Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is currently facing 500 claimants in lawsuits related to deaths and injuries caused by the Ortho Evra birth control patch.

The claimants are seeking substantial compensation and (where available) punitive damages for alleged side effects from Ortho Evra: blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.

Johnson & Johnson's latest SEC filing for the Second Quarter of 2006, did not disclose any settlements of cases reported over the past nine months in the press, and does not identify any financial reserves that are set aside to pay the settlements.

According to legal analysts, the 500 claims are just the tip of the iceberg, because there are thousands of young women all over the country who have suffered blood clots, heart attacks and strokes who are still unaware of the culprit.

In 2005 alone, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical industry-tracking firm, doctors wrote more than 9.4 million prescriptions for the Ortho Evra patch.

Read more about this issue at LawyersandSettlements.com.