Lawsuit claims Qualitest birth control packaging mistake led to pregnancies

The suit was filed last week in Philadelphia against four pharmaceutical companies that sold the pills in packaging that mistakenly reversed the order in which they were to be taken, rendering them ineffective.

More than 100 women are suing a pharmaceutical company after they said a packaging error on birth control left them pregnant.

A total of 41 states have laws recognizing “wrongful pregnancy” or “wrongful conception” as a cause of action, though they largely concern doctors who make sterilization errors, not contraceptive manufacturers.

This packaging error and the potential for this error to have affected other oral contraceptive products resulted in the company issuing the recall of multiple lots.

Read the full story here. As a result, 111 women became pregnant and 94 gave birth. The blister packages were rotated 180 degrees on the card, reversing the weekly tablet orientation. Now, the women are claiming millions in damages, and in a few cases the costs of raising children.

The lawsuit was filed in state court in Pennsylvania, where Qualitest’s parent company, Endo Pharmaceuticals, has its USA headquarters.

Most people know that the only 100 percent effective form of birth control is abstinence, but still, you expect a few protection when you’re on the pill.

The packs contain three weeks of “active” pills and a week’s worth of placebo sugar pills that don’t contain any hormones, during which menstruation occurs for most women.

In a statement to ABC News, Endo Pharmaceuticals said: “Our commitment is to patient safety and we take product quality very seriously….” Certain packs of brands including Cyclafem, Gildess, and Orsythia were included in the recall.

Commenting on the court filing, Endo tells ABC News that it has only confirmed that one blister pack was defective.