Hundreds of women left in ‘excruciating pain’ from contraceptive coil launch legal action

‘I was in pain pretty much every day. And then I started having periods that lasted 28-30 days at a time,’ woman says

Around 200 women are launching legal action after claiming they endured “excruciating pain”, bleeding and nickel poisoning after having a contraceptive device fitted.

Lawyers said thousands of women around the world have the Essure coil device and said many have gone on to endure “adverse” repercussions.

The German Pharma firm Bayer, which manufactures the Essure, has now taken it off the market as it faces lawsuits around the world related to its use.

Pogust Goodhead, a law firm representing women in the UK, said many women who had the coil fitted have later undergone hysterectomies or are waiting for procedures to get the coil taken out.

Lawyer Lisa Lunt said: "Thousands of women have been fitted with the Essure device around the world, sadly many of them have suffered adverse effects from this product.”

She said her clients “have suffered years of pain and complications” from the device and said Bayer had already settled some claims in the US.

Ms Lunt said the team feared many more women have “suffered at the hands of this device” and urged those affected to contact them.

The UK legal action comes after a civil court granted around 200 women the right to pursue their case in a joint lawsuit estimated to be worth over £10 million in potential damages.

Pogust Goodhead said the Essure coil, which was available on the NHS, was marketed “as an easy, non-invasive, non-surgical procedure” targeted at women who did not want children.

They said manufacturers said the metal coil would cause scarring inside the tubes, to preventing pregnancy – but claimed it would be less intrusive than sterilisation surgery.

Alicia Alinia, the law firm’s global chief operating officer, said: “The medical device Essure has simply failed and has caused irreparable damage physically and mentally.”

Helen Bordiak, a mother-of-two who had the Essure device fitted, told The Independent the coil was “really uncomfortable” when it was initially inserted but it was “nothing too bad” and “everything was fine” for between 12 to 18 months.

Bu the 49-year-old, from Dunstable, said this soon changed and she was left in debilitating pain.

She added: “I was having pain in my uterus, I had brain fog and cramps. If I sat for too long and then got up I could feel internally that something was catching and pulling on me.

“I was in pain pretty much every day. And then I started having periods that lasted 28-30 days at a time. It would stop for a few days and then start again. I knew that wasn’t normal and so I went to my GP.

“But a lot of the time if you are overweight then that is what it's put down to. I felt that I was brushed off. I had joint pain, and hip pain. It was horrendous. I started googling Essure and that’s when I started seeing things about people having the same experiences as me.”

Ms Bordiak said she later underwent a hysterectomy, recalling how her pain immediately subsided afterwards.

“It was the first day in a long time that I had woken up without pain,” she added. “I had absolutely no pain at all. It was like someone had turned back the clock four or five years.”

A spokesperson for Bayer told the BBC the coil had undergone tests in 10 clinical trials as well as more than 70 studies in which thousands of women participated.

The representative added: “Bayer's highest priority is the safety profile and effectiveness of our products and we have great sympathy for anyone who has experienced health problems while using any of our products, regardless of cause”.

The spokesperson said the firm “stands by the safety profile and efficacy of Essure and will continue to defend itself from these claims vigorously”. It added: ”While all birth control products and procedures have risks, the totality of scientific evidence on Essure demonstrates that the benefit-risk profile is positive”.