The Ortho-Evra patch's price has increased from $10 to $15, and publicly-funded clinics worry they can no longer afford to provide birth control. Bloggers and Salon complain that and Slate runs through a list of possible reasons why (via Kevin MD) Ortho-McNeil raised rates for its birth-control pills and patches, but no one points out the most likely reason: increased litigation. Johnson & Johnson is facing 500 lawsuits over a product that they sell $416 million a year on, not a tenable combination in the long run. Lawyers benefit, but consumers suffer.