Mirena IUD Bellwether Lawsuits Move Forward

The Mirena IUD lawsuits that are part of the massive legal action against Bayer over complications caused by the birth control device are moving forward.

As of April 2014, more than 70,000 adverse event reports of Mirena IUD complications were filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including at least 5,000 cases involving migration. More than 1,100 women have joined the Mirena IUD mass tort.

The judge running this stage of the mass tort, the Honorable Judge Cathy Seibel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has set several key deadlines for the Mirena mass tort. First, she has said that both the plaintiffs and the defendants must produce a list of 12 Mirena IUD lawsuits (out of the thousands within the mass tort proper) that they think should be chosen for the bellwether trials. The bellwether cases will be selected from these two lists of 12 Mirena lawsuits. Each side may veto six on the other’s list, a process that should be completed by June 17. The list of 12 Mirena lawsuits must be submitted by May 2. Judge Seibel scheduled these deadlines in April.

Lawsuits Grow Over Mirena Complications

The Mirena IUD is a form of birth control, a device designed to be implanted in the uterus by a physician. The device is designed to remain in place, preventing pregnancy, for up to five years. However, according to several reports, the Mirena IUD has allegedly had a high rate of complications, particularly perforation of the uterus as well as migration out of the uterus, in which the Mirena IUD punches through the side of the uterus and moves around in the abdominal cavity. In this case, it often requires laparoscopic surgery to have the device removed. This has led to widespread Mirena IUD lawsuits against the device’s manufacturer, Bayer.

Many of the Mirena IUD lawsuits have taken the form of multidistrict litigation (MDL) or mass tort. Mass torts are a type of group lawsuit, similar to a class action lawsuit. Group lawsuits like mass torts and class action lawsuits allow a group of people to pursue legal action against the same defendants, as well as streamline the legal process.

Mass torts are more common than class action lawsuits in defective drug and medical device lawsuits, because injuries tend to vary from person to person. Class action lawsuits typically start out as group lawsuits, in which all the parties have the same injuries, while MDLs start out as individual lawsuits which are later coordinated into a single lawsuit. Mass torts over drugs and medical devices like the Mirena IUD are more likely to start out as individual lawsuits which are later coordinated into a single mass tort.

Since plaintiffs in a mass tort retain a greater degree of autonomy than plaintiffs in a Mirena class action lawsuit, a special class of cases within the mass tort are chosen to see how the lawsuits are likely to play out. That way all plaintiffs, as well as the defendants, know how to move forward with the remaining lawsuits, creating precedents and establishing key facts. These are called bellwether cases.

The Mirena Mass Tort is  In Re: Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2434,  in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Join a Free Mirena Class Action Lawsuit Investigation Today

If you or a loved one had the Mirena IUD inserted after January 1, 2000 and had to have surgery — or will be required to have surgery — to remove the Mirena IUD because it migrated out of the uterus, you may be eligible to take legal action against Bayer. Joining a Mirena class action lawsuit or filing an individual Mirena IUD lawsuit may help you recover compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering and other damages. Obtain a free case evaluation now:

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