Paragard Lawsuit: A Comprehensive Guide (February 2025)

What are Paragard's Side Effects? (2025)

Internal copper fragments pose a serious risk to women. These sharp foreign objects can lacerate internal organs – including those responsible for reproduction. This could potentially leave a woman infertile. Women who conceive with internal Paragard fragments have reported ectopic pregnancies – a potentially life-threatening issue. In some cases, fragments have migrated to different parts of the body, putting vital organs at risk. The many thousands of active Paragard lawsuits detail a wide range of symptoms, complications, and injuries, including:

• Excessive bleeding
• Damage to internal organs
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
• Punctures or lacerations of the uterine wall or cavity
• Perforated cervix
• Complications with pregnancy, fertility, and birth
• Infections
• Chronic and severe levels of pain
• Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC)
• Fetal fatalities
• Fatal injuries
• Allergic reactions
• Hysterectomies
• Laparoscopies
• Laparotomies

Copper toxicity is another major concern associated with defective Paragard devices. Also known as copperiedus, this is a legitimate medical illness that can cause various issues. These include:

• Severe headaches
• High fevers
• Loss of consciousness
• Excessive vomiting of blood
• Chronic abdominal pain
• Depression
• Mood disorders
• Diarrhea
• Kidney failure
• Anemia
• Chills
• Convulsions
• Early-onset dementia
• Speech problems
• Liver failure
• Heart failure
• Brain damage

Many of these issues are associated with long-term copper poisoning. Although many women have inserted their Paragard devices fairly recently, these copper poisoning symptoms could theoretically begin to manifest if IUD fragments remain embedded for the foreseeable future. Paragard lawsuits seek compensation not only for current medical issues, but also costly, serious ailments that plaintiffs may develop over the next few decades.

In 2021, the award-winning news series Spotlight on America launched an investigation into Paragard injuries. As a result, investigative journalists discovered thousands of documented cases of Paragard devices breaking apart inside women’s bodies. Journalists also documented countless, serious health complications associated with Paragard. Many of these women reported their injuries to the Adverse Event Reporting System of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

It is not clear why Paragard devices are still available in the United States. Putting aside the countless reports of injuries, the FDA is supposed to enforce strict regulations on pharmaceutical advertisements – particularly when it comes to communicating risks, side effects, and contraindications. In many of Paragard’s advertisements, warnings about breakage and copper toxicity are completely absent.

Predicted Paragard IUD Lawsuit Settlement Amounts

Navigating the legal landscape of medical device lawsuits can be daunting, especially when trying to estimate potential compensation. While every case is unique, several factors influence settlement amounts.

Normally, you could rely on past damage awards or settlements to predict the size of a possible global settlement in the MDL. Without this information, you must look at the structures used in other cases to pay settlements.

Rather than dividing a global settlement amount equally, medical device payouts are often paid in tiers. This allows claimants with more serious injuries to recover more than claimants with minor injuries. For example, in the recently settled 3M earplug litigation, users who suffered severe hearing loss recovered more than those with mild hearing loss or tinnitus. Similarly, in Hernia Mesh lawsuits, compensation has varied widely, with some plaintiffs receiving substantial verdicts while others received smaller amounts.

Paragard IUD lawsuit settlement amounts would likely be distributed using a tiered structure because victims suffered injuries ranging in severity. A possible tier system could include the following:

Most Severely Affected

Victims who experienced the most severe complications, resulting in significant medical interventions, prolonged treatments, or permanent injuries, would fall into the highest tier. This tier might include permanent disabilities, like internal scarring or permanent infertility, caused by broken shards of plastic. This tier could also include women who experienced the migration of plastic shards into internal organs or the families of those who suffered fatal bleeding.

It is impossible to predict the amount of money paid at this tier. However, patients in this tier would receive the highest amounts, possibly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Moderate Complications

Individuals who faced moderate complications, which might have required medical attention but not long-term interventions, would fall into the middle tier. This tier might include those who needed surgery to remove plastic shards but suffered no permanent injuries. It might also include those with a permanent condition, like an embedded shard of plastic, that did not cause the loss of any body organ or function.

Again, a prediction of the exact Paragard IUD lawsuit settlement amounts is impossible. But this tier would receive less than the top tier, possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Lesser Injuries

Those who had minimal complications, requiring less intensive medical care and having less lasting impact, occupy the lowest tier. Women who experienced pain, discomfort, temporary bleeding, or other transitory symptoms would fall into this tier. The lowest payouts would be paid at this tier, possibly in the thousands of dollars.

How Many People are Affected by Paragard Issues?

The Paragard lawsuit has garnered significant attention due to the breadth of its potential impact. As an FDA-approved contraceptive option available since 1984, Paragard has been a choice for millions of women seeking a long-term, non-hormonal birth control method.

However, the exact number of affected individuals can be broken down into several categories:

Reported Incidents

While it's challenging to pinpoint an exact number of complications directly attributable to Paragard, thousands of adverse event reports have been submitted to the FDA concerning the device. These reports range from device fracture to more severe complications like organ perforation.

Legal Claims

As awareness of the potential complications associated with Paragard has grown, so too has the number of legal claims. Hundreds, potentially even thousands, of women have either filed lawsuits or are in the process of doing so, alleging harm from the device.

Potential Future Claims

Given the widespread use of Paragard over several decades, it's plausible that many affected individuals are yet to come forward, either because they haven't connected their complications to the device or are unaware of the ongoing lawsuit. As publicity around the Paragard lawsuit continues to grow, the number of claimants might rise significantly.

Medical Professionals

This lawsuit doesn't just affect the patients; medical professionals who have recommended or inserted the Paragard IUD may also feel the repercussions. They might face questions and concerns from current patients, reconsider their device recommendations, and even potentially become involved in the legal processes if they treated patients who experienced complications.

General Public Perception

Beyond the direct victims, the broader public's trust in medical devices and the processes that approve and monitor them can be impacted by large-scale lawsuits like the Paragard case. Such controversies often ignite discussions about the balance between innovation, regulation, and patient safety.

In essence, while the direct number of individuals experiencing complications from Paragard might be in the thousands, the ripple effects of the lawsuit touch many more lives. Medical professionals, legal practitioners, researchers, and anyone with a vested interest in public health should keep a close eye on the developments of the Paragard IUD lawsuit.