Women’s Contraception and Hastily Introduced Pharmaceutical Drugs

Every year pharmaceutical companies bring to market a vast numbers of new drugs. With these new drugs the pharmaceutical industry is hoping to provide the next cure to a disease or health problem, but sometimes it is to just have the most marketable product to sell. Due to the ever competitive multibillion dollar pharmaceutical industry, these companies, at times, hastily place new drugs in the market. As a result, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has enacted standards and procedures to ensure the drug meets certain requirements. Typically, the drug that makes it into the hands of the end user is safe and does exactly what it was designed to do. Even with the FDA’s involvement, sometimes the new drug can lead to a debilitating injury or the death of the user due to side effects. For example, recent advances in women’s contraceptives, such as NuvaRing, have shown that with time the data shows a higher risk for blood clots and even death with its use.

A study by a Doctor in Denmark, spanning several years and examining over 1.5 million women, caused more unanswered questions regarding NuvaRing. This study found that the risk of developing venous thromboembolism from NuvaRing users could be increased as much as 6 1/2 times. Similarly, under a FDA-funded study released in 2011, the risk of developing blood clots for NuvaRing users could increase by as much as 56 percent under some circumstances.

The problems and risks associated with this drug could have been prevented or made clearer by longer testing. As a result, the user has not been adequately warned about the potential increased risk associated with NuvaRing or other similar drugs. Pharmaceutical companies market these new drugs to lead people to believe the new drug is better than what is currently being used, but without proper time and further testing it may not be true. The user and/or their family may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacture of the drug if injuries have occurred.

If you or someone you know have been injured by the use of NuvaRing or any other pharmaceutical drug, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.

For further information and to view the reported statistics please follow the links below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/18/nuvaring-blood-clots_n_4461429.html

http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2990.pdf%2Bhtml