Birth Control Patch Leads To Barfing, Sometimes Death

Despite what drug company ads might tell us, birth control isn't all hot tubs and flirtinis. Actually, a lot of women have really terrible reactions to the myriad forms of no-baby elixir currently on the market, and on Nerve.com, Nicole Ankowski shares her particularly violent reaction to the Ortho-Evra patch. Four years ago Ankowski affixed the patch to her booty, and the 24-hours following turned into a hellish, moody painfest culminating in a puddle of barf on her corduroys while in high speed traffic. This is especially noteworthy because the patch had originally been marketed by Johnson & Johnson as a lower-estrogen birth control option, but as Ankowski notes, they were lying!

According to Ankowski, "The patch actually delivered much higher doses of estrogen than the pill; Johnson & Johnson failed to reveal this to the public for six years. At least fifty deaths have been attributed to the patch because of this, with thousands more women reporting alarming symptoms." Johnson & Johnson have already spent $68.7 million settling lawsuits from women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks and strokes after using the patch, and Feministing notes, there is evidence that Johnson & Johnson hid documents that showed the patch released more estrogen than originally thought.

That's patently terrifying! The only positive result of Ankowski's experience with the patch is that her boobs got enormous, which seems like a pretty tiny benefit when you're puking your guts out and maybe dying because of pharmaceutical phibs. I've always hated birth control and only used condoms, and I seem to be among the minority. BCP makes me moody and bloated and distinctly unlike myself. I finally got a diaphragm, but only because I asked for it. In my experience, doctors have been reticent to mention options that are not the tried-and-true birth control pills, so if you're someone who experiences massive side effects, be sure to do all your research before committing.

Rough Patch [Nerve]
Johnson & Johnson Spends Millions Settling Ortho Evra Lawsuits [Feministing]

Earlier: Sarah Haskins Wishes You Happy Period Control

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