The January 2014 edition of Vanity Fair features a major report on the alleged dangers of Merck’s NuvaRing. The story, headlined “Is the Contraceptive NuvaRing Killing Thousands?” begins:
“When 24-year-old Erika Langhart—talented, beautiful, bound for law school—died on Thanksgiving Day 2011, she became one of thousands of suspected victims of the birth-control device NuvaRing. Elite army athlete Megan Henry, who survived rampant blood clots in her 20s, is another. With major suits against NuvaRing’s manufacturer, Merck, headed for trial, Marie Brenner asks why, despite evidence of serious risk, a potentially lethal contraceptive remains on the market.”
Later on comes this passage:
"In the initial response to my e-mails and phone calls requesting an interview with Merck chairman Ken Frazier or one of the company lawyers, a pleasant Merck employee named Lainie Keller asked how the company could be helpful. When I explained that I was focusing only on NuvaRing, she said she understood magazine deadlines and would get back to me soon. Two days later, I received an e-mail from her. ‘Ken Frazier and our other colleagues are not available to participate in this opportunity,’ she wrote, and she directed me to several Web sites, including ACOG’s and Merck’s, ‘to help provide perspective.’ At the end of the e-mail, Keller included Merck’s official statement: ‘Blood clots have long been known as a risk associated with combined hormonal contraceptives. The FDA-approved patient information and physician package labeling for NuvaRing include this information. . . . We remain confident in the safety and efficacy profile of NuvaRing—which is supported by extensive scientific research—and we will continue to always act in the best interest of patients.’
The full story here:
