The hype may overcome you but when the Mirena IUD marketing is stripped, what comes out is the reality of lawsuits piling up all over the country.
Currently, a total of 16 cases have been filed so far in New Jersey Superior Court in Morris County. But this may just be the tip of the iceberg. Many experts predict an upcoming surge of cases. In anticipation thereof, the maker under fire, Bayer, is taking a defensive stance by seeking a centralized Multidistrict litigation of the lawsuits on Mirena IUD in Middlesex County.
In its very basic, the Mirena IUD is designed to prevent pregnancy by making sure the male sperm and the female fertilized egg never meet. It does this by releasing hormones called levonorgestrel within the uterus which affects the release of eggs from a woman’s body and prevents entry of the sperm to the uterus. The birth control device can last for years but needs to be inserted into the uterus through the vagina. To be effective, this insertion has to be done within seven days of the first day of menstruation.
And as the aggressive marketing moved the crowds, many are starting to feel the painful pinch of the hype. Though garnering about two million women users in the U.S. and 16 million globally, all of the lawsuits allege that Mirena has caused severe and permanent physical injuries and substantial pain and suffering. As the ugly truth starts to surface, many feel being left out.
The Food and Drug Administration which approved Mirena in 2000 has explicitly issued its warnings. It specified that Mirena has been associated with a number of serious side effects, which included among others: perforation of the uterine wall or cervix, group A streptococcal sepsis, ectopic pregnancy, and Intrauterine pregnancy.
Furthermore, the Mirena IUD lawsuit also charges that the product’s marketing committed a mortal sin of omission. It may have intentionally downplayed product complications and overstated the benefits to create a better ‘packaging’. Specifically, the complaints point out that in 2009 the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications found Bayer guilty of launching a program that made unsubstantiated claims. To recall, Bayer ran its “Simple Style Program” that year marketing Mirena to “busy moms,” but failed to mention side effects such as weight gain, acne and breast tenderness.
It is worth noting that in 2009, the FDA did issue a warning to Bayer for making false claims. This has prompted the German company to do some advertising adjustments. Since then Mirena is no longer advertised as ‘low-hormone.’
As the worms seem to be crawling out of the woodwork, many women have started to take a bolder stance. Bleeding may be a dangerous sign especially when it is happening over a longer period of time. In that case, consulting a competent medical practitioner is always a wise choice. But when many felt they were banking on an empty promise and has been left with nothing but suffering, it has always been the services of a competent lawyer that made all the difference.