More than 100 plaintiffs are named in a lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages from a pharmaceutical company, over a birth control packaging error that they say resulted in unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.
Plaintiffs from 28 states are part of the lawsuit filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas last week.
The suit accuses Qualitest, Inc., a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., of issuing birth control pill packages in which the pills were rotated, allowing the women to mistakenly take the placebo sugar pill, instead of the birth control pills, at a time of the month when they could become pregnant.
The company voluntarily recalled the pills over the packaging error back in September 2011, according to the FDA.
According to CNN, “court documents filed in April suggest that the company distributed a ‘dangerous’ and ‘defective’ product, but the recall notice posted on the FDA website said the packaging issue didn’t ‘pose any immediate health risks.’”
And according to the court documents, 3.2 million pill packs were recalled.
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According to a recent report, the global contraceptives market was valued at $15.7 billion in 2013, and that number is expected to reach $19.6 billion in 2020.
On average, five out of every 100 women who rely on birth control pills get pregnant each year. The average cost of birth control is between $15 and $50 per month, depending on the type of pill and health-insurance coverage.​
