Of the many Mirena IUD lawsuits currently pending trial in federal court across America, a group of 12 Mirena lawsuits have been selected as bellwether cases that will stand trial in 2016.

These Mirena IUD bellwether trials will help both the plaintiffs and defendant gauge how potential juries will respond to the evidence and testimonies that are likely to be used or referenced again and again in the hundreds of similar Mirena IUD lawsuits and Mirena class action lawsuits.

There exist over 2,000 Mirena IUD lawsuits against the intrauterine birth control device designer and manufacturer Bayer Pharmaceutical. Six hundred of the 2,000 existing cases have been consolidated in a larger Mirena IUD multidistrict litigation or MDL.

All the Mirena IUD lawsuits allege Bayer neglected to inform consumers of all the dangers associated with using their birth control product, including the risk of the Mirena IUD migrating from the uterus and thereby causing infection, internal damage, and other health complications.

These centralized Mirena IUD lawsuits will proceed in New York federal court and will be presided over by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel. By centralizing these cases into a nationwide Mirena IUD MDL, the court hopes to avoid duplicate discovery, conflicting rulings by different judges, and make the litigation process more convenient for court.

While 12 Mirena IUD lawsuits have currently been selected for bellwether trials, this is only the Initial Deposition Pool that will undergo preliminary discovery. It is expected that Judge Seibel and the court will narrow down the group by about half around May 2015.

The remaining six or so cases will go through expert witness discovery and other court procedures. After this procedure, the first Mirena IUD bellwether trial is set to continue in federal court on March 17, 2016.

The outcome and findings of the Mirena IUD bellwether trials is not binding. However, it will allow the plaintiffs and defendants to determine their strengths and weaknesses in the individual Mirena IUD lawsuits and may potentially result in a Mirena birth control settlement agreement.

Overview of Mirena IUD

The Mirena IUD is a t-shaped plastic birth control device that releases synthetic hormones including progestin and leveonorgestrel into a woman’s bloodstream. According to Bayer’s Mirena IUD packaging, the leveonorgestrel hormone contained in Mirena is meant to “thicken cervical mucus, thin the uterine lining, inhibit sperm movement and reduce sperm survival to prevent pregnancy.”

The Mirena IUD is designed in such a way that it can be implanted into a woman’s uterus within seven days of menstruation and remain implanted for up to five years.

Since gaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in December 2000, Mirena has been recognized as a safe and effective long-term contraceptive device and 15 million women across the world have been implanted with the Bayer birth control product.

Because the Mirena IUD is a low maintenance form of long-term birth control, it is an appealing option to most consumers, especially women who have already had children.

However, according to the thousands of Mirena IUD lawsuits and Mirena IUD class action lawsuits, many women have experienced severe and long-lasting injuries from the Bayer IUD device, which they claim the pharmaceutical company did not warn consumers about.

Mirena IUD Side Effects

According to court and news reports, there have been a number of Mirena IUD adverse event reports alleging the device migrated from the original implantation site within the uterus and perforated the uterus and/or uterus lining and imbedded itself there or in other parts of stomach cavity.

Some FDA reported side effects and risk related with Mirena IUD usage include:

• Weight gain
• Acne
• Breast pain/tenderness
• Perforation
• Migration
• Ectopic/intrauterine pregnancy
• Cancer
• Adhesions
• Cysts
• Fetal injury/death
• Early/premature menopause

As previously stated, many women implanted with the Mirena IUD and have since experienced serious, painful, and often long-lasting injuries or side effects are now pursuing Mirena lawsuits or joining Mirena class action lawsuits.