I asked my lady doctor when I was in about a month ago because one of my friends told me the same thing and she said that there's the same risks with the NuvaRing that there is with any type of birth control (she specifically mentioned blood clots). She still gave me a prescription for it and didn't even mention side effects until I asked (probably because I've been on birth control for 5 years, the NuvaRing for 2 of those 5 years).