Paragard Lawsuit

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed by women who needed surgery when their Paragard® copper IUD broke during the removal procedure.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Paragard IUD induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured when Paragard broke, needed surgery, or caused other severe side effects, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

UPDATE: Investigation Finds 3,200+ Reports of Paragard Breakage

In August 2021, an investigative report by KATV.com, an ABC News affiliate in Los Angeles, found at least 3,290 reports of a Paragard IUD breaking during the removal procedure, with at least 2,000 reports categorized as “serious.” At least 200 lawsuits have been filed by women who accuse the manufacturers of quietly updating the label to include breakage in 2009, but failing to warn women who were implanted with the device.

What is Paragard?

Paragard® (Copper IUD) is a T-shaped birth control device that is implanted in the uterus. It prevents pregnancy by slowly releasing copper, which causes inflammation that is toxic to sperm and eggs.

What is the Problem?

Paragard is advertised toward young women as non-hormonal implant that is easy to remove when pregnancy is desired. Tragically, many of these women are now permanently infertile because they had to have a hysterectomy to remove Paragard when it got stuck or broke apart.

What Happens When an IUD Breaks?

Doctors may not be able to find the pieces of a broken Paragard IUD, especially if they have migrated in the body or become fully embedded in the uterus. This can lead to severe complications, such as:

• Severe menstrual pain
• Heavy bleeding
• Irregular spotting
• Inflammation (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease)
• Infections
• Organ perforation / organ damage
• Infertility
• Scarring & disfigurement
• Death

ParaGard Lawsuits

Lawsuits accuse the manufacturers (Teva Pharmaceuticals and CooperSurgical Inc.) of failing to give doctors adequate instructions on how to safely remove Paragard without breaking the arms off. For example, a doctor may be able to avoid breaking the IUD by gripping both of the arms during the explant procedure.

Women May Be Unable to Have Children if Paragard Breaks

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed by women who needed surgery after their Paragard IUD broke, which left them unable to conceive.

These lawsuits claim that manufacturers failed to warn women that Paragard’s T-shaped arms commonly become embedded in the wall of the uterus, which can lead to the arms breaking off during removal.

When a Paragard IUD breaks or gets stuck, a hysterectomy or another invasive surgery may be necessary to remove the pieces. Women may never be able to get pregnant due to injuries from Paragard side effects.

Case Report: T-Shaped Copper IUD Arms Can Break Off Spontaneously

While most reports of broken Paragard IUDs have occurred during the removal procedure, the T-shaped arms can also break spontaneously.

For example, in one case report, a 32 year-old woman found an arm of her copper Paragard IUD while she was menstruating. The IUD had only been implanted for 3.5 years.

Furthermore, the authors of the study warned against using T-shaped IUDs due to the risk of the arms breaking off. They recommended using “frameless IUDs can be used instead of T shaped copper IUDs to decrease the complications of this T-shape.”

Source: Gulsum Uysal, “Expulsion of a Spontaneously Broken Arm of a T – Shaped IUD: a Case Report” ARC Journal of Public Health and Community Medicine. 2018

Louisiana Woman Files Paragard Lawsuit

One of the earliest Paragard lawsuits was filed in October 2018 by Melissa A., a young woman from Louisiana who had to have a hysterectomy when the T-shaped arms of a Paragard IUD broke off inside her uterus. The lawsuit was filed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas – Case Number 180400850.

Paragard Lawsuit Filed After IUD Broke in Woman’s Uterus

In September 2020, a lawsuit was filed by a woman in Missouri who was injured when a Paragard IUD broke in her uterus.

When her surgeon tried to remove the device in 2016, one of the T-shaped arms was missing. She suffered through multiple hysteroscopy procedures that failed to retrieve the Paragard IUD’s broken arm.

The Paragard Lawsuit (PDF) was filed on September 18, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri – Ounjanise S. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals – Case Number 4:20-cv-00746-FJG

Is There a Paragard Class Action?

There are many Paragard lawsuits nationwide, but not in a class action. Instead, these lawsuits may be centralized in a Multi-District Litigation (MDL).

MDLs are not class actions, but like a class action, MDLs improve efficiency by centralizing a lot of lawsuits under one judge. The advantage of the MDL is that each case remains independent, whereas in a class action, all of the cases are joined into one lawsuit.

How Many Women Have Been Injured?

More than 1,600 women have reported Paragard IUDs breaking during removal since 2010, with at least 700 incidents leading to “serious health problems,” according to the FDA.

I Was Injured — Can I File a Paragard Lawsuit?

Our lawyers are investigating cases for women with the following injuries from Paragard:

• IUD breaking (during removal or beforehand)
• Surgery to remove Paragard
• Hysterectomy
• Infertility due to surgery or broken Paragard
• IUD expulsion from the uterus
• IUD migration in the body
• Ectopic pregnancy
• IUD embedment in the uterine wall
• Allergic reaction to copper, or inflammation
• Death due to any injury listed above

Should I File a Lawsuit?

Women who were injured by Paragard may be eligible to file a lawsuit and seek financial compensation for:

• Pain and suffering (physical and emotional)
• Medical bills
• Fertility treatments
• Permanent injuries
• Lost earnings
• Decreased quality of life
• And more

Do I have a Paragard Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Paragard IUD induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured when Paragard broke, needed surgery, or caused other severe side effects, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

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