Women are finding out that not only is the Essure birth control device capable of causing serious side effects, but also that the Essure removal process can cause additional risks and side effects as well.

The Essure device consists of two metal coils that are planted in the fallopian tubes where an immune reaction to the device causes inflammation and scarring to occur around it, blocking the fallopian tubes and thus preventing fertilization of the eggs by sperm.

The Essure device has been hailed as a safe, noninvasive alternative to tubal ligation surgery, as the procedure can be performed in a physician’s office with essentially no recovery time.

Patient’s Essure Removal Required Multiple Surgeries

A woman by the name of Angie F. had the Essure birth control device implanted into her fallopian tubes in order to prevent pregnancy.

Like many other patients, Angie thought this procedure would be quick and harmless and could give her the results of permanent sterilization that she desired without the need for surgery.

However, Angie immediately started having problems after the Essure device was implanted, including back pain and heavy bleeding.

It was discovered two years after her implantation with the Essure device that the coil implanted in one of her fallopian tubes had dropped into her uterus. The coil in the other fallopian tube had shaped itself into a little ball, partially dislodging itself outside of the fallopian tube.

Realizing that the Essure device was not performing as it was expected to, Angie decided to undergo Essure removal, thinking that her symptoms would subside once the implants were no longer in her body.

After removal surgery, Angie found her health problems persisted. After undergoing a pelvic x-ray, it was determined that she had foreign bodies throughout her abdominal cavity.

“There was no information about removal out there,” Angie stated. As a result of her experiences, she went on to found an advocacy group on Facebook known as Essure Problems. Eventually, she went on to have a hysterectomy and two additional surgeries which led to more than a year of recovery time.

Despite the removal, hysterectomy and surgeries, Angie still suffers from severe headaches as well as chronic pain.

Medical literature on Essure removal is lacking. There are only about 30 physicians across the nation who have more extensive experience in removing Essure. The Essure Problems Facebook page lists doctors whom patients vouch for after having undergone removal of Essure.

Many women are desperate for relief. Once they encounter a physician who is willing to remove the device, they often jump at the chance to get rid of the device that has caused them so many problems.

However, Essure removal poses risks of its own. These risks may add to the problems that women have already experienced directly from using the Essure device itself.

As doctors attempt to remove these implants, a number of complications can arise. Doctors may end up breaking the coils as they attempt to remove them, potentially leaving behind pieces of the coils in the patient. These coils can then migrate to other body parts or perforate organs, depending on their location.

An ob-gyn based in Austin, Texas, Dr. Shawn Tassone, says he has performed approximately “a couple hundred” removals of Essure implants. Tassone says the best way to remove the birth control implant is to use the surgical method that keeps the device fully intact all in one piece.

Tassone states there is “no good data that shows you what the best method would be to remove it. Right now it’s through case management, and doing a bunch of them, and coming up with a system that seems to have worked.”

Nearly 10,000 reports of side effects related to the Essure permanent birth control device have been reported to the FDA between November 2002 and December 2015. Women complain of pain, device breakage, migration of the device outside of the fallopian tubes, allergic reactions to nickel, headaches and hormonal issues, pain, bleeding and more.

Many Essure lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, the manufacturer of Essure, by women claiming they suffered severe injuries as a result of having the implant placed.