Suit claims birth-control pill packaging errors led to 113 pregnancies
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A lawsuit filed last week in Philadelphia seeks millions of dollars of damages for 113 women who say they became pregnant after taking birth control pills that were improperly packaged.
Among the damages sought are the costs for delivering, raising and educating the children, report Philly.com and ABC News. The defendant is Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
The mix-up occurred in 2011. According to the suit, the package error put birth control pills in the wrong order. As a result, the women took placebo sugar pills at the wrong time of the month.
The company participated in a voluntary recall of the product.
The plaintiffs originally sued in federal court in Georgia, but a federal judge refused to certify a class action on Nov. 4, according to Philly.com. The lawyers then refiled the suit in state court in Pennsylvania.
Lead lawyer Keith Bodoh told the Atlantic in 2012 that one of the plaintiffs dropped out of law school because of her pregnancy.
Endo Pharmaceuticals said in a statement provided to ABC News that it takes product quality seriously. “The recall that forms the basis of this suit was entirely voluntary and occurred more than four years ago in September 2011,” the company said.
“The voluntary recall occurred based on an extremely small number of pill packs that were manufactured by an external contract manufacturer. Endo has been able to confirm only one blister pack that manifested a defect and was sold to a patient. Additionally, courts have dismissed cases arising out of the recall because the plaintiff could not establish that she purchased a defective package.”
