Side Effects Of Nuvaring | Lawsuit News

by Steve Fields on December 15th, 2009

One of the dangerous side effects of NuvaRing is myocardial infarction, or heart attack. This is due to the hormones that are released by the birth control ring into a woman’s body. The contraceptive combines estrogen with a progestin called etonogestrel. These hormones prevent a woman’s ovaries from releasing eggs while simultaneously thickening the cervical mucus and thinning the uterine lining. While effective for preventing pregnancy, these hormones pose serious risks. Please contact us for the latest Nuvaring lawsuit news and updates on the litigation.

Even though all contraceptives that use estrogen carry a risk of blood clots, research has shown that etonogestrel sharply increases this risk. The hormone is an active metabolite of desogestrel. A study released in 2009 by the British Medical Journal revealed that desogestrel poses a 7.3-fold increase in the risk of abnormal clotting when compared to non-usage. This clotting can potentially trigger a Nuva Ring heart attack.

How A Nuva Ring Heart Attack Develops

NuvaRing blood clots can form within deep veins, a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). If these clots break off, they can travel with your blood as it flows toward your heart. Emboli (i.e. wandering clots) are extremely dangerous. They can pass through the inferior vena cava en route to your heart’s right atrium. From there, the emboli can travel through your heart’s three other chambers before emerging in the aorta.

Your left and right coronary arteries extend from the aorta and branch out across the surface of your heart. These arteries supply blood to your heart muscle. If a blood clot becomes lodged within one of them, the portion of the muscle that depends upon blood from that artery will starve. Within hours, the muscle will begin to die and be replaced by scar tissue.

Symptoms Of A Nuva Ring Heart Attack

When your heart starves and sustains damage, it becomes less effective in pumping blood to the rest of your body. This loss in pumping ability triggers several immediate symptoms, including shortness of breath, lightheadedness, a squeezing sensation in your chest, and pain throughout your jaw, back, and neck. You may also experience sudden nausea and vomiting, sweating, and abdominal pain.

The long-term side effects of a NuvaRing heart attack depend largely on how much damage your heart sustains prior to your receiving treatment. If the damage is limited to a very small portion of the muscle, your heart may be able to resume its normal function. If the damage is extensive, you may suffer arrhythmias, angina, and congestive heart failure in the future. Seeking immediate medical care after suffering myocardial infarction is critical.

How Heart Attack Is Treated

Immediate treatment is focused on reducing the workload placed upon your heart and preventing further clotting. Doctors will also try to reestablish blood flow to your heart and throughout your coronary arteries. This is accomplished by administering thrombolytic medications, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and anticoagulants.

Thrombolytics can dissolve blood clots within the coronary arteries (thus, improving blood flow), but they must be administered within one hour of the start of the symptoms. Beta blockers and ACE inhibitors reduce the strain on your heart muscle. Anticoagulants prevent additional blood clots from forming.

If medications cannot be used or prove to be ineffective, a surgeon may perform angioplasty. A catheter equipped with a small balloon is threaded to the blockage. The balloon is inflated to open the arterial passage. A stent is then installed within the opened artery to keep it open and restore blood flow.

In some cases, coronary artery bypass grafting is appropriate. A surgeon removes an artery from another part of your body and grafts it in order to circumvent the blocked coronary artery. Doing so provides an alternate route for blood to reach your heart muscle.

Heart attack is one of many serious NuvaRing problems that healthy women are exposed to as the result of using the birth control ring. Blood clots within the deep veins are usually the trigger. If you have suffered abnormal clotting, DVT, heart attack, or other NuvaRing side effects, you may be able to file a claim. Contact a Nuva Ring attorney to discuss your case.