by Claire Tighe - Rewire News Group
December 4, 2018

“Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals is facing hundreds of lawsuits over claims that its birth control product, Mirena, caused serious neurological side effects for women who used it.
The Mirena intrauterine device (IUD) is a t-shaped piece of plastic inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. The device, which uses a hormone called levonorgestrel, was approved for sale in the United States by the FDA in 2000. Bayer estimates that the Mirena is the most-prescribed IUD in the United States, with 2 million women using it worldwide.
A new set of lawsuits consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York claims that Mirena caused a neurological disorder that falsely resembles a tumor. The disorder is called pseudotumor cerebri, or idiopathic intracranial hypertension. The cause is unknown, but obesity, some medications, and various health problems are among the risk factors. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include headaches, worsening vision, tinnitus, and nausea.
Currently, 856 cases—more than 150 filed in the last two months—are pending in the intracranial hypertension lawsuit against Bayer, according to the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL). The first cases were filed in December 2016. The federal court agreed to consolidate them in April 2017, meaning that a ruling will affect all the consolidated cases.”

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