Six women have filed an Essure lawsuit, alleging the permanent birth control device caused them serious reproductive injuries.

Each of the women alleges the permanent birth control device induced serious side effects due to adverse biological and allergic reactions to the metal coils.

The Essure permanent birth control device consists of two metal coils that are implanted into each of the fallopian tubes, with the nickel alloy designed to induce tissue growth. Once the tissue in the fallopian tubes grows around the coils, it should permanently prevent sperm to egg fertilization.

The Essure permanent birth control device is manufactured by Bayer HealthCare and was released onto the market in 2002, and quickly became popular in the United States. In contrast to more invasive tubal ligation, the coils were inserted through a minimally invasive procedure and came with minimal complications.

In addition, patients did not have to undergo any long periods of hospital recovery time, which made the Essure permanent birth control device very convenient in comparison to tubal ligation. Essentially, the Essure permanent birth control was supposed to provide women with a safe and easy solution for female sterilization.

With these benefits in mind, plaintiffs Katie A., Amber M., Crystal T., Iesha R., and Candida B. all say they opted for the permanent contraceptive. However, these women report they soon started experiencing serious and painful complications soon after the coils were implanted.

Among the serious reactions these women reported, incidents included but were not limited to:

• Severe pelvic and back pain
• Painful iontercourse
• Allergic reactions
• Device perforation
• Device migration
• Autoimmune responses

The claimants opted to file this Essure lawsuit soon after discovering that their injuries could have been caused by the allegedly defective nature of the permanent birth control device.

Overview of Essure Complications

It is important to note that the Essure is currently the only non surgical form of female sterilization in the United States, but Bayer has stated it will stop manufacturing Essure permanent birth control coils by the end of 2018.

The market withdrawal follows thousands of injury reports submitted by patients, stating their lives were severely impacted by the device complications related to the Essure permanent birth control.

By 2016 the FDA had received over 10,000 Essure injury reports, which spurred the agency to order Bayer to conduct a seven year study on complications related to the permanent birth control device. Among the injuries named in the 10,000 reports, the most common side effects seem to be chronic pelvic pain, abdominal bloating, migraine-like headaches and severe fatigue.

However, women have also reported more serious complications like device perforation and migration, which not only mitigates the device’s contraceptive abilities but also makes the permanent birth control coils harder to remove.

According to certain injury reports, the Essure permanent birth control device has been linked to 15 fetal deaths and hundreds of unplanned pregnancies. Even though these device complications can be devastating to patients, Bayer allegedly failed to disclose the full severity of these potential problems on the Essure warning label.

Katie, Amber, and the other claimants state they would not have opted for the permanent birth control device, if they had known about its allegedly defective nature.

This Essure Lawsuit is Case No. 4:18-cv-07335-DMR, in the Superior Court of the state of California, County of Alameda, Unlimited Jurisdiction.