Birth Control Risks and Your Legal Rights: What Every Woman Should Know.

Birth control is a fact of life. You want to be in charge of your own reproductive system, yes? We so agree. However, we also want you to be informed about the unspoken risks that may come with certain types of birth control. And yes, if you experience harmful side effects with any of them, there is a way to fight Big Pharma.

Why a woman chooses a certain method of birth control is her business. Period. Whatever her decision, though, she should be able to use contraceptives with reasonable certainty that it will perform as advertised and not accelerate risks of serious health problems (especially problems that the pharma companies aren’t exactly honest about up-front).

Yet, many companies have sold and still sell contraceptive pills or devices that have harmed hundreds of thousands of women. Several active birth control lawsuits today are centered on the maker’s failure to alert consumers about potential health risks from defects or grievous side effects.

Let’s look into it.

What Are the Health Risks of Birth Control?

Most birth control methods use a synthetic hormone called progestin, a derivative of progesterone, to prevent fertilization. Common side effects, which are usually temporary, range from hormone imbalances, headaches, nausea, and mood swings to cramping, spotting, and breast tenderness. Longer-lasting health problems like internal organ damage, blood clots, and stroke may be rarer but they can happen.

“The Pill.”

Hormone-based tablets that control your period + can prevent ovulation by introducing progestin into the system for 21 days (no bleeding) and then disrupting it during the last seven days of a 28-day cycle (bleeding). Progestin thickens the mucous in the cervical lining to make the womb hostile to sperm and thins the uterine lining so a fertilized egg has a harder time attaching.

Common hormonal side effects are usually temporary; rarer, more serious, risks can include heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and liver tumors. Although the incidence of risk in the latter group is lower, just one event can be lethal.

Hormone IUDs:

Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), plastic devices about the size of a quarter & shaped like a miniature T-bar, are implanted in the uterus. They work by releasing synthetic progestin to prevent ovulation, thicken cervical mucus, and thin the uterine lining.

There are four FDA-approved hormone IUDs in the US that use levonorgestrel – progestin by another name.

Mirena: approved for use for 7 years.
Liletta: approved for use for 7 years.
Kyleena: approved for use for 5 years.
Skyla: approved for use for 3 years.

Findings of a recent study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) found in October 2024, after following a control group of 157,190 women for “more than 10-15 years,” that IUDS containing levonorgestrel raise the risk of breast cancer by 40%.

Non-Hormone IUDs.

Copper is also repulsive to sperm. The copper IUD is designed to prevent pregnancy without the negative side effects of progestin, but working on the same principle to make the womb inhospitable to sperm.

There is only one FDA-approved copper IUD in the US:

Paragard: approved for use up to 10 years.

Paragard’s design, however, opened another can of worms. Copper coiling is attached to the vertical stem & tiny T-arms, which are supposed to fold up vertically and slide out through the vagina upon removal in a professional’s office. Only sometimes the arms don’t fold: they break off, causing the device to splinter internally.

Sharp plastic and copper coiling are launched into the uterine atmosphere where they may perforate nearby organs or become embedded in tissue walls, necessitating surgery.

“The Shot.”

There is only one birth control injection approved in the US that works by releasing progestin deep into muscle tissue:

Depo-Provera: approved for use up to 12 years.

Pfizer’s three-month dose of progestin is injected deep into buttocks or arm muscles. The long-term presence of progestin in the interior muscle system, though, has proven more dangerous than its labels let on, sometimes triggering slow-growing brain tumors called meningiomas.

Sidenote: Researchers believe progestin is less likely to cause meningioma development when taken orally.

Meningiomas are usually not cancerous, but they can disrupt neural signals when they grow large enough to press against fragile brain tissue. How big? They can cover more than half the size of your forehead.

The British Medical Journal (MBJ) in March 2024 published unprecedented findings linking meningiomas to progestin deposited deep in the body, gaining greater risk over time, like that injected with Depo-Provera.

Meningiomas can grow for a long time, often unnoticed, until they’re large enough to press on brain tissue. Almost overnight, affected women begin exhibiting noticeable problems with vision, balance, speech, and memory. Meningiomas must be surgically removed.

Implants.

Rod-shaped LARCs (long-acting reversible contraception) release progestin and estrogen through the skin to prevent ovulation, thicken cervical mucous, and thin the uterine lining. They are placed under the upper arm and last for around three years. Risks include ovarian cysts, stomach or back pain, and the usual hormonal aggravations.

“The Ring.”

A small, flexible ring made of soft clear plastic worn inside your vagina that releases estrogen and progestin through the vaginal lining to prevent pregnancy. It’s worn for three weeks and then removed for one week & considered safe with common hormonal side effects.

“The Patch.”

Similar to implants only it must be changed weekly to remain effective. If not replaced weekly, it stops working. Noted risks include rare blood clots, skin irritation, itchiness, or soreness at the placement site + other common hormonal side effects.

Are There Birth Control Lawsuits and What Does That Mean For Me?

Yes. They give injured women (like you) a chance to formally lodge complaints and seek financial compensation from manufacturers who failed to warn that their devices could be defective or otherwise potentially hazardous to your health.

We are strong believers in civil lawsuits because their primary goal is to hold companies financially responsible for harming consumers by demanding financial payout to those consumers for the harm they experienced. We also like the impact these cases have on national headlines, revising legal precedents and legislation for women affected by birth control.

Here are some high-profile birth control lawsuits where we’ve helped women take legal action.

ESSURE from Bayer is a fallopian tube permanent implant that was totally recalled in 2019. We helped make that happen! FDA-approved in 2002 and purchased by Bayer in 2013, the device caused organ damage by dislodging or breaking internally + severe pain + bleeding (not to mention many other horrible problems!), requiring a hysterectomy to “fix.” Plaintiffs claimed these catastrophic side effects ruined their lives and marriages.Bayer agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle the majority (90%) of 39,000 lawsuits in 2020 on top of $2 billion earlier distributed to plaintiffs suffering from gallbladder disease and venous blood clotting issues.Though our supporting campaign and resulting lawsuits helped remove ESSURE entirely from the U.S. market in 2019. Bayer never admitted liability, claiming the recall was “voluntary” because of slowing sales, not safety concerns.
PARAGARD, the only approved non-hormone copper IUD available in the US, is currently embroiled in a massive lawsuit charging that the device’s T-arms are prone to break upon attempted removal by a professional and also charging that Teva did not give proper warning.
DEPO-PROVERA from Pfizer is the subject of a lawsuit claiming the Depo “shot” can cause benign brain tumors called meningiomas that can grow large enough to seriously alter brain function, requiring surgical removal.

What Are the Legal Rights and Options for Women Harmed by Birth Control?

If you or a loved one has used a birth control pill or device and suffered a serious side effect, first contact your doctor. DO NOT try to remove implanted devices without a doctor’s help.

Then, please contact ACFW. You may have the right to legal recourse if you’ve been harmed. We only work with birth control lawyers who operate on a contingency fee. That means no upfront expenses. With contingency, your lawyer(s) must achieve a successful outcome in your case in order to be compensated.

How Can A Case for Women Support You?

Since we are founded and run by women, we understand from personal experience the devastating effects of errant birth control. You’re not supposed to know how to handle a lawsuit if you’ve been hurt. We are, though. Come to us for help.

We’re here to empower you by informing you when products are potentially dangerous before they have a chance to harm you. But if you’ve already been harmed, the best way to recover – psychologically, too – is to seek justice that can not only provide compensation, but can also help change the world for the better.

Your voice, all by itself, is so powerful because just one action can encourage a chorus of others to raise their voices. We want the choir to be deafening.

Since birth control is a fact of life, let us help you live your life well, empowered with powerful legal options to protect you when you’re hurt. We’re always here to help, 24/7/365.