A Florida resident has filed a Mirena side effects lawsuit against Bayer, claiming that the birth control caused her injury.

Plaintiff Ashton S. says that she had the Mirena intrauterine system (IUS) inserted into her uterus without complication on or around Dec. 19, 2014. Allegedly, she chose Mirena as her form of birth control because her health care providers and Bayer, the maker of the device, represented it as safe and effective. However, she says that she began to experience severe headaches, serious vision problems, nausea, dizziness, tinnitus (ringing in her ears), and pain in her neck, back and shoulders.

According to Ashton, she was then diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri in or around February 2015 by her healthcare providers at Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares, Fla.She claims that this condition was caused by the Mirena device.

She argues Bayer knew or should have known that pseudotumor cerebri was a possible side effect of Mirena, but failed to warn her. She aims to hold Bayer liable for her injury.

Mayo Clinic describes a pseudotumor cerebri as an occurrence when “the pressure inside your skull (intracranial pressure) increases for no obvious reason.” The symptoms Ashton reported are typical for a patient experiencing this condition. Pseudotumor cerebri got its name because its symptoms mimic those of a brain tumor, though there is no tumor present. 

Allegedly, vision loss, headaches, dizziness, and tinnitus, along with pain, can result from this condition as the optic nerve swells and as pressure in the skull increases.

Ashton’s Mirena side effects lawsuit argues that she has had to undergo medical procedures to deal with her pseudotumor cerebri, including undergoing lumbar punctures, and taking medication.

She claims that in addition to physical injury, her use of Mirena caused her emotional trauma and financial injury because of medical costs she incurred trying to manage her condition, and the wages she lost from not being able to work when she was suffering from the symptoms of her pseudotumor cerebri.

According to Ashton, Bayer advertises Mirena as a low hormone birth control that does not contain estrogen and only contains progesterone. Allegedly, Bayer advertises that Mirena releases a slow and steady amount of the hormone into the user’s body “without peaks and troughs” in the amount of hormone being dispensed, causing little or no hormonal side effects.

However, Ashton’s Mirena side effects lawsuit argues that the type of progesterone in Mirena, a synthetic hormone called levonorgestrel has a different effect on the user’s body than the natural version and effectively registers as a larger dose of the hormone.

The lawsuit argues that, though Mirena is advertised low-hormone with no hormonal side effects, it affects the body like a birth control with a higher dose of hormones and does have hormonal side effects, including pseudotumor cerebri.

Ashton’s complaint about her Mirena side effects is not an outlier. According to Rewire.News, many Mirena users have complained of similar side effects, and have filed multiple lawsuits against Bayer over the issue.

The Mirena Side Effects Lawsuit is Case No. 1:19-cv-00823-UA, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.