A Texas woman recently filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Bayer, alleging she experienced serious side effects of birth control because of its product Mirena.

According to the Mirena lawsuit, the plaintiff, Alyssa J., was implanted with a Mirena birth control system on May 28, 2014. The insertion went without complication.

However, Alyssa says that sometime after her implantation with the Mirena device, she began experiencing certain side effects of birth control including headaches and vision problems. In July of 2015, Alyssa was diagnosed with intracranial hypertension, which is also known as pseudotumor cerebri. Her Mirena IUD was removed in October 2015 as a result of complications.

In response, Alyssa has filed a Mirena lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare, claiming that these complications were side effects of birth control directly caused by the device.

The Mirena lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including negligence, design defect, failure to warn, strict liability, breach of express and implied warranties, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, and others.

What is the Mirena IUD?

Mirena is a small, flexible, and relatively new birth control device. It was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just in 2000, and in 2009, was approved to treat heavy periods.

Mirena is manufactured by Bayer. In less than two decades, Mirena has become an extremely popular birth control option, and today, over 2 million women in the United States use the device. The global total is far higher—around 15 million.

In recent years, a growing number of consumers have filed Mirena lawsuits against Bayer Pharmaceuticals for failing to adequately warn in their advertising or labeling of the potential risk of developing serious side effects of birth control like pseudotumor cerebri because of the device.

Pseudotumor Cerebri Side Effects of Birth Control

Any medical device or medication will come with certain side effects. However, Mirena birth control has been linked with a serious side effect that could cause lasting issues for patients.

Pseudotumor cerebri means “false brain tumor.” It is named for having similar symptoms to brain tumors without actually involving a tumor at all. Although it’s not a tumor, PTC is a serious condition that is characterized by a potentially dangerous amount of cerebrospinal pressure in a person’s skull. For some patients with PTC, this dangerous pressure in the skull can be reduced with medication. For others, surgery is necessary.

Pseudotumor cerebri and other side effects of birth control may be able to affect a large number of patients, given the popularity of Mirena and other IUD devices. Approximately 150 million people across the globe use IUDs.

Filing a Mirena Lawsuit Over Side Effects of Birth Control

If you or someone you love has used Mirena or a similar IUD and has suffered from side effects of birth control like psuedotumor cerebri as a result, you may be able to file a birth control lawsuit. While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by these side effects of birth control, it can help to alleviate the financial burden of medical expenses and lost wages.

The Mirena Birth Control Lawsuit is  Case No. 1:17-cv-05138, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.