Though doctors aren't sure if the NuvaRing is entirely to blame, 27-year-old Misty Liebert is convinced it is. As a new mom, Misty says she needed a birth control that wouldn't make her nauseous. But her three weeks on the NuvaRing left her with a lifetime of worries.

Misty has to get blood work done regularly now; it’s something she says is a result from using the birth control NuvaRing.

“The thing about it is, this whole time I felt fine,” says Misty. “I have no symptoms, and I wouldn't have even known if anything was wrong with me."

She didn't know anything was wrong, until she started coughing up blood three weeks into using the NuvaRing. She was rushed to the emergency room at St. Johns Hospital in Springfield. But after several tests, Misty sent was home. Her husband, Adam, says at first, hospital officials ruled out the NuvaRing.

"They just said, ‘No no, that's not what it is immediately’,” says Adam. “That didn't satisfy us because that's the only thing she did differently recently is switch to the NuvaRing.”

Someone at the hospital later realized those tests showed Misty had a pulmonary embolism, or blood clotting in her lungs. It could've killed her, but that's not what worried Misty the most.

"I started reading and doing my own research and seeing that these other women had died, just dropped dead,” says Misty.

“You go from being thankful to being angry after that,” says Adam.

NuvaRing is at the center of a growing controversy as more women around the nation are being diagnosed with the same thing as Misty. Reports show nearly a dozen women have died while hundreds across the country are suing. Some health groups are even calling for the ban of the drug.

"In a way, people are the guinea pigs right now,” says Adam.

Te drug’s maker lists blood clots, stroke or heart attack as possible side effects. Local doctors say those are well-known.

"Any hormonal method of birth control is known to have that as a possible side effect," says Meera Scarrow, gynecologist and obstetrician at St. John’s. Scarrow says there's no proof the NuvaRing is any more risky than the pill. "There's no data to say that it's any different than the others," she says. "I don't think you can say better of safer. There's always a plus or minus."

But as a woman, who used the pill for 10 years with no problem, Misty along with her husband Adam, remain unconvinced.

"The word needs to get out that this is a possibility that happened to other people,” says Adam.

Misty agrees. "If it can happen to me, and I’m very healthy, it can happen to anyone."

We contacted the makers of the NuvaRing about Misty's case. They said they haven't received all the details about her case, but that “blood clots are a rare but potential risk long associated with all combined hormonal contraceptives. The FDA approved warnings provided to physicians and patients, regarding their birth control method include this important safety information."

Some studies suggest that the difference with the ring and some birth control pills is something called progestin. Scarrow says if there's one thing to take away from all this, it’s to understand why you're taking a medication. And the Liebert’s say one thing they learned was to demand the care you believe you deserve—the best advocate for you is you.

As for Misty, since having blood clots, she'll never be allowed to go back on any hormonal birth control, including the pill. She already has an attorney is plans on suing.