Injuries from Dangerous Birth Control Devices
In 2018, Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company, announced it would stop the sale of the Essure birth device. Essure is an implant device. Thousands of women say it harmed them.
The withdrawal of Essure from the U.S. market followed a strict restriction on the sale of the device imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Essure is not the only dangerous birth control device on the market. In recent years, coil devices and contraceptive pills have been linked to health issues in women and multiple lawsuits.
At the Smith Law Center, we can help women harmed by dangerous birth control devices and oral pills. With lawsuits pending against big companies like Bayer, it’s important to join mass tort actions if you have suffered serious injuries or illnesses. It’s also important to recognize when a condition has been caused by a product. Sadly, far too many women are suffering in silence, unaware their birth control is harming them.
What Are the Most Dangerous Birth Control Products on the Market?
Essure
Bayer’s Essure is a contraceptive device that causes sterilization. It is made of two-inch-long, flexible coils an alloy of nickel and titanium. The coils are inserted into the woman’s fallopian tubes, which carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. The devices work by forming scar tissue around the coils in three months, creating a barrier that prevents sperm from reaching the eggs.
More than 17,000 lawsuits have been filed by women who claim Essure harmed them. They claim the device fragmented, damaging tissue. In some cases, the device migrated, causing damage to the uterus or the pelvis. Some recipients claim Essure caused organ perforation to the uterus, fallopian tubes, or bowel. It is also linked to autoimmune diseases and death in some cases.
In 2018, the FDA took an almost unprecedented step of restricting the Essure device to only doctors and healthcare facilities who adopted the FDA-approved “Patient-Doctor Discussion Checklist.”
Yaz and Yasmin
Yaz and Yasmin are oral birth control pills made by Bayer. Users of the drugs report complications including heart, gallbladder and blood disorders such as blood clots as well as strokes. Users say Bayer should have known of the risks of using the contraceptive pills but failed to warn of them.
The lawsuits against Bayer include one brought by a woman from Illinois who was just 20 at the time she suffered a life-altering stroke after switching to Yaz from another form of birth-control pill. Bayer settled her case for $237,000.
Mirena IUD
Thousands of women nationwide sued Bayer Pharmaceuticals over the Mirena IUD contraceptive device. The lawsuits claim a wide range of complications. The first lawsuits claimed the birth control device perforated women’s organs, caused ectopic pregnancies and migrated out of the uterus.
Recently, Mirena was blamed for pressure buildups in the skull known as pseudotumor cerebri or intracranial hypertension.
As of the summer of 2018, there were about 2,400 active Mirena lawsuits. In April of the same year, Bayer reached a settlement in about 4,100 organ perforation cases.
The lawsuits accused Bayer of failing to issue warnings about a dangerous product. There have been no recalls of Mirena to date.
NuvaRing
NuvaRing is a contraceptive vaginal ring that is placed in the vagina for the purpose of birth control. It is linked to potentially-fatal conditions including heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.
Thousands of women claimed the manufacturer Merck failed to warn them of the dangers. In 2014, Merck agreed to settle about 2,000 lawsuits brought by women.
Harmed by a Dangerous Birth Control Device? Talk to an Injury Lawyer
Birth control pills and devices are linked to a wide range of side effects ranging from depression and headaches to heart attacks and strokes. In some cases, the big drug companies put extremely hazardous products on the market that place profit before the safety of women. Often these companies fail to warn of dangerous side effects.
Devices like Essure have not only led to numerous lawsuits. In some cases, women claimed they did not even work in preventing pregnancies. If you have been harmed by a contraceptive device, you should talk to a Virginia injury lawyer as soon as possible to find out if you have grounds to file a lawsuit. Please contact the Smith Law Center today at (757) 244-7000.
