Posted on 11/26/2005 5:56:51 PM PST by Coleus
When the parents of 14 year-old Alycia Brown of La Crosse Wisconsin found out their daughter was sexually active, they did what the modern culture told them was the right thing to do; they put her on birth control, choosing the popular hormonal patch instead of the Pill. When on May 7, 2004, Alycia died suddenly of blood clots in her lower pelvis Michael and Lorie Brown decided to sue the deadly drug's manufacturer in the hopes of having it taken off the market.
The patch, which releases a dose of contraceptive hormones into a woman's blood stream through the skin, has been responsible for at least 17 deaths in women age 17 to 30 since its release in 2002, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
In September 2004, a study by the FDA revealed 21 "life-threatening" conditions related to the patch such as blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. The Browns' lawsuit claims the company intentionally withheld information from its own clinical trials and Food and Drug Administration records suggesting the increased risks.
Thus far, Alycia is the youngest of the patch's victims. Her mother told the La Crosse Tribune that the suit is only partly about collecting damages. "More than anything, I want it taken off the market," she said.
"Maybe I'll be able to save a life, if people know what happened to her."
Earlier this month, Ortho-McNeil agreed to improve the warnings on the labels for the patch to include the information that it had possible fatal side effects. The company admitted that the patch exposes women to about 60 percent more estrogen than those using typical birth-control pills.
Read Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Ortho McNeil Corp Admits Birth Control Patch Blood Clot Connection
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/nov/05111404.html
Contact the FDA to request that the drug be taken off the market:
U. S. Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane,
Rockville MD 20857-0001
1-888-INFO-FDA
(1-888-463-6332)
and your elected officials www.congress.org
My daughter is 11. I pray that her kids-do-stupid-things moments wont jeopardize her life or health. It's a minefield for our kids and they shouldn't be left to navigate it alone. I see many mothers who want to be their children's friends. Maybe at 18+ that could work, but being the parent takes strength that, sadly, some mothers don't have.
Thank you. A sane thought prevails.....
I believe that there is a genetic clotting factor that my sister was tested for. She had to get daily injections of a blood thinner for her pregnancies. If the girl had this and was using the patch (or any birth control with the same hormones) the clot was a "when" not "if". You can only hope to catch it in time at the hospital.
Crap. My 24 yr old was given that after her second baby. Bf's ex pyschobitch put their 17 yr old daughter on it. We are NOT amused.
"I can't use statins for example"
I heard an advertisement recently for one brand where the disclaimer stated that there was no clinical proof that it use would prevent a heart attack.
You may not be any worse for wear not taking them.
Asprin, nuts, seafood and some fruits have all been shown to have fatal side effects for a significantly small number of the population.
Should they also be outlawed?
Amen.
They do? Can you provide citations for that?
It's true that there are many legitimate complaints about PP and NOW, but this isn't one of them. I've heard both organizations warn of potential risks of sex, which is one of the reasons they both back the use of condoms, etc.
Frankly, you guys were giving the parents the wrong advice.
That's some price to pay for enabling their 14-y-o daughter to have promiscuous sex.
When I was a young man, I was sure it was going to kill me.
Also, complications like this seldom show up and instantly make someone suddenly drop dead. I wonder if there were warning signs that she was having a bad reaction to the medication, and they weren't followed up on (by girl *or* parents *or* physician -- any/all could have been lax).
So many questions, so little information in the article.
Children that closely supervised know that they are loved at home and tend to not go looking for it elsewhere. My understanding of the issue is that it is the girl looking for the approval she never got from her father.
A deadbeat. I lived down the street from one for a while. She put her daughter in the pill at 13, I believe, and it may have even been 12. She is now 15 and has probably already had the baby I heard she was pregnant with. I never could beoieve what morons some people could be.
My sister got a blood clot in her thigh and was in excruciating pain, not to mention that her leg was swelling and I think it had some discoloring. She went to the hospital and they missed the clot in the ultrasound. She was in major pain all night and went to her orthopedic surgeon in Pittsburgh the next day. He sent her to one of the Pittsburgh hospitals and they couldn't believe that the first hospital missed a 6 inch blood clot, she was still in much pain and had the swelling. She was on the pill and got her blood clot from sitting with her legs scrunched up in the back seat of a sports car for several hours.
14 years old and she is sexually active? And this is the response of the parents?
Yes, but the original poster took that into account. You'll note his use of the word "usually".
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