Birth control patch health warning issued!!!!!!

Birth control patch health warning issued
Last Updated Fri, 11 Nov 2005 13:54:18 EST
CBC news
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning
about a birth control patch used by millions of women, saying
its high hormone levels could increase their health risks.
Ortho-McNeil Inc. acknowledged Thursday that its
Ortho Evra patch exposes women to 60 per cent more estrogen
than other forms of birth control because of the way bodies
absorb the hormone.
The manufacturer said that as a result, women using
the Ortho Evra face a greater risk of potentially fatal blood clots,
strokes and other side effects.
The flexible patch, launched in the U.S. in 2002, will remain on
the market, but with a more strongly worded warning about its
risks.
But Dr. Jenny Green from the Bay Centre for
Birth Control in Toronto told CBC News that her
first reaction is "don't panic."
"Every method has risks," and getting pregnant increases
the risk of blood clots far more than Evra, said Green.
The Bay Centre advises 18,000 to 20,000 women a year.
She said a woman's risk of getting a blood clot is approximately:
-Four to 5 in 100,000 with no birth control.
-Twelve to 20 in 100,000 with the low-dose birth control pill.
-Forty-eight to 60 in 100,000 if she gets pregnant.
Green said there are no studies on the risk of Evra, but she
guessesthe risk could be above the low dose pill and in the same
range as a high dose birth control pill.
The FDA said Ortho McNeil is doing a study to compare the risk
of blood clots in women using Evra and women using
typical birth control pills.
The patch has been sold in Canada since January 2004.
At least half of the estrogen in a typical birth control pill does not
get absorbed into a woman's bloodstream; it is expelled through
the digestive system within a few hours after she swallows the pill.
A patch continues supplying estrogen all day, and all of the hormone
is absorbed into the bloodstream.
Company spokesperson Bonnie Jacobs said Ortho-McNeil has been
co-operating with the FDA over the issuing of the warning.
Up to 12 died out of 4 million users
The FDA's death and injury reports show that as many as a dozen
women have died while using Evra, out of the four million estimated
to have tried it in the past three years.
The families of several women who died or had strokes related to
blood clots have filed lawsuits against Ortho-McNeil.
LINK:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/11/11/birth-control-patch051111.html