An entire lot (#5620706) of Taytulla birth control sample packs were distributed to doctor’s offices and then to patients with the pills out of order. This creates the very real potential of unwanted pregnancies and other serious complications. A case was filed by Baron, Herskowitz, and Cohen and Chaffin Luhana in New Jersey on June 14, 2018 against the manufacturer Allergan USA on the heels of a nationwide recall by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (RECALL) of these sample packets. You can view the filing of the lawsuit HERE.
So what does the pills’ sequence have to do with effectiveness? Since the widespread acceptance of oral contraception in the 1970s, the basic concept has remained the same: take one pill per day as dispensed from a calendar-style packet of 28 pills—one for each day of the week for four weeks. As women would enter their menstruation cycle during the fourth week, a certain number of pills at the end of the course would be placebos—allowing women to maintain the habit of taking a pill each day without further ingesting unnecessary hormones. The pack is designed so that the next course of hormones is started precisely at the beginning of the next week following one’s menstruation period. The timing is critical in order to maintain pregnancy protection as the hormones prevent the ovulation cycle that normally occurs following menstruation. Without this disruption, it is as if the woman was taking no form of birth control at all and she could become impregnated.
Making matters worse, many doctors distribute such sample packs to patients freely—creating a situation where healthcare professionals cannot readily determine who might have received the close to 170,000 incorrect packages. And this is not the first time that Allergan has been involved in a birth control recall. In 2015, there was a recall of more than 500,000 boxes of Lutera birth control pills—originally sold by the merger-acquired Actavis Pharma—that were distributed without the accompanying FDA required package insert. And this is not the first time that a manufacturer has mis-ordered birth control pills within a pack, Lupin Pharmaceuticals made virtually the same mistake in 2017 with their Mibelas 24 Fe birth control pill.
If you have received a sample packet of Taytulla, you should contact your doctor immediately for a replacement. Further, if you suspect that you have received a sample packet of Taytulla, please contact us for a free and confidential legal consultation.
