Essure Problems: Ideal Permanent Birth Control That Will Make You Want To File A Lawsuit?

So, you never want to worry about getting pregnant, ever again, but don't fancy going under the knife in an expensive tubal ligation surgery either? Essure is, its website explains, "the only permanent birth control you can get with a non-surgical procedure". At first glance, Essure sounds absolutely perfect. 

The Essure system consists of two coiled tubes that are inserted into your fallopian tubes through the vagina, cervix, and uterus. You can have Essure implanted in your doctor's office in a procedure that takes only around 10 minutes, you can go home after about 45 minutes, and resume all your normal daily activities after a day or two. 

After tissue grows around the fallopian tubes, a process that goes on for approximately three months, you attend a follow-up appointment to ensure everything's alright, and after that, you've got a permanent birth control method that's meant to last for life and is over 99 percent effective. Given the right health insurance, Essure may even be available to you at no additional cost!

It sounds almost magical, right? Like the answer to the prayers of countless women around the world? Looking at the Essure website, I quickly found myself thinking, "Great, sign me up!" — and I wouldn't be surprised if you did, too. It's good that we live in the age of information, and you're able to access more than a picture perfect Essure leaflet before making your decision. 

You see, every medical procedure comes with potential side effects. But not every medical procedure comes with a nearly 32,000 member strong Facebook group where patients offer practical, emotional, and legal support to each other, does it? Essure does. These women, these, "e-sisters" as they call themselves, lament how Essure has made their lives a living hell and are there for each other as they inch towards removal procedures and recover from them. Are your red flags waving yet? They should be. 

Essure: Not Without Side Effects!

The US Food and Drug Administration, which approved Essure in 2002, currently has the following notice on its website: "Over the past several years, the FDA has been examining the growing number of adverse event reports associated with the use of Essure."

Reported side effects mentioned on the FDA website include:

• Pelvic pain
• Perforation of the uterus
• Perforation of the fallopian tube(s)
• "Device migration", which is the Essure coils moving to other parts of the reproductive system, presumably facilitating perforation
• Abnormal and irregular vaginal bleeding
• Allergy and hypersensitivity
• Essure failure, leading to unintended pregnancy (note that some of these cases are due to patient failure to attend follow-up appointments confirming Essure was properly in place)

In addition to the side effects described by the FDA, users have complained about painful sexual intercourse, skin rashes, hair loss, fatigue, and headaches, as well as hip pain, numbness of the hands, and various autoimmune conditions, including Lupus. Spending some time among Essure patients, Essure quickly goes from "perfect permanent birth control method" to "house of horrors". We have to note, of course and as always, that correlation doesn't equal causation and that not all symptoms people begin experiencing after having Essure placed are necessarily caused by the device. Still, enough women are reporting very similar side effects that I, for one, want to run in the opposite direction as fast as possible!

Is Essure Removal Possible? What Can I Do To Get Justice?

Like traditional tubal ligation procedures, Essure is intended to be a permanent birth control method — the system was not designed for subsequent removal. Women who have even the slightest doubt about whether they'd ever want to add biological children to their family aren't advised to get the procedure. Bayer itself is quite clear on this point, stating on the Essure website: "WARNING: Be sure you are done having children before you undergo the Essure procedure. Essure is a permanent method of birth control."

Nonetheless, doctors performing reversal procedures are out there, and some women do get pregnant after undergoing such procedures. It isn't just the hope of getting pregnant again that leads patients to have their Essure implants removed, however. Many women desperately want to be rid of  their formerly ideal form of birth control in order to ease the side effects they are experiencing as the result of having Essure implanted. Depending on the location of the Essure implants (sometimes they're in the fallopian tubes only, but in some women they protrude into the uterus to various extents, and they may also have pierced various parts of the reproductive system), removal may constitute nothing more than a simple outpatient procedure, or it may require several surgical procedures. 

Essure Lawsuits: What's Going On?

The premise of Essure — having the freedom to stop worrying about getting pregnant permanently, with a quick, low-cost, and non-invasive procedure — led hundreds of thousands of women to choose this form of non-hormonal, long-term birth control. Across the world, an estimated 750,000 women currently have Essure in place. Given the life-altering side effects many have experienced, you won't be surprised that hundreds sued Bayer with claims of negligent manufacture, negligent risk management, breach of express warranty, negligent training and fraudulent manufacture. 

Many of these lawsuits have been thrown out due to preemption law, but lawsuits are currently moving forward in several US states and in France, and lawyers who are willing to take on Essure cases make it clear that preemption law and Premarket Approval do not have to mean that unsatisfied consumers, those who were permanently physically damaged by the device, cannot sue Bayer. If this is you, statues of limitation apply and we can only advise that you take swift action. If this is not you, because you've been considering Essure but haven't gotten it yet, well, you still have the choice not to go ahead with the procedure.

How Does Essure Really Compare To Other Birth Control Methods?

On its patient information website, Essure claims a success rate of over 99 percent, without specifying decimal points. Though it's clear that most of its appeal lies in its permanency — there's no need to get the implants replaced every X years — we must note that other long-term forms of birth control, including the non-hormonal intrauterine device that can last up to 10 years, are also well over 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy. We also have to note that one study estimated that as many as 9.6 percent of women using Essure could become pregnant over a 10-year period. Laparosopic tubal ligations, meanwhile, perform up to four times better. 

Let's just say that, given these facts and the immense physical and emotional pain Essure has caused numerous women, the old-fashioned copper intrauterine device suddenly sounds a whole lot more appealing.