B.C.’s Court of Appeal has rejected two pharmaceutical companies' efforts to stop a lawsuit centred around a blood clot allegedly caused by a birth control patch.
The unanimous three-judge decision said plaintiff Lakota James was prescribed the EVRA patch when she was 24.
She claims that within a few weeks of using the patch as directed, she suffered a severe type of blood clot known as a "venous sinus thrombosis," which left her with permanent injuries.
She brought a product liability claim against pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson Inc. and Janssen Inc., claiming negligent design, negligent manufacture and failure to warn.
The companies sought in B.C. Supreme Court to strike James’ pleadings for failure to plead the material facts necessary to support the causes of action.
In March 2021, that court rejected that application, a rejection the appeal justices upheld.
Writing for the three-judge panel, Justice Susan Griffin said James “filed expert evidence regarding the real risks associated with the product and failure to warn of these risks, and it was not an error for the judge to conclude that this was sufficient to raise a genuine issue for trial.”
