Dangerous than the Disease
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- Did Feminism Benefit Men more than Women? Prominent US Feminist Asks
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- Mother Charged in Murder of Her Autistic Son
- USCCB Launches All-Out Campaign against Abortion-Funding Healthcare
- Coalition of Catholic Groups Calls for Massive Reform of U.S. Bishops' Social Justice Arm
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- Stem Cell Breakthrough Could Create Babies Without Men, Women, or Sexual Relations
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.