A federal court has dismissed nearly three dozen Mirena IUD accusing Bayer Healthcare of failing to warn women that the birth control device can migrate outside the uterus, ruling that the plaintiffs waited too long to file their lawsuits.

Due to the thousands of women with similar allegations about the Mirena IUD (that the company allegedly failed to adequately warn users that the Mirena IUD could pierce the uterus and migrate to other parts of the body), a federal panel approved a multidistrict litigation and appointed a judge in a New York federal court to preside over the Mirena lawsuits.

But in January 2015, the judge ruled in Bayer’s favor and found that that 31 plaintiffs’ Mirena lawsuits were time barred due to statute of limitations in the states where the Mirena IUD lawsuits were originally filed.

Seventeen of the plaintiffs were from California, 12 from Louisiana, and one each from Oklahoma and Ohio.

Statutes of limitations set strict time limits for the time period when a legal claim can be filed. Once the statute of limitations runs out, the injured party loses their right to sue. The statutes of limitations vary from state to state. A free consultation with a Mirena lawyer will help you determine if you have a case. If you do, it’s imperative to file it before the statute of limitations runs out.

The majority of Mirena IUD lawsuits — nearly 3,000 — have been filed by women who say they suffered spontaneous IUD migration that caused complications ranging from pelvic inflammatory disease, perforation of the uterus or cervix, ectopic pregnancy, intrauterine pregnancy and pelvic pain, organ damage and infertility.

The women also accuse Bayer of failing to properly warn that the IUD can become dislodged and migrate to other areas of the body after insertion by a doctor. The product’s label warns only that Mirena IUD migration may occur if the uterus is perforated during insertion.

Should a woman’s body reject the IUD, it can dislodge and puncture or embed in the uterus, resulting in scarring and infertility, the Mirena IUD lawsuits allege.

There are about 1,100 Mirena IUD lawsuits in the multidistrict litigation, which is limited to claims where women suffered internal injuries after Mirena moved out of place, puncturing the uterus and migrating to other areas of the body, causing internal injuries, infections and leaving women unprotected against unwanted pregnancy.

The first bellwether trials in the multidistrict litigation against Bayer Healthcare over its Mirena IUD complications have been scheduled for early 2016. Bellwether trials are intended to serve as a litmus test to see how juries may rule on similar evidence and testimony. Bellwether trials help reduce duplicative discovery, avoid conflicting rulings from different federal judges and mitigate the inconvenience of the various parties, witnesses and the courts.

Six Mirena IUD lawsuits will go to trial beginning in March 2016.

More than 15 million women worldwide use the Mirena IUD for birth control. The t-shaped device is made of polyethylene and contains a steroid reservoir that releases levonorgestrel, a second generation progestin used in many forms of birth control. It is inserted by a healthcare provider during an office visit and provides protection against pregnancy for up to five years.

The Mirena IUD received FDA approval in December 2000 as a long-term contraceptive device. It is the method of contraception used by more than two million women in the United States and more than 15 million women worldwide.