Birth Control Drugs: December 2006 Archives

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eli Lilly and Company , in a response to a story about Zyprexa in the December 17, 2006 edition of the New York Times, adds important facts and perspectives that were not evident in the story.

Said Steven Paul, M.D., Lilly's executive vice president of science and technology, "We believe it is critical to physicians and patients that Lilly state some important and relevant facts about our lifesaving medication Zyprexa that are missing from the New York Times article:

The mother of a woman who died in June 2003 after using Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho-McNeil's birth control patch Ortho Evra recently filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleging that the company knowingly misinformed the public about the drug's risk of severe side effects, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports.

Celena Devault, a 26-year-old woman from Tennessee, began using Ortho Evra in April 2003 and died of a pulmonary embolism in June 2003. Her mother, Mary Devault, filed the lawsuit alleging Ortho McNeil misled the public about the drug's risk of side effects, including pulmonary embolism, stroke, deep vein thrombosis and blood clots (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 12/12).

TRENTON, N.J. - A former vice president at two Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries claims in a lawsuit he was fired for seeking recalls of numerous faulty products, including the Ortho Evra birth control patch, itself the subject of at least 1,000 product liability suits.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's biggest drug and medical product makers, said yesterday the ex-executive was fired for inappropriate conduct.

In his civil complaint, Dr. Joel S. Lippman alleges he was unlawfully terminated on May 15, after working for Johnson & Johnson for 15 years, because he repeatedly complained about product safety problems and urged several be recalled or not launched. Lippman declined to be interviewed.