Southeast Missourian, "Health issues from birth control patch spark lawsuits from local women"

          Marketed to be as effective as the pill, Ortho Evra is the first skin patch approved by the FDA for birth control. But several months after Jackson resident Rachel Cook started using the patch last year, she experienced chest pains and was hospitalized for blood clots in her lungs.
          The FDA approved the patch in 2001 but last November updated its label to warn health-care providers and patients that it exposes women to higher levels of estrogen than most birth control pills. It warned users of an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.
          The FDA warns that users of the patch are exposed to about 60 percent more estrogen in their blood than if they were taking a typical birth control pill, which contains 35 micrograms of estrogen, said Jennifer Gwin, nurse practitioner at Southeast Missouri State University's Center for Health and Counseling. But estrogen from the patch does not release into the body all at once; every 24 hours a certain dose of it is released.