Consumers Don’t want Birth Control Patch

IMG: Used with permission from NEWSCOM.

An advocacy group is trying to get the J&J birth control patch banned. Why? The patch is supposedly increasing women’s risk to get blood clots and they’ve formed a petition. Would you sign in?

For those that may not know, a birth control patch is very thin and beige (not sure if they are in different colors or not) but they stick right on to your skin and get into your blood system and help to prevent you from getting pregnant. The patch is left on for one week and then on the same day you must put it on again, which is better than having to remember to swallow a pill every night.

The FDA however has come back to argue that the risk of blood clots is great is not the case and a blood clot is possible but low. They even stated, “For every 10,000 women who use hormonal contraceptives for one year, some three to five of them will develop a clot.” Now not all birth control patches are risky, apparently Ortho Evra is safe and very effective. Honestly I haven’t use the patch so I would have no idea.

The manufacturer said Ortho Evra was safe and effective when used according to directions.

The patch has risks and benefits like all hormonal contraceptives, and the product label “has always stated the known risks associated with its use,” said Gloria Vanderham, a spokeswoman for Ortho Women’s Health and Urology, the Johnson & Johnson unit that makes the product.

Still, about 2.7 million prescriptions were written for the patch last year, keeping it among the top 200 brand-name drugs sold in the United States, according to data cited by the petition. More than 9.9 million prescriptions were written in 2004.

Now Ortho’s patch was develop because many would miss a pill and get pregnant. With the patch you don’t need to worry about that. Anyone out there using the patch or has used that patch that has either dealt with getting pregnant using it or developing blood clots?