The Bayer corporation has been in the news a lot lately, in particular for lawsuits filed against the company claiming that Bayer products were the cause of serious or deadly health issues. Most recently, the company agreed to a $10 billion settlement to resolve 15,000 claims that their popular weed killer Roundup caused cancer. And in August of this year, Bayer was in the news again, this time announcing that it would pay $1.6 billion to settle the vast majority of claims from 40,000 women who were injured by the permanent birth control device known as Essure. As Essure claims continue to roll in, mass litigations, where many cases are handled at once, are becoming more common.
If you have been injured by Essure, you deserve to be compensated, and Buttafuoco & Associates is committed to helping victims through the pursuit of a mass tort against Bayer. I will tell you more about the cases below, what you can do if you have been harmed by this product, and how a New York Essure lawyer can help.
The Dangerous History of Essure
Essure, a permanently implanted birth control device, was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the early 2000s. Originally manufactured by Conceptus, Inc., Essure was marketed as a way to permanently prevent pregnancy without having to undergo an intensive surgical procedure. Constructed from metal coils composed of nickel-titanium, stainless steel, and polyester fibers, the Essure device is inserted in the fallopian tubes to induce fibrosis, which blocks the fallopian tubes and prevents fertilization. Women were thrilled about this possibility, especially when the manufacturer touted its many benefits: it was a minimally invasive procedure, required less anesthesia than surgery, took far less time and recovery, and it was both inexpensive and effective in preventing pregnancy.
In 2013, Bayer AG bought Conceptus, Inc., and Essure became a Bayer product. But in 2014, serious allegations against the product began to surface. Women who had used Essure went public on social media, demanding that regulators remove Essure from the market. Some reported severe abdominal pain, bloating, and heavy menstrual periods after using the device. Others spoke out about the serious injuries they had sustained when the IUD broke while in use, causing perforations to the uterus and fallopian tubes. Ectopic pregnancies and the need for a complete hysterectomy after using Essure were other serious but common complaints. Chronic pain, severe allergic reactions, and mental health issues like depression related to the device were also reported.
In 2015, the FDA ordered Bayer to evaluate the risks and benefits of Essure, and in 2016, ordered them to include a black box warning about the device’s dangers. Lawsuits against Bayer continue to argue that the company witheld patient complaints from the FDA, and that the black box warning should have been included as far back as 2006. Instead, Bayer continued to sell the dangerous product without revealing these serious safety issues.
Finally, in 2018, Bayer finally announced that it would pull Essure from shelves, but still said nothing about the injuries: instead, they said Essure was perfectly safe, and that declining sales–not serious health risks–had forced them to stop selling the product.
Joining the Essure Birth Control Lawsuit
Even as complaints and injuries continued to mount, Bayer went on insisting that Essure was safe and effective. Meanwhile, women were sustaining severe injuries such as those described above, and continue to experience them today. Some women have died from complications of using the device. On top of the physical and financial repercussions of these injuries, many suffered and continue to suffer emotional damage after using this dangerous product.
Buttafuoco & Associates believes the health issues attributed to Essure were completely avoidable, and that Bayer acted with extreme negligence. If you have sustained any of the injuries above after using Essure, you deserve to be compensated, and we may be able to help. Buttafuoco & Associates is currently part of a mass litigation, fighting alongside other firms to get victims who were injured by Essure the justice they deserve.
Mass litigations are similar to class action lawsuits, where many people come together to fight against a company that has harmed them. The main difference between the two types of lawsuit is that the settlement amounts in a mass litigation are far higher. This is because each case is first valued on its own, not lumped together with all other cases. The amount of compensation you are eligible for will be determined by the severity of your injuries, so it is important to work with a lawyer who has experience with these cases and can properly value your case.
The New York Essure lawyers at Buttafuoco & Associates work with each victim personally to build the strongest possible case. We carefully and thoroughly review the details of your situation and fight to get you the best settlement possible.
If you have sustained any of the injuries described above after using Essure, you may qualify to be part of this mass tort.
To find out more about how you can join, get in touch with Buttafuoco & Associates at 1-800-NOW-HURT.
