Well over 1,000 Mirena lawsuits have been filed by, or on behalf of, women who were allegedly injured as a result of spontaneous migration of the birth control implant manufactured by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Because of the sheer number of Mirena IUD lawsuits currently filed in various New Jersey federal and state courts, a multicounty litigation has been established in New Jersey Superior Court known as In Re: Mirena Litigation.

According to court documents, a case management conference regarding the status of the Mirena lawsuits consolidated in this New Jersey Mirena IUD litigation has been scheduled to take place on Feb. 24. As more women’s cases are evaluated, the number of Mirena lawsuits represented in this multicounty litigation or the national Mirena multidistrict litigation (MDL) may continue to grow as more and more plaintiffs come forward with allegations of uterine perforation and other Mirena complications resulting from the spontaneous migration of the birth control implant.

Mirena MDL

As of Jan. 15, during the last Mirena MDL conference update, there were at least 1,160 Mirena lawsuits identified as pending in federal court across the nation. According to the Mirena IUD lawsuits, all plaintiffs similarly allege personal injuries, such as uterine perforation, organ damage, infertility, and other serious Mirena complications that can be directly linked to the use of the Bayer birth control product.

The Mirena side effects and complications can potentially cause women to suffer permanent health problems. The plaintiffs of these Mirena lawsuits further allege that Bayer was aware of the Mirena side effects, but allegedly decided to downplay the Mirena complications while exaggerating the benefits and efficacy of the Mirena intrauterine device.

Many of the lawsuits also point to a 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning notice in which the agency called out Bayer for its Mirena promotional materials, which allegedly overstated Mirena’s benefits while failing to fully inform consumers of all the known or possible Mirena complications.

The Mirena MDL is In re: Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2434, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mirena IUD Problems and Side Effects

The Mirena IUD is a t-shaped plastic birth control device which is meant to be implanted in a woman’s uterus and then release synthetic hormones such as progestin and leveonorgestrel into a woman’s bloodstream. Once these synthetic hormones are in the bloodstream, Mirena will “thicken cervical mucus, thin the uterine lining, inhibit sperm movement and reduce sperm survival to prevent pregnancy,” according to Bayer’s Mirena IUD product packaging.

According to news and court reports, there exist hundreds, if not thousands, of documented incidences of the Mirena IUD migrating from the original implantation site, embedding itself in the uterine wall, and even perforating the uterine lining.

Some Mirena IUD problems and side effects alleged in the thousands of product liability lawsuits and reported to the FDA include:

• Weight gain
• Acne
• Breast pain/tenderness
• Perforation
• Migration
• Ectopic/intrauterine pregnancy
• Cancer
• Adhesions
• Cysts
• Fetal injury/death
• Early/premature menopause

The number of Mirena IUD lawsuits is expected to grow as more and more women file Mirena IUD lawsuits or join Mirena IUD class action lawsuits throughout 2015.