Bayer HealthCare is facing a new pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit, which was recently filed by a woman from Tennessee alleging painful side effects.

This pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit is joining a multidistrict litigation (MDL) that consists of similar claims from women alleging they developed painful migraines and other brain tumor like symptoms after the Mirena IUD was implanted.

Plaintiff Tammi M. opted to file this pseudoumor cerebri lawsuit after discovering other women had suffered similar complications after getting the Mirena IUD (intrauterine device) implanted. The Mirena IUD is a small T-shaped device that is made of a flexible plastic, with its endpoints consisting of synthetic progestin hormones.

The Mirena IUD is directly implanted into the uterus and releases these hormones, which prevent sperm to egg fertilization. The Mirena IUD quickly became popular after it was introduced to the market in the early 2000s, with women opting for its convenient and non invasive contraceptive treatment mechanism.

The Mirena IUD is meant to be implanted for up to five years, with Bayer marketing the device as a “hassle free” birth control.

Overview of Pseudotumor Cerebri Lawsuit

With these benefits in mind, Tammi says she opted for the Mirena IUD and had it implanted on March 22, 2004. Tammi had reportedly responded well to the device and had a second one implanted, when the first Mirena IUD expired on Feb. 10, 2009.

Like the first Mirena IUD, Tammi suffered no initial complications and even had a third Mirena IUD implanted on July 14, 2014 after the second one expired. However, according to the pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit, Tammi allegedly began suffering painful headaches and other symptoms resembling those of a brain tumor after the third device was implanted.

Tammi says she was eventually diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri on July 25, 2017, and underwent several medical treatments to alleviate her symptoms. One of these procedures included a lumbar puncture, which helped drain the excess spinal fluid.

Pseudotumor cerebri is a medical condition that occurs when cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the interior of the skull causing severe inner cranial pressure. Cerebrospinal fluid is the protective spongy material surrounding the brain and spine and is constantly reabsorbed throughout the body.

When the body cannot keep up with the resorption process, the cerebrospinal fluid buildups and causes brain tumor like symptoms. This causes migraines, headaches, ringing in ears, and other painful symptoms, which often requires a lumbar puncture or shunt implantation to drain the excess fluid.

Even though pseudotumor cerebri is a painful condition for patients, Bayer allegedly failed to warn the general public of this potential risk associated with the Mirena IUD. The pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit states that Tammi was not able to discover the alleged correlation between the Mirena IUD and pseudotumor cerebri until after April 1, 2018 — almost a year after her diagnosis.

Tammi alleges she would not have agreed to have the Mirena IUD implanted, if she had known the risk of pseudotumor cerebri development. This pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit is joining MDL No. 2767, where it will stand alongside other claims from patients alleging adverse Mirena IUD symptoms.

By joining an MDL, this pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit will be streamlined through the litigation process and will avoid potential problems like conflicting rulings from different judges.

The Pseudotumor Cerebri Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-05698-PAE-JLC, in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York.