A story in Vanity Fair titled “Danger in the Ring” details a talented and beautiful 24-year-old woman bound for law school.  Her name was Erika and she died on Thanksgiving Day 2011.  On that day, she became one of thousands of NuvaRing suspected victims.

The beautiful, long-blonde-haired Erika Langhart carried herself like a classy young lady should. She was a humble winner of leadership awards and earned a magna cum laude degree at Washington’s American University – whom she was chosen to represent at leadership conferences in China and Tibet.  After, she was heading to Georgetown Law School and a career in politics.

She took time off of school to work on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and was promptly promoted to be the liaison between the Republican National Committee and the campaign on the road.

“I was stunned when someone told me Erika was only 21,” McCain later told Karen, Erika’s mother. “She ran an entire arm of my campaign.”

The Monday before Thanksgiving, Erika was packing to go see her family for Thanksgiving.  Her boyfriend, Sean Coakley, arrived at her apartment around 6:30pm and found Erika twitching on the floor, struggling for air.

Erika’s mom recounts the phone call from Sean, “My world stopped.  It was Sean, telling us that Erika had collapsed and that the E.M.T’s were in the apartment.”

Erika had two heart attacks in the ambulance and was semi-conscious by the time they reached Virginia Hospital Center.

A doctor in the emergency room asked Erika’s mother over the phone: “Was your daughter using birth control?” Karen said, “Yes, NuvaRing.” He removed the device and said, “I thought so, because she’s having a pulmonary embolism.”

A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in one or more arteries in your lungs. In most cases, pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to your lungs from another part of your body, most commonly, your legs.

Before Erika’s parents reached the hospital, she was placed on life support and died on Thanksgiving Day.

“I am living every parent’s nightmare.” Karen, said. “I want to warn every mother and every daughter: do not use the product that killed my child.”

More than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Merck & Company, the manufacturer.

Are you, or someone you know, a NuvaRing user that has experienced any of the following complications?

  • severe blood clots and deep vein thrombosis
  • pulmonary embolism (severe lung problems)
  • stroke
  • death

If so, you need to contact an experienced attorney immediately as you may be entitled to compensation.

At Darrell Castle & Associates, our Memphis personal injury attorneys take your injuries seriously and are pursuing cases against the manufacturer of NuvaRing. There should be justice for cases such as Erika’s and we’ll go to bat against the big pharmaceutical companies and fight for the compensation you deserve.

Contact us today, either online or by calling us at (901) 327-1212 and we will gladly discuss your case with you at no charge. If you’ve suffered from taking a medicine or using a medical device, you need the dangerous drugs lawyer Memphis, TN trusts to handle its toughest cases.

Keep in mind that there’s limited time before NuvaRing cases will expire due to Tennessee’s very short statute of limitations (the shortest in the US), so if you think you have a case, make sure to contact us today!