A Pennsylvania judge in charge of consolidated litigation against Bayer has placed limits on some of the plaintiffs’ Essure injury claims.

Plaintiffs in the litigation against Bayer Healthcare allege the company’s Essure birth control sterilization device caused serious injuries.

The court’s current decision arose out of the most recent round of motions for dismissal It comes 11 months after U.S. District Judge John Padova dismissed an earlier complaint, offering the plaintiffs a chance to amend and refile their complaint.

In response to this new complaint, Bayer raised challenges to five of the plaintiffs’ Essure injury claims. They did not challenge claims for negligent misrepresentation and failure to warn, which had passed Judge Padova’s earlier review.

On this most recent motion to dismiss of the Essure injury claims, Judge Padova threw out the plaintiffs’ negligent manufacturing claim. The judge allowed other claims to continue, but only after he imposed various limitations that narrowed their scope.

Essure Background

Essure is a common form of permanent birth control that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002.

The Essure device consists of two metal coils which are implanted in a woman’s fallopian tubes. Initially, it takes a few months to allow the tissue to grow in around the coils. At that point, the new tissue should block the fallopian tubes entirely, thereby preventing pregnancy.

Bayer Healthcare has long marketed its Essure device as a safe and effective method of permanent birth control. Hundreds of thousands of women undergo procedures to implant permanent birth control devices each year, and Essure is one of the most popular such methods. Plaintiffs attribute Essure’s popularity to Bayer’s successful marketing tactics.

These plaintiffs now claim that Bayer has known from the very beginning of the serious problems linked with its Essure permanent birth control system.

According to the plaintiffs, Bayer allegedly chose to actively withhold a large amount of safety information pertaining to the device’s risks – despite knowing of these dangerous side effects, and rather than discontinuing the product or providing patients with an adequate warning.

Essure Side Effects

Plaintiffs raising Essure injury claims allege a number of serious Essure complications including device migration, perforated organs, pain, weight gain, heavy bleeding, and ectopic pregnancy.

Migration of Essure and organ perforation are two of the more dangerous Essure side effects. If the Essure device migrates from its placement, it can perforate nearby organs, leading to some very dangerous complications.

Filing a Lawsuit with Essure Injury Claims

Plaintiffs allege that had they been adequately informed of possible pain and complications following Essure implantation, they would never have been implanted with an Essure birth control device and would have effectively avoided these risks altogether.

If you or someone you love has suffered from pain after Essure or any of these side effects of the Essure permanent birth control device, you may be able to file an Essure lawsuit.