PARKERBURG – A Wood County couple have filed a lawsuit against Merck & Co. over its NuvaRing product that has become the subject of thousands of claims nationwide.
Heidi and Adam Jones filed their lawsuit Nov. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in Parkersburg. It could soon be transferred to a multidistrict litigation proceeding in a Missouri federal court that handles NuvaRing claims.
The product, a contraceptive, has been alleged to create blood clots, among other health problems, in users.
Heidi Jones says, after complaining of a severe headache in December 2011, she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her left transverse sinus.
“Despite the fact that Defendants knew or should have known that NuvaRing caused unreasonable and dangerous side effects, which many users would be unable to remedy by any means, Defendants continue to market NuvaRing to consumers when safer alternative methods of treatment are available,” the complaint says.
The complaint charges Merck and its co-defendants with negligence, defective manufacturing, defective design, failure to warn, failure to adequately test, breach of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, violation of the state Consumer Credit and Protection Act, fraud by concealment and loss of consortium.
The Joneses also seek punitive damages. They are represented by Todd Wiseman of Wiseman Law Firm in Vienna and Carmen S. Scott of Motley Rice in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Organon Pharmaceuticals and the Schering-Plough Corp. are also named as defendants. Merck purchased those companies in 2009.
From the West Virginia Record: Reach John O’Brien at jobrienwv@gmail.com.
Wood Co. couple file NuvaRing lawsuit
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