Bayer’s Essure damages health? Case taken to court

Bayer’s Essure damages health? Case taken to court

Monica was one of many Brazilian women who opted for this IUD to protect against unwanted pregnancy, especially the one of the reputable German manufacturer Bayer.

The reason was clear: she already had four children, the fifth would still be one too many.

The pills are actually expensive because they need to be taken regularly, the contraceptive in her case seemed an ideal choice. In addition, the IUDs usually have to be changed every few years, which is a very unpleasant procedure.

But this German one, Essure, could remain installed indefinitely. This Bayer product also looks high-tech: a thin spring about four centimeters long made of a nickel and titanium alloy, stainless steel, PET fibers, platinum, silver, and zinc. This contraceptive was not covered by the Brazilian SUS state health insurance, but it was procured by some Brazilian federal states and made available to the local public health institutions.

"What’s going on?"

In 2015 Monica got her IUD at a Sao Paulo hospital: the very fitting of the IUD into the ovarian canal was easy because no surgery was needed. She was convinced that everything was solved in the best possible way - and in fact, she did not connect the first difficulties with the contraceptive she had within herself. Barely a few months later, she started having headaches.

She also felt pain in her hips, lower back, and legs. Not only that, apparently something started to happen with her hormones as well: she was surprised that so much of her hair was falling out, where did the spots on her skin come from ... Of course, all that was followed by depression. She was still not sure, but two years later in 2017, when she heard that the Brazilian health service was "checking" the permission to use this Bayer IUD, everything became clear to her.

"I discovered that this device poisoned my body with a nickel and that my difficulties can be solved by surgery only, by removing the entire uterus," said Monica.

Lots of companions in this accident

It was clear to her that she had to do something and she underwent surgery the same year, but she could not understand what had happened to her: "I just didn't want to give birth anymore, but before I even turned around, I had the biggest accident of my life."

Even today, at the age of 43, she is suffering from chronic pain. As soon as she learned that her state was "checking" that IUD again, she sat down at the computer and began to investigate: there were already thousands of complaints from women in The United States who were suffering the consequences of that contraceptive. She opened her own website and invited Brazilian women who have experienced similar fate to contact her.

She had a lot of unhappy women getting in touch with her, reporting problems of all kinds: some had injuries to the uterus and ovarian canals, internal bleeding, there were IUD that slipped to another place, and pregnancies that occurred outside the uterus.

Then there were allergic reactions, weakness and fainting, and severe mental problems, including suicidal thoughts.

Take the case to the court – in Germany

Bayer’s Essure was particularly popular in the US, with the FDA receiving nearly 64,000 complaints of severe side effects and complications. The accompanying contraceptive leaflet in Brazil said that complications were "possible" in 0.05% of cases – but the reality looked completely different. As is possible in the US, a class-action lawsuit has been filed and Bayer has already paid billions in damages for about 90% of the nearly 39,000 unfortunates who sued the German manufacturer.

Monica gathered a group of 334 Brazilian women with whom she filed a lawsuit. They knew it didn't make much sense before a court in Brazil: even if the case was won before a judge who would have no regard for the powerful German concern and his influential friends in Brazil itself, the case would take years.

That is why they turned to the law firm PGMBM, which has international contacts, because they filed a lawsuit before the court where the Bayer headquarters are located, in Leverkusen, Germany.

Is our health less important?

This is pretty much uncommon because international concerns usually operate through local, relatively independent branches - but still, it is possible. They are seeking the same compensation as the women in the United States: why would the health of an American woman be more valuable to Bayer than the health of a Brazilian woman? In total, it is about 30 million euros in compensation that the victims from Brazil are asking from Bayer.

PGMBM has prepared materials for its German partner, the law firm of Manner Spangenberg: it has found that there are around 8,000 women in Brazil who have received the Essure IUD - and these 334 cases of severe consequences definitely testify that Bayer did not create a product that would be safe. In fact, there were hardly any women in Germany who wanted that IUD - pills are far more popular there anyway.

“Checks” run by Bayer

This German lawyer sent a letter to Bayer requesting a hearing and a possible settlement to end the case outside a court. There was no response until the last day of the deadline set by Spangenberg, August 6, when he received a letter stating that Bayer would "check the facts" and report back within a "reasonable time."

It sounds like a scam, but a German lawyer knows the vocabulary of the legal departments within German concerns: it meant a lot that they did not respond how it does not concern them, but referred to it as a matter of the Brazilian branch.

This means that they are at least considering whether they are ready to appear before a German court. However, there is not much space for optimism: Bayer expresses "great sympathy for all those who have had health problems while using one of our products, regardless of the cause", but is still convinced of the safety and effectiveness of the Essure IUD, which is confirmed by Bayer's extensive research and independent medical researchers with the participation of over 270,000 women over the past two decades. "

However, people in Bayer are not so sure: the Essure has been withdrawn from sale and is no longer used anywhere. As the German concern claims; only because of "weak demand." But thousands of women all over the world still have that IUD in them.