Dozens of women have filed a new Essure device lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare, alleging the company’s popular permanent birth control device caused them to suffer a slew of serious complications.

Basics of the Essure Device

Bayer’s Essure birth control has become so popular that the device has been implanted in around 750,000 women so far, since its FDA approval in 2002 (when it was created by Conceptus Inc.). Essure was designed as an alternative form of birth control to offer those who want to prevent pregnancy long-term but who may not want to undergo surgical tubal ligation.

The Essure system is made up of two metal coils and a fabric lining, which are placed in the fallopian tubes. Implantation of the Essure device is designed to be done in a doctor’s office without invasive surgery. After this initial procedure, it takes two to three months for the Essure coils to expand in place, allowing the surrounding tissue to grow in around them. This is meant to completely block the fallopian tubes, preventing pregnancy.

Bayer Healthcare has continuously marketed Essure as a safer, simpler, and more effective method of permanent birth control than other options currently available, lawsuits claim. However, more and more patients claim that they have suffered from significant Essure birth control side effects after implantation with the device.

The Essure Device Lawsuit

According to the Essure device lawsuit, when the Essure device was originally created by Conceptus Inc., the company was hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. The company saw the market of hundreds of thousands of women looking for permanent birth control and created a device in response.

When Conceptus created Essure, the lawsuit notes, the device was its only commercial product, thus relying on the device as its method of climbing out of debt.

The Essure device lawsuit claims that in order to make sales and have the device do well in the marketplace, Conceptus actively concealed safety risks of the device and promoted it instead as the safest permanent birth control option available.

This group of more than fifty women filed their Essure device lawsuit after suffering from serious complications, including pelvic pain, device migration, heavy menstrual periods, allergic reactions, and more. Many of these complications required removal surgery.

The women’s Essure device lawsuit alleges that the device was presented to them as the safest and most effective option, and that they were not made adequately aware of the risks of the device.

The Essure device lawsuit was filed on August 28, 2018, in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment and several others.

Filing an Essure Device Lawsuit

In the United States, Bayer has decided to end the sales of its Essure device. The company claims its decision to do so is directly related to a decrease in sales, rather than because of any complications.

Thousands of lawsuits have already been filed in the United States over Essure complications, alleging that Bayer failed to adequately warn about the device’s risks. Lawsuits have cited a number of serious side effects, including device failure, device migration, organ perforation, device fracture and ectopic pregnancy, among others.

Some more major Essure birth control side effects may require device removal. Unfortunately, removal surgery can bring with it its own complications. Surgery is further complicated if a patient has suffered from Essure birth control side effects like device fracture or migration, which can make removal far more difficult, sometimes necessitating a complete hysterectomy.

If you or someone you love has suffered from side effects after implantation with Essure, you may be able to file an Essure device lawsuit against Bayer.

Filing an Essure device lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused the birth control device, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.

The Essure Device Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-01142-MPK, in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.