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More than 700 Canadian women are suing the multinational pharmaceutical company Bayer alleging its birth control implant Essure – now off the market – was unsafe and caused them pain and serious complications, including the need for a hysterectomy in one case.
Most of the women are represented in one proposed class action lawsuit, while others are being represented separately, CBC News reported.
At the heart of the women’s claims are allegations that the birth control implant was unsafe and caused chronic pain at much higher rates than similar methods of birth control.
Symptoms allegedly include chronic abdominal and pelvic pain, excessive bleeding and autoimmune responses in women who have metal allergies, reports CBC News.
Essure worked by implanting two metal coils into each fallopian tube. Plaintiffs say doctors and the company billed it as a safe and easy alternative to having your “tubes tied,” and could be done in a doctor’s office in 15 minutes.
However, CBC reported that a post-market surveillance study of 1,128 women mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that 4.5 per cent of women who had their tubes tied experienced chronic pain, but for those using Essure, the rate was double at 9 per cent.
Recently, Bayer was accused in a U.S. lawsuit of keeping quiet about thousands of women’s complaints of injuries.
One Canadian plaintiff told reporters she got Essure implanted in 2012, but six months later found herself in pain, leaving her stuck on the couch.
She says she later discovered she had a one-millimetre metal particle left from Essure lodged in her uterus and was forced to undergo a hysterectomy.
Despite pulling the Essure birth control off the market in Canada in 2017 and worldwide by 2018, Bayer has not admitted any liability, instead citing commercial reasons driven by “a decline in patient demand.”
More than one million devices were sold globally, with the majority of sales in the United States, CBC reported. In August 2020 it agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits in the U.S.
However, Bayer told CBC it intended to “vigorously defend” itself in Canada, saying the U.S. settlement reflected a commercial decision driven in large part by the unique aspects of the U.S. legal system, including the high costs of litigation.
At least 600 women have filed a proposed class action lawsuit in Canadian courts, seeking compensation, CBC reported. They are appealing a 2020 court decision that prevented their class action from being certified.
Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit in Quebec with about 47 women represented by the same firm has reportedly been certified, and another 100 women are being represented in a separate mass tort lawsuit.
Top Class Actions has been covering consumer news about Essure for years. For more on the status of Essure and previous lawsuits in the United States, click here.
Have you had complications resulting from a birth control implant? Let us know your experience in the comment section below.
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