Could Mirena Birth Control Side Effects Include Breast Cancer?

Washington, DCIt’s possible that the active ingredient in Mirena IUD birth control, levonorgestrel, could trigger breast cancer. That’s the conclusion of a new Finnish study, just published, which found a 19 percent higher incidence rate of breast cancer in women using Mirena and other birth control products containing levonorgestrel, than women not using the devices. Various Mirena side effects have been noted previously, including Mirena uterine perforation.

But this is a new one, and will most certainly impact Mirena side effect lawsuits going forward.

Mirena is an intrauterine device (IUD) that is inserted by a doctor and provides contraception through a controlled release of levonorgestrel in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy. The device can last up to five years before it becomes discharged and requires replacement. Although much more expensive than conventional birth control, Mirena and other IUDs of its kind are favored by women who prefer the “set-it-and-forget-it” advantages a long-last IUD provides.

However, various side effects and adverse reactions - allegedly not included in Bayer Mirena warnings - are causing women to have second thoughts.

This latest news about the potential for breast cancer will only further the cautionary stance.

The study, published in the professional medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, followed 93,000 Finnish women over a 13-year period who used an IUD based on the levonorgestrel formulation. Study participants were between the ages of 30 and 49, and used a levonorgestrel IUD (Mirena) between 1994 and 2007.

Study authors noted that, statistically, they expected a normal incidence rate of 1,292 cases of breast cancer for women of that age in the general population. However, study authors noted that 1,542 of the study participants were diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of the study.

The study authors noted that research did not account for any pre-disposition and other risk factors that may have come into play, and therefore called upon the scientific and medical communities to conduct further research. Beyond the unknown risk factors that were not included in the findings, the study nonetheless raises a red flag of caution over a product that could become available to more women as the result of health care reforms.

An oft-cited adverse reaction in Mirena lawsuits remains Mirena uterine perforation and the migration of the IUD from the point of initial insertion. This can and has caused pain and suffering in scores of women who put their trust in the Mirena IUD for birth control and naturally assumed it would properly remain at the intended site. However, allegations of the device migrating - in some cases quite far from the original insertion point - put such an assumption in some doubt.

Many doctors maintain Mirena birth control is safe and effective. However, many women having suffered Mirena birth control side effects may respectfully disagree…