I so look forward to reading this memoir, as someone who endured medical trauma and nearly died at 21 from the fact that the FDA "looked the other way" about the well-understood risks of estrogen in the Nuva Ring and did not require package warnings or screening of patients.
I would have to hunt to find the research but there was a class action law suit that was filed in 2008 and settled in 2014 for $100M. During that time, the FDA began requiring them to label and screen patients for clotting risk. In 2007 when I started it and clotted after a month, it was not labelled and my pulmonary embolism was misdiagnosed. Unfortunately I didn't participate in the lawsuit because I did not want to revisit the trauma and because, being in my early 20s and naive to things like this, I didn't understand the implications of the lawsuit (researching for my memoir in 2020, I learned that I could have received a substantial payment). Thanks all for your sentiments. I am lucky to have survived as others did not (one account here:
Molly, I am so sorry to hear this, Molly. ♥️ There's been other birth-control device problems. The medical device industry is less regulated than drugs. (I see they had a lawsuit.)
I can't imagine your loss, only to discover, you're not alone, that it is a much wider problem due to corporate greed and negligence. I hope you get your memoir published Kathy because I fear there are many others who will be able to relate to your story. Thanks, Joy.
Mmm. And Lyme Disease finally after decades is being recognized as a long term illness, for years we were dismissed and told we needed therapy bc our bodies weren’t sick.
Science gets it wrong sometimes and sometimes people in charge are negligent. It’s a really hard fact to face.
Just awful! It reminds me of the vaginal mesh scandal, too. Argh. I’m so sorry and I’m so glad you’re writing about it in depth.
Yes, and the mesh scandal was made by one of the four pharmaceutical companies that made the tainted blood products -- a household name.
I so look forward to reading this memoir, as someone who endured medical trauma and nearly died at 21 from the fact that the FDA "looked the other way" about the well-understood risks of estrogen in the Nuva Ring and did not require package warnings or screening of patients.
Wow! I am so sorry that happened. Thank you for sharing -- definitely another scandal that needs more examination.
(and am also working on a memoir about it!)
Interesting and scary, Molly. I used NuvaRing for many, many years and am unaware of this. Do you have a website I can go to for further information?
I would have to hunt to find the research but there was a class action law suit that was filed in 2008 and settled in 2014 for $100M. During that time, the FDA began requiring them to label and screen patients for clotting risk. In 2007 when I started it and clotted after a month, it was not labelled and my pulmonary embolism was misdiagnosed. Unfortunately I didn't participate in the lawsuit because I did not want to revisit the trauma and because, being in my early 20s and naive to things like this, I didn't understand the implications of the lawsuit (researching for my memoir in 2020, I learned that I could have received a substantial payment). Thanks all for your sentiments. I am lucky to have survived as others did not (one account here:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2014/01/nuvaring-lethal-contraceptive-trial), but came away with lasting trauma at a time when there was virtually no mental health support for this. Hence, the writing! It is disturbing that our system *continues* to allow things like this even decades after Kathy's story.
Wow, Molly! I had no idea. Thanks for the info. That is horrible, I'm so sorry for your experience. Hence the writing indeed!
Molly, I am so sorry to hear this, Molly. ♥️ There's been other birth-control device problems. The medical device industry is less regulated than drugs. (I see they had a lawsuit.)
Thank you, Joy, for this beautiful rendition of my story. ❤️
I can't imagine your loss, only to discover, you're not alone, that it is a much wider problem due to corporate greed and negligence. I hope you get your memoir published Kathy because I fear there are many others who will be able to relate to your story. Thanks, Joy.
Thank you, Lani.
Mmm. And Lyme Disease finally after decades is being recognized as a long term illness, for years we were dismissed and told we needed therapy bc our bodies weren’t sick.
Science gets it wrong sometimes and sometimes people in charge are negligent. It’s a really hard fact to face.
Thanks for this, Joy! Heartbreaking but somehow not surprising. I look forward to reading Kathy's memoir as well.
Thank you, Cherie!