Mirena IUD Lawsuit Alleges Grievous Mirena IUD Side Effects

New York, NYA Mirena side effects lawsuit filed late last month accuses the manufacturer of the popular IUD of not doing enough to warn consumers about the potential for pseudotumor cerebri, or PTC, associated with the long-term birth control device. According to Court records the plaintiff has suffered from vision problems and a build-up of fluid since acquiring the device.

The plaintiff in the Mirena psuedotumor lawsuit is Shavonte Johnson, a resident of New York State who filed the lawsuit October 23 in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The named defendant is Mirena manufacturer Bayer Healthcare.

According to her Mirena birth control side effects lawsuit, Johnson was 25 when she was implanted with a Mirena IUD in December of 2014. Within 18 months the plaintiff found herself in need of treatment for blurred vision and blind spots. Johnson, it is claimed, was also suffering from so-called ‘floaters’ in her vision.

Her Mirena lawsuit also noted that Johnson was suffering from severe headaches. In August 2016 she was diagnosed with PTC, a condition characterized by the build-up of fluid and pressure in the brain.

In Johnson’s case, the plaintiff required two lumbar punctures to facilitate the relief of pressure associated with brain fluid. Johnson also required prescriptions for Diamox and Topamax. Without prompt treatment, the lawsuit states, there could be a risk for long-term damage to the optic nerve that could further result in permanent vision loss or outright blindness.

Johnson’s Mirena pseudotumor lawsuit alleges that Bayer did little to highlight the risk, in spite of knowing for some time that a progestin coating used for the Mirena IUD had been linked to a risk for PTC. Bayer, according to Johnson’s lawsuit, failed to warn about the association between PTC and Levonorgestrel, the specific progestin coating employed by the IUD, and also failed to articulate the importance of monitoring for signs or symptoms of PTC.

“Mirena’s label does not sufficiently warn about non-stroke neurological conditions such as pseudo tumor cerebri (PTC), also known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH),” Johnson’s lawsuit states. “Mirena’s label makes no mention of PTC/IIH, despite a known link between levonorgestrel and PTC/IIH.”

There are currently about 200 Mirena IUD lawsuits consolidated before US District Judge Paul A. Englemayer in multidistrict litigation. Such lawsuits are apart from a large number of Mirena lawsuits, reportedly numbering over a thousand that allege migration of the device and, in some cases Mirena uterine perforation.

Mirena side effects lawsuits allege that Bayer Mirena warnings have been insufficient.

The Mirena MDL is IN RE: MIRENA IUS (SIC) LEVONORGESTREL-RELATED PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION (No. II), Case MDL No. 2767, in the US District Court, Southern District of New York.

Johnson’s Mirena side effects lawsuit is Shavonte Johnson v. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al, Case No. 1:17-cv-8163, filed October 23, 2017, at US District Court, Southern District of New York.