Essure permanent birth control has recently come under media attention for the numerous injury reports submitted by women. This eventually spurred Bayer HealthCare to remove the device from the market.

At some point this year, the Essure permanent birth control will be removed from the market which will prevent future incidents of serious gynecological damage in women.

While Bayer has maintained that removing the Essure permanent birth control device from market was for businesses purposes, the company has allegedly been aware of the complaints surrounding their permanent contraceptive for years.

Bayer HealthCare has faced a number of lawsuits alleging problems with Essure permanent birth control including claims that the product was too dangerous for patient use.

One of the most recent claims was an Essure class action lawsuit, filed by multiple women alleging they suffered similar injuries from the Essure permanent birth control. Plaintiffs Latisha M. and Ela W. are two of these women who opted for the permanent contraception device, according to a report by Rockford’s WREX.

Overview of the Essure Permanent Birth Control

The Essure birth control system is currently the only non-surgical alternative for permanent female sterilization, which was marketed by Bayer for its convenience and minimally invasive nature.

The permanent contraceptive consists of two metal coils, each of which are implanted into the woman’s fallopian tubes. The coils are made of a nickel alloy that spurs swelling in the surrounding tissue, which ultimately blocks sperm to egg fertilization.

However, numerous women have allegedly developed serious complications from the permanent contraceptive ranging from mild pain to ectopic pregnancies. Latisha and Ela say they experienced these adverse effects, and both allege that they were led to believe Essure was reasonably safe for patients.

Both women allegedly developed painful side effects soon after the coils were implanted, with Ela stating that she went through “hell for five years” and there were days she “was so sick” that she could not get out of bed. Latisha stated that getting the Essure permanent birth control was “the worst decision” and that she was in “constant pain.”

In addition, Ela developed pelvic pain and numbness in her leg, while Latisha reportedly developed hair loss, tooth decay and severe back pain. Both these women had their lives permanently altered, and opted to join the class action lawsuit after discovering other women developed Essure complications.

Over 4,500 women have submitted injury reports to the FDA, alleging Essure caused them bodily harm and caused them permanent health problems. This spurred the FDA to order Bayer to add a black box warning to the Essure warning label, along with a patient checklist to ensure that patients understand the full scope of the risks.

Even with these actions, over 26,700 Essure injury reports were filed with the FDA between 2002 and 2017. This caused the FDA to restrict sales of the Essure permanent birth control in April 2018, with Bayer announcing it will discontinue selling the contraceptive at the end of the year.

Even with the numerous injury reports, Bayer maintains that the Essure permanent birth control is safe and effective, and has helped over 200,000 women since its release in 2002.