Warning Issued for Birth-Control Patch By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer
The makers of a popular birth-control patch warned millions of women Thursday that the patch exposes them to significantly higher doses of hormones and may put them at greater risk for blood clots and other serious side effects than previously disclosed.
The warning from Johnson and Johnson subsidiary Ortho McNeil, makers of Ortho Evra, says women using the patch will be exposed to about 60 percent more estrogen than those using typical birth-control pills because hormones from patches get into the bloodstream and are removed from the body differently than those from pills.
Citing federal death and injury reports, the AP also found that about a dozen women, most in their late teens and early 20s, died in 2004 from blood clots believed to be related to the birth-control patch, and dozens more survived strokes and other clot-related problems.
Now just a few weeks ago my doc told ME that the patch had less estrogen than the pills and less side effects. What the heck am I supposed to think now??
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