Injuries Associated with Essure

Attorney Bob Schwartz discusses legal claims for injuries associated with the birth-control device Essure.

Essure is a birth-control device that is made up of a metal coil that is placed in each of the fallopian tubes. As scar tissue forms around the coils, sperm are prevented from reaching the eggs. Although this sounds like a promising alternative to having your tubes tied, thousands of adverse-event reports have been received by the FDA, which indicate the opposite. In some cases, Essure has been shown to cause catastrophic injuries and even death as a result of the migration or movement of the coils and perforation of the fallopian tubes. In 2015, the FDA placed its strongest warning, the black-box warning, on Essure. That’s designated to inform patients of life threatening complications associated with a drug or device. Pharmaceutical companies are required to adequately warn users of the risks associated with a drug or device, as well as conduct thorough testings. The same applies to product companies. Bayer recently announced it was stopping the sale of the Essure device because of declining sales. However, the fact behind that decision really is that the FDA threatened Bayer with civil and criminal penalties if it didn’t better inform women about the risks from one of the company’s contraceptive devices, Essure. The FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, said this in a statement about Bayer, and I quote, “Despite previous efforts to alert women to the potential complications of Essure, we know that some patients still aren’t receiving this important information. This is simply unacceptable. Every single woman receiving this device should fully understand the risk associated with the device.” If you have been a victim of complications from Essure, you may be eligible for compensation.