Women taking Ortho Evra, a patch version of birth control, could be at a greater risk for blood clots and other complications than women who take pill forms of birth control.
The Food and Drug Administration announced in November that Ortho Evra, which is similar in strength to high-dose birth control pills that contain 50 micrograms of estrogen, may expose women to about 60 percent more estrogen than a typical 35 microgram estrogen birth control pill.
The FDA revised the Ortho Evra label after the findings to inform patch users of the increased level of estrogen. But health officials say the greater risk is based on user’s family history, health and age.
Ortho Evra, the only birth control patch on the market, was approved by the FDA in 2001 and is distributed by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, a division of Johnson & Johnson.
Ortho Evra contains estrogen and progesterone components, which absorb into the skin on a woman’s torso, preventing ovulation, said Orlanda Manning, a medical assistant at Dr. Debra Baehr’s medical practice in Baton Rouge.
Manning said her office is still issuing the patch.
But Manning said women should let their doctors know if they have family history of breast cancer, diabetes, strokes or other diseases before they start using any type of birth control. Manning said smokers and women older than 35 are also at risk to have health complications associated with using birth control.
Sarah Keating, registered nurse in the Student Health Center’s Women’s Clinic, said the University is still issuing Ortho Evra on a regular basis, but some universities are limiting or discontinuing their issuance of the patch.
Barbara Blizzard, nurse practitioner at the University of Texas at Austin’s Health Services, said her university has seen some female students switch birth controls and has changed the way it issues the patch.
“Some students are changing [birth controls], some stay,” Blizzard said. “We are limiting giving out three months’ supplies at a time, and we’re not putting anybody new on the patch.”
Blizzard said health center practitioners and pharmacists are telling their patients about the FDA’s recent warning.
Pennsylvania State University is no longer issuing the patch, and Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley are discouraging patients from using the patch, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
Some former Ortho Evra users are reporting blood clots and other complications associated with the patch. Lawyers are focusing on these cases, advertising their services widely on the Internet.
But Blizzard said the FDA is not recalling the product.
“If women absorb 60 percent more estrogen, [it is higher than other products], but the amount of hormone is lower than it used to be. It’s not an exorbitant amount,” Blizzard said.