A woman who was implanted with the Mirena intrauterine device says she was not adequately warned about the risk of levonorgestrel pseudotumor cerebri.

Plaintiff Nicole P. claims that she had the Mirena IUD inserted into her uterus around July 17, 2015. She claims that she chose Mirena as her birth control medication because of the informative literature she received from her health care provider claimed that Mirena was safe and effective.

Nicole claims that after her Mirena IUD was implanted in her uterus, she “began experiencing severe headaches and vision problems including spots in vision, tunnel vision, and blurry vision. She states at on or around Jan. 23, 2017, she was diagnosed with pseudo tumor cerebri/intracranial hypertension, and subsequently had her Mirena IUD removed “upon information or belief that [the condition] was linked to her use of Mirena IUD.”

The levonorgestrel pseudotumor cerebri lawsuit claims that Mirena is misrepresented as being a “low or no hormone birth control,” claiming that Mirena works by releasing small amounts of the hormone levonorgestrel into a person’s bloodstream, and citing that Mirena’s lack of estrogen is key to making the product “low or no hormone” birth control.

Levonorgestrel, the active hormonal ingredient in Mirena, is a progestin, or a synthetic progesterone. Progesterone is a hormone that naturally occurs in a person’s body. Allegedly, levonorgestrel works differently than other progestins because it is more capable of bonding to many types of hormone receptors than most other progestins.

This broad bonding capacity means that smaller amounts of levonorgestrel have larger hormonal effects than the effects of other synthetic hormones, making the claim that Mirena is a “low hormone” birth control misleading and inaccurate, according to the Mirena lawsuit.

Allegedly, the hormonal impact of levonorgestrel raises and lowers at different times in a person’s hormonal cycle, causing “spikes” of the hormone, and the impact of the hormone can vary widely among individuals, and these spikes raise one’s risk of experiencing progestogenic side effects, including pseudotumor cerebri.

According to the Mirena IUD side effect lawsuit, levonorgestrel pseudoturmor cerebri is a side effect caused by a spike in levonorgestrel, causing increased pressure buildup around the brain, likely caused by the buildup of cerebral spinal fluid, or the poor absorption of the fluid back into the bloodstream.

The improper buildup of this fluid creates a “false brain tumor,” or pseudotomor. Some levonorgestrel pseudotumor cerebri symptoms include:

• frequent headaches or migraines originating behind a persons eyes, and worsen with eye movement
• ringing in a person’s ears that rings in time with their heartbeat
• dizziness
• nausea
• vomiting
• blurred vision or blind spots
• vision loss in one or both eyes
• difficulty seeing to the side of one’s field of vision
• double vision
• seeing light flashes
• neck stiffness
• pain in shoulders, neck, or back
• problems walking
• forgetfulness
• depression

Nicole claims that she suffered permanent injury as a result of the levonorgestrel pseudo tumor cerebri and seeks damages for physical injury and damages for financial injury due to lost waged and medical expenses.

Lawyers are investigating other claims of levonorgestrel pseudotumor cerebri caused by Mirena use. Affected individuals may have a legal claim to compensation for injury.

The Mirena IUD Levonorgestrel Pseudotumor Cerebri Lawsuit is Case  No.1:18-cv-02489, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.