It was marketed as the perfect contraceptive device. It was hyped as an innovative way in which women could avoid pregnancy without having to take a pill or use another contraceptive device. Furthermore, women were told that once they decided they wanted to become pregnant, the device could be removed in a simple procedure.
The reality, however, is quite different, thousands of these women have experienced serious medical problems when they sought to have the contraceptive IUD removed because the copper wires broke inside their bodies.
According to the voluntary reports filed with the FDA since 2013 regarding Paragard, there have been:
- 3,186 reports of “device breakage”
- 1,910 of those events deemed “serious”
- 102 related reports of hospitalization or life-threatening complications
Many of these women have taken legal action against the manufacturer of Paragard. The Paragard T is a non-hormonal IUD that is implanted within the patient. The plaintiffs in these lawsuits allege that the Paragard T’s plastic arms are not sufficiently flexible and are prone to breaking. When the device breaks, shards of plastic remain in the patient’s body, leading to injury and revision surgeries to retrieve the wayward pieces of the IUD. In addition to pain and discomfort, plaintiffs report uterine perforation and permanent injury as a result of the allegedly faulty device. For this reason, lawsuits alleging failure to warn, defective design, and negligence have been filed against CooperSurgical and the original manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Forbes reports.
In the last 10 years, there have been over 38,000 Paragard injury or adverse event reports to the FDA. Of the reports in the system, 30,153 reports related to the Paragard IUD being expelled, dislocated, or broken. Additionally, more than 9,000 reports have been made claiming a defect or injury that occurred during the implantation or removal process.
If you or a loved one have been injured by the Paragard contraceptive device, please contact us immediately for a free initial consultation.
