4A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
Deaths linked to contraceptive patch
BY MARTHA MENDOZA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press
Kathleen Thoren sits in bed at Sweetwater County Hospital in Rock Springs, Wyo., on Sept. 4, 2004, with her new baby, Brandy, in the arms of her daughter, Kelsey, almost 2 years old, with husband, Tom, and son, Mikey. 7. The new mother died just before Thanksgiving that fall after days of agonizing headaches brought on by hormones released into her body from a birth control patch.
The makers of a popular birth-control patch warned millions of women Thursday that the patch exposes them to significantly higher doses of hormones and may put them at greater risk for blood clots and other serious side effects than previously disclosed.
The warning from Johnson and Johnson subsidiary Ortho MeNeil, makers of Ortho Evra, said women using the patch would be exposed to about 60 percent more estrogen than those using typical birth control pills because hormones from patches get into the bloodstream and were removed from the body differently than those from pills.
Thursday's warning comes four months after The Associated Press reported in July that patch users die and suffer blood clots at a rate three times higher than women taking the pill.
Citing federal death and injury reports, the AP also found that
about a dozen women, most in their late teens and early 20s, died in 2004 from blood clots believed to be related to the birth-control patch, and dozens more survived
strokes and other clot-related problems.
Ortho McNeil spokesman Michael Beckerich was not immediately available for comment about
Thursday's warning, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
More than 4 million women have used the patch since it went on sale in 2002. Several lawsuits have been filed by families of women who died or suffered blood clots while using the patch, and lawyers said more were planned.
Documents released to attorneys as a result of that litigation show Ortho McNeil has been analyzing the FDA's death and injury reports, creating its own charts that document a higher rate of blood clots and deaths in association with the patch than with the pill.
In addition, an internal Ortho McNeil memo shows that the company refused, in 2003, to fund a study comparing its Ortho Evra patch to its Ortho-Cylen pill because of concerns there was "too high a chance that study may not produce a positive result for Evra" and there was a "risk that Ortho Evra may be the same or worse than Ortho-Cylen."
Tab
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Bryce Katz, Overland Park junior, said he had spent up to $70 or $80 on an open tab in one night. He said it was easier to build up a big bill when using a credit card.
"When you go out with $50 in your pocket you can see when it's gone." Katz said.
To avoid accumulating a large drink tab, Bobby Boyd, Overland Park junior, said he only used cash.
"I try to avoid using cards so I don't spend more than I should," Bowl said.
The minimum to open a tab at Red
Lyon Tavern is $20, which is equal to about four drinks, Baker said.
Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest for Red Lyon Tavern, and Baker said there had been between 20 and 40 open tabs on these nights. She also said that sometimes customers accidentally left their cards behind.
"We have a stack of probably about 50 credit cards that people leave here. Sometimes they don't even come back because they forget they were here," Baker said.
The bar keeps the cards until they expire. They then cut them up and throw them away if they are never claimed. Dane Brewer, manager of Jet Lag Lounge, 610 Florida St., said that
on Thursday nights he had about 75 open tabs, and he estimated that five of those 75 cards are usually left behind.
To avoid the problems that bar tabs create, Louise's West, 1307 W, 7th St., does not take credit cards. There is an ATM available for people with cards to access cash.
Bryan Culver, manager of Louise's West, said regulars were allowed to pay with checks, but other than that they only accepted cash.
Culver said they did not use tabs for a number of reasons. They tied up bartender time, cards could be declined and a person could leave without paving.
While many bars have a minimum
tor opening tabs, some choose not to. The Ranch, 2515 W. 6th St., usually has about 20 or 30 tabs open on Thursday nights, said Tim Craven, manager. But, there is no required minimum. Craven said he had not noticed a big problem with students spending more than they intended to, partly because there was no minimum.
"If they want to have one beer and leave that's fine with us," Craven said.
Students do not always carry cash on them so they can buy one drink with a credit card and close the tab, said Craven.
- Edited by Jayme Wiley
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005 Upgrades
not be able to tell the difference once the changes were implemented, she said.
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Stephens said the University was not directly involved in an appeal filed by education associations the American Council on Education (ACE) and EDUCAUSE on behalf of hundreds of universities for an extension or an exemption. But the University is a member of the two associations, she said. Bill Staples, chairman of the department of sociology at the University, said the upgrades would not dramatically change the way law enforcement conducted investigations. The number of court orders issued for surveillance on university campuses have not increased.
increased stantially over the past couple years, he said
"There's an issue about bureaucracies, like the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. When you make things easier, in the worst-case scenario, they could abuse it," Staples said.
FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said in a statement, "Of all our responsibilities, none is more important than preserving public safety ... the Commission might act to further this goal by closing gaps in the application of CALEA — gaps that increase the danger posed to American citizens by criminals and terrorists."
Stephens said the University was not directly involved in an appeal filed by education associations the American Council on Education (ACE) and EDUCAUSE on behalf of hundreds of universities for an extension or an exemption. But the University is a member of the two associations, she said.
"No one is setting aside money to pay for this." Stephens said, "it's going to come on our shoulders."
Lopez said The higher-education community was waiting to see if the court would grant the appeal. There is currently a national discussion about the immense, unfunded financial burden this would place on universities across the country. Nationally, the cost to universities would likely be in the billions, she said.
"Besides the dollars issue, the real cost to us could be in lost opportunities — to meet needs, to grow, to help students, faculty and staff do their work," Lopez said.
Edited by Patrick Ross