Parents Sue After 14-Year-Old Daughter Died with Birth Control Patch

Life Site News.net ^ | 11.21.05 | Hilary White

[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

[wagglebee]

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,

I have a feeling that if they had ignored "modern culture" (moral relativism/secular humanism) and done what their parental instincts (hopefully, should have) told them to do, this tragedy would have been avoided.

[Coleus]

yea, God forbid they would take her to church or teach her some morals and values and teach her to just say NO and say NO to her to not have sex until she's married.

take the easy way out and buy her a patch, this way she could be a slut, get a great reputation in high school, be real popular with the boys and contract any STD from which to choose, like: AIDS, Herpes, HPV, all that are incurable.

[SeaDragon]

NOW sucks canal water but Planned Parenthood can have good points both directions. There are always risks no matter what you do and the sooner people realize this, the better.

[dead]

The first thing you do if you find out your 14-year-old daughter is sexually active is call the police.

[Izzy Dunne]

they did what the modern culture told them was the right thing to do

WTF?

What is the "modem culture"?

And why would you trust your kids' lives to whatever "they" say?

If "they" all ran and jumped of the Empire State Building, I suppose you would let your kid do it too?

[Lorianne]

What kind of parents would put their 14 year old daughter on birth control?

[Izzy Dunne]

Never mind about the "modem" culture - the font made it look strange without my glasses.

Still...

[Guenevere]

14......14!!!!..

..and her parents encouraged more sex by getting her the patch????

[goldstategop]

Exactly the point I made in my post. Values do matter and we literally live or die by the choices in life that we make. I'm always amazed at how people discover common sense as if for the first time after a tragedy happens. It was right in front of them all along. DUH

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[wagglebee]

What kind of parents would put their 14 year old daughter on birth control?

Probably the same type that allowed their daughters to be interns for BJ Klintoon.

[goldstategop]

No child that age should be ready for sex. I'd make it clear to any daughter of mine she will not be allowed to have a boyfriend til she's 16 and then only under strict oversight. She'll rebel but thank me for it when she's ready to leave home for college. Its the values, stupid.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Guenevere]

Planned Parenthood can have good points??????????

NOW and Planned Parenthood are hand in glove....one continues where the other left off...

..they are not separate entities.

And Planned Parenthood's only point is to get your child pregnant and fork over the money!!

Abortion is their big moneymaker....money, money, money...that's what it is about!

[elfman2]

"If there are possible "fatal" side effects, then it shouldn't be on the market at all."

There are 300 to 500 reported aspirin deaths each year (taken as directed) in the United States.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Oh my. I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. Where was their responsibility to their own child BEFORE she became sexually active? Its not the drug company's responsibility to raise that child. The parents should have looked out for their daughter and this lawsuit is merely a childish attempt to divert attention away from their failure to exercise their parental responsibilities. Its an another instance of a society in which no one takes responsibility for anything. Sure you can argue the drug company is culpable but what about the parents? They are fare from innocent, aggrieved victims here. If they had done the right thing from Day One, their daughter would still be alive today.

Of course you are correct. Nice writeup.

[SeaDragon]

Children that are closely supervised usually don't have the chance to become sexually active.

Wow! Living with blinders on, how do you manage?

[Guenevere]

A boy asked my daughter on a date at 14....I absolutely said no!!

16 was our rule and we stuck by it.

[Campion]

What are these people thinking? "Here's our daughter, boys ... free sex, and you don't have to be bothered with condoms, because we've put her on birth control for you!"

Yeah, and they think they're doing the "caring" and "concerned" thing!! Her parents are idiots, and now they want to profit from their idiocy over their poor daughter's dead body.

A friend of mine I've mentioned to you -- a doctor at a Catholic hospital -- has actually had a mother of a 14-year-old girl ask her to write her daughter a new prescription for BC pills. (I think my friend was too stuned to think of a properly tart reply, besides, "Uh, no, we don't do that here.")

It's unfortunately not uncommon. Parents are too lazy to supervise, too spineless to understand the difference between "parent" and "buddy", and just want to make sure their daughter doesn't come home pregnant so they don't have another kid to raise.

[BunnySlippers]

I just read the news acticles in the LaCrosse newspaper online ... there IS more to the story.

But 5,000,000 women regularly use this patch according to the paper. That's a lot.

[muawiyah]

Definitely ~ these parents, rather than protecting their daughter joined in the process that subjected her to statutory rape.

Now they want to blame someone else.

[goldstategop]

Birth control doesn't prevent pregnancy. This notion that sex is just pure fun is BS. Its a very powerful thing even if there's no baby coming out of it. It changes people's feelings about each other and their outlook on life. I'm not against sex and I'm not a prude but we should show we take it seriously. We try to delay our teens from having it as long as possible since they're not mature enough to understand there's more involved than rolling around under the bed covers together.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")