Our lawyers are handling Paragard lawsuits in all 50 states. This page is about the Paragard class action lawsuit for injuries during the removal of this IUD. Our attorneys discuss predictions of the settlement amounts victims may recover in these lawsuits.
Paragard IUD is a popular contraceptive device that thousands of women have implanted in their uterus. Paragard lawsuits are being filed over a design defect. This defect has led to a Paragard class action that will likely soon have 1,000 plaintiffs. These victims allege their Paragard IUD devices fractured, leading to complications. Specifically, victims generally allege the IUD broke at the arms of the device during explant.
These women who were seriously injured when their Paragard IUD fractured during removal seek a fair settlement amount or jury payout in their Paragard IUD lawsuit against the device manufacturer.
The first bellwether trial will not begin until next fall (2025). But the hope remains that Teva will offer reasonable Paragard settlement amounts before the first bellwether trial and our lawyers talk about this below. In the meantime, there will be a lot of news and updates in the Paragard MDL, and our lawyers will bring them to you here. We also provide estimates on the potential settlement value of these cases.
If you have had a Paragard fracture during removal in the last ten years, call us today at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.
Paragard Class Action Lawsuit News and Updates
Before we discuss the substance of this IUD litigation, let’s provide you with the most recent Paragard lawsuit updates.
December 2, 2024 – MDL Grows to 2,862 Cases
November saw a slower pace for the Paragard MDL, with 38 new cases added. This brings the pending case count to 2,862.
November 30, 2024 – Washington Woman Files New Lawsuit in MDL
In a new lawsuit filed in MDL-3004, a resident of Washington state significant injuries following the breakage of a Paragard IUD during its removal.
The plaintiff says that her ParaGard IUD, inserted in 2010 at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Yakima, Washington, and partially removed in 2016, fractured during a subsequent removal attempt in 2021. The alleged breakage required multiple medical procedures and has resulted in ongoing physical and emotional harm. She reports injuries including pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of reproductive health, disfigurement, and economic losses related to medical expenses.
November 1, 2024 – MDL Adds 77 New Cases
The recent swings in case numbers within the Paragard MDL—dropping nearly 50 cases in September and adding 77 in October—can give the impression of shifting trends in the litigation. However, in this case, the numbers probably reflect the way law firms file cases, usually in large batches, rather than any real shift in the overall momentum of the MDL.
Lawyers handling numerous Paragard clients often wait to file groups of cases together. These filing patterns create month-to-month changes that can look like significant movements when they are more likely just white noise.
October 21, 2024 – New Lawsuit
A new Paragard IUD lawsuit was filed in the MDL last week involving a California woman who is suing for damages after her IUD implanted in 2013 broke on removal at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns in San Diego.
The complaint claims that the product’s defect led to unspecified significant injuries, and the plaintiff alleges that the companies involved are responsible for design defects, failure to warn, negligence, and other related causes of action.
October 19, 2024 – Motion to Compel Discovery
Judge May granted the Plaintiffs’ motion to compel the production of custodial files from additional individuals involved with the Paragard IUD. This order compels the Defendants to produce custodial files for 31 individuals newly identified as likely to have relevant information.
The custodial files, which had been the subject of ongoing discovery disputes, which we think are important to Plaintiffs’ claims. The Defendants initially provided a list of 51 custodians in November 2022, and the Plaintiffs were allowed to request 50 files. However, in 2024, Defendants added 31 more custodians to the list, resulting in Plaintiffs’ request for these additional files. Defendants resisted, arguing that it would be too burdensome to produce all 31 files and that many of these individuals had already been mentioned during discovery.
After considering the arguments, the court ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs, emphasizing that the additional custodians likely hold relevant information. Judge May noted that while the discovery process is intended to be proportional, the estimated cost of producing these files—$1.5 million and probably exaggerated—was justified given the large number of plaintiffs and the substantial injuries alleged. The court also highlighted that the late addition of custodians by the Defendants warranted an expedited production process to avoid further delaying the case, which, as most of you well know, has been ongoing for nearly four years.
October 15, 2024 – Design Defect
One of the factors that makes this lawsuit particularly appealing to plaintiffs’ lawyers is the strength of the design defect claim. It’s rare to encounter such a compelling design defect argument in mass tort litigation. Typically, these cases hinge on failure-to-warn claims, which are present here as well. However, it is uncommon to see a design defect argument as robust as this one.
The design defect in the Paragard IUD revolves around its structural flaws, which make it inherently dangerous. Unlike other IUDs, Paragard’s copper-wrapped plastic arms are especially prone to breaking during removal. Plaintiffs’ attorneys will forcefully argue that the manufacturer could have designed a safer product—or, at the very least, used more durable, flexible materials to prevent such fractures. Evidence of other contraceptive devices with fewer risks will further underscore that the defective design wasn’t unavoidable, but a result of negligence that could have been corrected.
Metaphorically, the Paragard IUD is like a cracked foundation in a house—something that was destined to break from the start. Just as no one would sell or live in a house knowing it’s built to crumble, no company should market a medical device when it knows or should know that it is prone to fail under normal use.
October 1, 2024 – MDL Shrinks
In September, the number of pending cases in the Paragard class action MDL declined, with 49 cases removed. This brought the total down to 2,747. Does this mean anything? No. It is just the ebb and flow of litigation that has been going on for quite some time.
September 18, 2024 – Dr. Cobert
Plaintiffs will depose Dr. Barton Cobert in Baltimore on November 25, 2024, assuming there is not a global Paragard settlement before the deposition. Dr. Cobert will be asked about a pharmacovigilance audit he performed in 2010 with respect to Paragard. Such an audit is a systematic examination and evaluation of a company’s pharmacovigilance system to ensure it complies with regulatory standards and best practices for drug or medical device safety.
September 17, 2024 – New Birth Control Litigation
- Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits are the latest birth control mass tort. There has been a long history of birth control drugs and devices causing injury, usually because the companies who make these products put profits over people.
September 16, 2024 – New Single-Hand Inserter
September 3, 2024 – MDL Grows By 60 Cases
After a slight decrease last month, the Paragard class action MDL added 57 new cases in August, bringing the total number of pending cases to 2,793.
August 21, 2024 – Discovery Battles Continue
The plaintiffs are pushing hard to get their hands on documents from the defendants they believe could shine a light on their claims.
Why are we having this conversation now with a trial scheduled in a few months? What happened is that after Teva and Cooper’s new legal teams took over in late 2023 and early 2024, they unearthed a whole new batch of 31 custodians who might hold crucial information relevant to the case. Plaintiffs are arguing – and the new defense lawyer seem to be tacitly supporting the idea – that previous lawyers dropped the ball or did not dig deep enough to find relevant documents.
Because of this oversight, the plaintiffs now want the court to force Teva and Cooper to cough up all the custodial files related to these newly discovered folks—and they want it done pronto and on the defendants’ dime.
In a new motion, plaintiffs’ attorneys are asking the court to step in and straighten things out by ensuring all relevant documents see the light of day, allowing us to get a complete picture of the evidence.
August 13, 2024: Defense Files Motion to Dismiss
Teva and the other defendants have filed a motion to dismiss numerous cases based on the statute of limitations or the statute of repose. We expect that few, if any, cases will be dismissed due to the statute of limitations.
However, the statute of repose might present challenges for some older cases in certain jurisdictions. A statute of repose sets a final deadline for filing certain lawsuits, regardless of when the harm or injury is discovered, effectively limiting the time within which a claim can be brought.
July 31, 2024: Second Amended Paragard Lawsuit
July 22, 2024: More Optimism Than Ever
There is more optimism then ever of a Paragard settlement in 2024.
July 10, 2024: Los Angeles Woman Joins Paragard MDL
A Los Angeles woman has recently become the latest plaintiff to join the Paragard class action MDL. According to the short form complaint filed directly in the MDL, she attempted to have her Paragard IUD removed in July 2022. During the removal, the IUD fractured, necessitating a second procedure in October 2022 to retrieve the broken pieces from inside her. There are now over 2,700 cases in this MDL.
June 11, 2024: CooperCompanies Report Strong Financial Results
CooperCompanies reported strong financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, 2024. Revenue increased by 7% year-over-year to $942.6 million, with CooperVision up 8% to $635.9 million and CooperSurgical up 6% to $306.7 million. These robust financial results underscore that Cooper has ample resources to pay fair settlements in the Paragard litigation.
June 6, 2024: Paragard History
Quick history lesson: Teva Pharmaceuticals originally manufactured and sold Paragard, but CooperSurgical, a subsidiary of CooperCompanies, acquired the rights to Paragard from Teva in 2017.
June 3, 2024: 39 New Cases Added To Paragard MDL
Another 39 new cases were added to the Paragard IUD class action MDL over the last 30 days. The number of pending cases in Paragard MDL is now up to 2,690. This is not huge litigation which is good if you are plaintiff. Why? It makes it that much easier for the defendants to offer fair settlement amounts when the payouts do not kill the future profitability of the companies.
June 2, 2024: Parties Reach Agreement Concerning Use Of Technology Assisted Review
The parties have reached an agreement on how to handle the review of documents using Technology Assisted Review (TAR). TAR is a method that uses machine learning and algorithms to help identify relevant documents in large datasets, making the discovery process more efficient and accurate.
Both parties submitted their briefs regarding disputes over TAR and discovery transparency. Following a Case Management Conference on May 6, 2024, they agreed on a protocol for reviewing document samples, applicable to both the Teva and Cooper Defendants.
The agreed protocol includes the following key points:
- General Document Corpus: A non-weighted random sample from the entire collection of documents will be reviewed using a 95% confidence level with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%. This ensures that the sample size is statistically significant and representative of the whole dataset.
- Specific Custodians: For documents from specific individuals (custodians), a non-weighted random sample will be taken with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus 5%. This focuses on key personnel who are likely to have relevant documents.
- “Not Responsive” Documents: A random sample of documents that were initially coded as “not responsive” (irrelevant) will be reviewed to ensure no relevant documents were mistakenly excluded.
- Recall Percentage: An estimated recall percentage, which measures the proportion of relevant documents correctly identified by TAR, has been mutually agreed upon.
For confidentiality reasons, the specific details of the protocol will be filed under seal to protect proprietary information. This process aims to enhance transparency and accuracy in identifying relevant documents while maintaining confidentiality. The judge has ordered this agreement to be implemented as of last Thursday.
May 9, 2024: New Paragard Suit Filed Directly Into MDL
Yesterday, a new Paragard suit was filed directly into the MDL in Georgia using a short-form complaint. The Paragard IUD was implanted in 2014 and removed in 2022 at Kaiser Permanente in Elk Grove, California. During the removal, one arm of the copper IUD broke and remains inside the patient today.
April 26, 2024: Washington Woman Joins Paragard MDL
Yesterday, a Paragard lawsuit was filed in the MDL. In Mendez v. Teva Pharmaceuticals, a Washington state woman alleges in her new lawsuit that the Paragard IUD she had in 2014 broken during removal in 2021. She alleges pain and suffering, disfigurement, and mental anguish resulting from the medical treatment required to deal with the breakage.
March 21, 2024: Maryland Woman Files Directly In Paragard MDL
A Maryland woman directly filed her Paragard lawsuit in the MDL yesterday. She claims her Paragard broke while being removed in 2018. Her answer to the statute of limitations problem is that she “did not realize that she might have a cause of action” and “contacted her lawyers after learning she might have a claim.”
January 22, 2024: New York Woman Files New Paragard Lawsuit
A New York woman filed a new Paragard lawsuit against the makers of a birth control device following complications during the removal of the device. In the lawsuit her Paragard lawyers filed on Thursday, she alleges the device broke during an aremoval attempt on May 3, 2022. She needed another procedure to retrieve the broken arm on January 20, 2023.
January 15, 2024: 2,416 Pending Cases In Paragard MDL
There are 2,416 pending cases in the Paragard MDL. Just two new cases were transferred in since the last MDL case total report was issued two weeks ago.
January 2, 2024: 37 New Cases Added To Paragard MDL
The Paragard class action MDL added 37 new cases this month, increasing the pending case count to 2,283.
The volume of new cases in the Paragard MDL has been slower for several months, suggesting this may be a longer-term trend. Our firm still gets calls from victims wanting to file a Paragard lawsuit. But there is no question the volume is not what it was six months ago.
November 1, 2023: Some Miss Deadline To Complete Plaintiff Fact Sheet
In the Paragard MDL (1:20-md-2974), everyone was supposed to complete a Plaintiff Fact Sheet (PFS) form. Some people missed the deadline. The court warned them and asked for reasons.
These deficiencies fall into one of six categories:
Categories 1-4: Cases where no reason was given, mistakes weren’t fixed, or contact was lost. These cases are now officially dropped.
Category 5: People needing more time have 21 days to submit. If they do not submit, their cases will be dropped.
Category 6: Late submissions after the court’s warning are accepted.
October 16, 2023: 99 New Cases Added To Paragard MDL
Over the last month, 99 new cases were added to the Paragard class action MDL. That brings the total number of pending cases in the litigation up to 2,246, as we are still a year out from the first bellwether test trial.
October 9, 2023: Paragard MDL To Focus On Case-Specific Fact Discovery
With the date for the first bellwether test trial finally set for next year, the Paragard class action MDL will now focus on case-specific fact discovery. Over the next month, depositions of the plaintiffs, their spouses, and other fact witnesses will be taken in the bellwether candidate cases. Next, the focus will shift to depositions of expert witnesses.
October 1, 2023: New Study
September 27, 2023: Date Set For First Bellwether Trial
The Paragard class action MDL is unquestionably the slowest mass tort litigation we regularly follow. The MDL was created in December 2020, and it took several years before Judge Leigh Martin May committed to any timetable for the opening round of bellwether test trials. Earlier this week, however, we finally got an actual date set for the first bellwether trial: October 28, 2024.
Judge May followed up by setting a new timetable for case-specific fact discovery in the bellwether pool cases, with depositions set to be completed over the next few months. Although this is undoubtedly progress, the first scheduled bellwether trial date in MDLs almost always gets postponed at least once, and usually multiple times. Assuming that trend continues in this MDL (which seems like a safe bet considering the snail’s pace it has followed), we won’t get a Paragard trial until 2025!
September 24, 2023: Judge Addresses Discovery Dispute
Judge Leigh Martin May addressed last week’s discovery dispute centered around the Cooper Defendants’ reluctance to disclose vital adverse event documents and complaint files.
In response to the plaintiffs’ concerns, the Court firmly set this deadline at 75 days from the hearing date, with the implementation of rolling document production beginning within three weeks. While 75 days is a long leash, the judge seems tired of the noncompliance with this deadline, highlighting that any failure to meet the deadline will carry severe consequences unless extraordinary circumstances arise.
September 20, 2023: 53 New Cases Added To MDL
The number of pending cases in the Paragard class action MDL now stands at 2,147 after 53 new cases were added to the MDL over the last month. The Paragard class action has added over 500 new cases since the start of 2023, averaging 63.5 new monthly cases since January.
September 1, 2023: Judge Issues Newly Amended Scheduling Order
The Judge in the Paragard class action MDL (1:20-md-2974) issued a newly amended Scheduling Order, once again pushing back the dates and deadlines in this slow-moving MDL. Under the new schedule, case-specific fact discovery in the bellwether pool cases has been extended to February 9, 2024, and the expert discovery deadline in those cases has been pushed back to May 10, 2024. The new date for the first Paragard bellwether trial has been set for October 28, 2024.
July 18, 2023: 53 New Lawsuits Added To MDL
With the opening bellwether test trial less than 12 months away, the Paragard class action lawsuit continues its slow and steady growth. Over the last 30 days, another 53 new Paragard IUD lawsuits were added to the MDL, bringing the total to 2,063 and marking the 14th consecutive month of at least 40 new cases.
July 1, 2023: 132 Paragard Plaintiffs Yet To Provide Plaintiff Fact Sheet
Under the Court’s PFS CMOs (Pretrial Order on Plaintiff Fact Sheets), all plaintiffs involved in MDL No. 2974 were obligated to submit a completed Plaintiff Fact Sheet (PFS) along with signed authorizations to the Defendants by November 4, 2022. It is July 2023, and 132 Paragard plaintiffs – so over 6% of the claimants – still need to provide this essential information.
The deadline to provide that information – or to explain why they have not – passed this week. So we will see some dismissals. This is a good thing for victims with viable claims. Extra plaintiffs who do not have serious claims – or do not really want to pursue a Paragard lawsuit – are better off moving along, cleaning the slate for an eventual settlement.
June 16, 2023: 44 New Cases Added To MDL
The Paragard class action MDL added 44 new active cases over the last 30 days, pushing the total number of pending claims past 2,000.
June 2, 2023: Initial Bellwether Pool Likely To Be Finalized During Next Status Conference
The initial pool of bellwether discovery cases will likely be finalized at the next monthly status conference in the Paragard class action MDL. Once the list is finalized, these cases will go through a brief period of case-specific fact discovery, including depositions of the plaintiffs and their healthcare providers. At the beginning of August, this information will narrow down the bellwether pool to 6 cases.
May 15, 2023: 186 New Lawsuits Added To MDL
186 new Paragard IUD injury lawsuits were transferred into the Paragard class action MDL over the last month. That marks the highest volume of new cases in a month since the start of the litigation, leaving the total number of pending cases shy of 2,000.
May 5, 2023: California Woman Files Lawsuit Directly In Class Action
Are new Paragard IUD lawsuits still being filed? They are. On Tuesday, a California woman filed a lawsuit directly in the class action in Georgia, alleging that the Paragard broke during removal, requiring multiple procedures to remove the device altogether. She sued various Teva entities and CooperSurgical.
May 1, 2023: Bellwether Trial Case Selection Process
Over the last month, there have been a lot of substitutions for various reasons as to which cases are on the short list of bellwether trials. The MDL judge is very thoughtful about how to approach the selection of cases for trial in a way that is fair to both sides. The judge wants a hybrid approach for case selection, where each side chooses three cases and both sides get one veto. The judge is concerned about extreme data points – only trying the very best and the very worst cases – if each side were to choose its own case but also fears pure randomness might not produce representative cases. It is a balancing act for sure.
April 21, 2023: Another Pretrial Conference Tomorrow
There is another pretrial conference tomorrow.
April 18, 2023: 64 New Cases Added To MDL
Another 64 new pending cases were transferred into the Paragard class action MDL over the last 30 days. There are now 1,780 total plaintiffs in the Paragard litigation. Assuming the trend of 50-90 new cases every month continues, this MDL will pass the 2,000 mark before the end of the year. Bellwether trials are 18 months away.
March 16, 2023: 34 New Cases Added To MDL
The Paragard class action MDL added only 34 new cases over the last monthly period, bringing the total pending case count up to 1,716. This is a sharp drop off from last month when 105 new cases were added, the second-highest monthly volume since the start of the MDL.
February 27, 2023: Judge Establishes Procedure To Chose Representative Cases For Bellwether Trials
The federal judge overseeing the Paragard IUD lawsuits has established a procedure to choose the ten representative cases for the first bellwether trials in 2024. These 10 cases will then go through a discovery phase, after which three out of the ten cases will be picked out for the first round of bellwether test trials. The plaintiffs will pick 1 case, the defense will pick one case, and the court will pick one case. The first trial is set for March 2024.
These trials will be instrumental in determining the settlement payout victims receive.
February 17, 2023: 105 New Cases Added To MDL
105 new cases were added to the Paragard class action MDL (1:20-md-2974) over the last month. That brings the current total of plaintiffs with pending claims up to 1,682. This marks the second highest monthly total of new Paragard IUD lawsuits since the MDL began. Based on adverse events reported to the FDA, this steady growth in the Paragard litigation will likely continue at least for the rest of this year.
February 1, 2023: Judge May Offers Guidance To Parties On Competing Proposals
At the most recent status conference in the Paragard MDL last week, Judge May offered guidance to the parties on their competing proposals for the process of selecting cases for bellwether trials. The issue will likely be revisited at the next status conference later this month. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs will be taking depositions this month of corporate designees for the two primary defendants, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Cooper Surgical.
January 25, 2023: Judge Formally Appoints Mediator
Last week, the Paragard MDL judge formally appointed a mediator to facilitate settlement discussions between both sides in the mass tort class action.
The mediator will be M. Gino Brogdon Sr., a retired judge from Atlanta. Brogdon will be tasked with getting the two sides working toward a global settlement. This should not be considered an indication that a settlement could be around the corner.
The appointment of a mediator was imposed by the Court and not done at the request of the parties. With the first bellwether trial still 13 months away the defendants have little to no pressure to resolve this anytime soon. Yet, somehow, it is an encouraging sign, at least for us.
January 17, 2023: 49 New Lawsuits Added To MDL
There were 49 new lawsuits transferred into the Paragard class action MDL over the last month. So the total number of MDL plaintiffs is 1,577. This is back to the normal monthly average of new Paragard lawsuits after a brief uptick the previous month.
This is small litigation in the context of an MDL class action. This isn’t good for lawyers who always want more cases. But it might be good for plaintiffs in terms of future settlement amounts. Why? Because making fair compensation payouts is easier when the total settlement amount is smaller. With smaller litigation, it is easier to resolve the claims without wildly disturbing the defendants’ balance sheet.
January 2, 2023: 934 Adverse Incident Reports Received By FDA During 2022
During 2022, the FDA received 934 adverse incident reports involving the Paragard IUD breaking during removal. This is three times as many fractures during removal reported to the FDA in 2020. So what does this mean? As device fractures continue, we could see a steady stream of new incoming Paragard lawsuits added to the MDL in the first half of 2023. It also suggests that fractures during the removal of the IUD are much more common than the manufacturers would have us believe.
In our last Paragard lawsuit update, we talked about the growth of claims in 2022. These adverse reports suggest we may see more growth in this litigation in 2023.
December 28, 2022: 30 New Cases Added To MDL
There are now a total of 1,528 pending cases in the Paragard MDL-2974. Thirty new cases were transferred over the last month, slightly below the monthly average.
Since June, 333 new Paragard IUD defect lawsuits have been added to the MDL and less than 20 have been dismissed or remanded. Overall, the Paragard class action lawsuit has doubled in size this year by adding 794 new cases. Will this pace continue in 2023? No. We are slowing down.
December 2, 2022: 51 New Lawsuits Added To MDL
51 new Paragard IUD lawsuits were filed or transferred into the MDL over the last month. This brings the current pending cases in the Paragard class action MDL to 1,498. At the start of 2022, there were just 876 pending cases, so the Paragard MDL has doubled in size this year. With the first bellwether trial a year away, we expect to see a similar growth pattern in the Paragard class action over the course of 2023.
November 7, 2022: Judge Issues Initial Scheduling Order
The Paragard class action judge issued an initial scheduling order that lays out the roadmap for getting to the first bellwether trial in January 2024. The pool of bellwether candidate cases will be finalized at the end of this month, after which the cases will go through fact discovery. The fact discovery deadline will be July 28, 2023. Expert discovery will close October 30, 2023, and Daubert motions challenging expert witness testimony are due November 7, 2023.
September 27, 2022: Judge To Schedule First Bellwether Test Trial
After a long wait, we might finally have a date for the first bellwether test trial in the Paragard class action lawsuit. At the last monthly status conference, Judge Leigh Martin May indicated from the bench that she will schedule the first Paragard bellwether trial for January 2024, about 15 months from now. It still needs to be determined whether Judge May intends this to be the first of several bellwether trials. A formal order setting the date and establishing the protocol for selecting the bellwether trial case (or cases) is expected this month.
That is a long time from now, and it is hard to envision the defendants offering reasonable settlement amounts before a trial date is bearing down on them. So don’t expect a Teva to jump into settlement talks anytime soon. But getting a trial date – albeit in 2024 – is real progress in the Paragard class action lawsuit.
August 20, 2022: 68 New Cases Added To MDL
The Paragard class action lawsuit continues to add new cases, adding 68 new claims in the last month. This is still relatively small for an MDL with 1,314 plaintiffs. But that may be a good thing for victims. It is easier to pay 1,500 claims than 150,000. So the smaller size may, all things being equal, lead to larger settlement amounts for victims.
The downside of small class actions is they sometimes move slower. We still don’t have a schedule for bellwether test trials. There should be some crucial depositions of corporate representatives for defendants Teva and Cooper Surgical soon which might help jump-start the pace of this litigation.
July 18, 2022: 51 New Cases Added To MDL
Between June 15, 2002, and July 15, 2022, 51 new Paragard IUD lawsuits were transferred into the MDL, bringing the current number of pending cases up to 1,246.
Since May, the Paragard MDL has added an average of 86 new cases each month, a noticeable increase in the rate of new filings compared to the previous 18 months.
Last week, the Paragard MDL judge finally issued a long-anticipated order requiring the plaintiffs to submit completed fact sheets and initial discovery documents supporting their claims. This is good news for victims who have filed a Paragard IUD lawsuit. It means the class action is moving forward.
July 1, 2022: Past Two Weeks See No New Cases Added To MDL
The pace of new Paragard lawsuits is dying down a bit. A record number of new Paragard IUD lawsuits were transferred into the MDL over the previous two months. But that pace is abruptly slowing down. No new Paragard cases have been added to the MDL in the last two weeks. The most recent monthly status conference was held on June 21. But nothing significant happened, and we still haven’t finalized Plaintiff fact sheets.
June 23, 2022: 177 New Cases Added To MDL
Our Paragard lawyers have received more calls from victims in the last few months. The Paragard class action lawsuit is getting a second wind when it comes to new lawsuits. However, in the previous 30 days, Paragard has quietly become one of the hottest mass torts. There were 177 new Paragard IUD lawsuits filed or transferred into the MDL Paragard lawsuit between May 15 and June 15. This brings the total number of pending IUD removal lawsuits up to 1,192.
This was the most significant increase in new cases of any MDL during this period. There is no obvious explanation for this sudden uptick in new cases and it could be the result of certain Paragard lawyers filing large blocks of new lawsuits after sitting on them for months.
Meanwhile, however, the MDL docket is still moving very slowly. At the last monthly status conference on June 21, the parties were still discussing details for the plaintiff fact sheets and objections to a discovery request. After 18 months, we still have no bellwether trials scheduled, and the plaintiff fact sheets are not finalized.
June 6, 2022: Paragard MDL Continues To Crawl
The Paragard MDL continues to move at a frustratingly slow pace. The number of new Paragard lawsuits has slowed down recently. Only a few new Paragard cases were added to the MDL in May, and no cases have been transferred through the first week of June. MDL Judge Leigh Martin May held a status conference just before Memorial Day weekend and heard from the parties regarding the Plaintiffs’ objections to the documents produced by the defendants in discovery. The status of the Plaintiff Fact Sheets was also reviewed.
May 16, 2022: Pace Of New Paragard Cases Has Slowed
Our Paragard lawyers are still getting calls almost every day from women seeking to file a Paragard lawsuit. But there is no question the growth of the Paragard class action lawsuit has leveled off. During the first two weeks of May, five new Paragard IUD lawsuits were transferred into the Paragard MDL. Only two new cases were added in April. So the pace of new Paragard IUD cases has slowed. Overall, 1,121 Paragard migration lawsuits are pending1,121 Paragard migration lawsuits pending in the federal class action lawsuit.
April 19, 2022: Judge Leigh Martin May To Hold Monthly Status Conference
Judge Leigh Martin May will hold the monthly status conference in the Paragard MDL this week. One big issue at these conferences is getting a handle on how many Paragard lawsuits have been filed. This litigation has been very quiet, getting little media attention or even attention from lawyers. But based on the recent rate of new Paragard IUD lawsuits being filed, the total number of pending cases in the MDL should surpass 1,000 this month.
March 22, 2022: Monthly Status Conference Held Today
The monthly status conference in the Paragard class action lawsuit is being held today. The agenda for this month’s status conference includes the normal update on the number of pending Paragard IUD lawsuits pending in the MDL and state courts. The MDL judge will also hear from the Paragard lawyers regarding the status of proposed fact sheets and responses to the plaintiffs’ first set of document requests.
March 16, 2022: 959 Lawsuits In Paragard MDL
There are now 959 Paragard lawsuits in the MDL class action.
February 18, 2022: 876 Pending Cases In Paragard MDL
The Paragard MDL class action lawsuit continues to add about 100 new Paragard claims per month. There are now 876 pending cases. At the last status conference, the MDL class action judge resolved a dispute regarding the language and questions in the proposed plaintiff profile forms. The next status conference is scheduled for February 22, 2022.
January 18, 2022: Paragard Lawsuits Continue To Grow
The Paragard class action lawsuit is growing quietly and quickly. There are now 732 lawsuits in the MDL.
December 2, 2021: Judge Rejects Defendants’ Preemption Defense
Over the summer, the two prominent defendants in the Paragard lawsuits, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., and CooperSurgical Inc., filed a motion to dismiss based on federal preemption. A hearing on the motion. Based on comments at the hearing and subsequent proceedings in the MDL it seemed highly unlikely that the judge intends to grant the motion. Instead, she looks much more interested in scheduling the first bellwether trials. Last month, rejected the defendants’ preemption defense. What does this mean? It means this litigation is full steam ahead.
September 22, 2021: MDL Class Action Created Despite Defense Attorneys’ Protestations
The MDL class action was created, despite Teva’s attorneys’ protestations. All Paragard IUD cases in federal court are now transferred to the Northern District of Georgia under Judge Leigh Martin May. That judge heard a motion to dismiss all Paragard class action lawsuits yesterday. Paragard’s lawyers fight over every little detail in this litigation, fighting MDL transfer of individual cases on the thinnest of reeds. Our lawyers do not believe the MDL judge will seriously entertain this motion, arguing that federal law preempts all of the plaintiffs’ state court claims. We will know the answer soon. (Update: the motion was denied.)
September 20, 2021: Hearing To Dismiss All Pending Federal Paragard Lawsuits
There is a hearing tomorrow in the MDL class action to dismiss all the pending federal Paragard lawsuits. The plaintiffs’ lawyers are vigorously fighting this motion. If the defendant’s motion fails, as our attorneys suspect, it will be full steam ahead with this litigation. This will hopefully lead to a Paragard settlement that compensates all victims in this IUD class action.
About the Paragard IUD
Paragard is an intrauterine device (IUD) that women use for long-term birth control. (Technically, it is spelled ParaGard.) But Paragard is also a drug released in the body over ten years. The Paragard drug is a T-shaped plastic frame comprised of polyethylene and barium sulfate. This device is inserted into the uterus.
The Paragard is manufactured by Teva Pharmaceuticals and has been around since the late 1980s. The Paragard IUD device has a specially designed copper coil connected to a plastic base. The device is implanted in a woman’s uterine cavity.
Once inside the body, a copper wire is coiled on the Paragard. The release of small amounts of copper particles effectively blocks fertilization by preventing sperm from reaching the egg. This causes a toxic inflammatory reaction to the sperm and egg. A monofilament polyethylene thread is tied through the tip. This results in two threads that aid both in detecting and removing the drug.
The Paragard IUD has proven very effective at birth control. But the device has been plagued by various problems over the years.
Paragard IUD Fractures During Removal
Like all IUD devices, the Paragard IUD is designed to be removable from the woman’s body at any time. The Paragard is supposed to remain intact during usage and removal. However, it has recently been discovered that the Paragard IUD has a design defect that causes the device to fracture inside the woman’s body during removal.
The Paragard IUD device has a special removal thread that hangs down from the base of the device into the woman’s vagina. When it is time to remove the Paragard, the doctor is supposed to locate this thread and simply pull the device out. The base of the Paragard device has two T-shaped arms which hold the device in place. These arms are made of flexible plastic that is supposed to bend upwards to enable the device to be pulled out through the cervix.
In many cases, however, the flexible plastic in the arms at the base of the Paragard appears to get brittle and hard after years inside the body. As a result, the arms do not flex upward like they are supposed to when doctors attempt to remove the IUD. When this happens, one or both of the plastic arms of the Paragard IUD often fracture and break into fragments inside the woman’s body.
What Injuries Do Fractured Paragard IUDs Cause?
When the Paragard IUD fractures during removal, the fragmented arms of the device that break off inside the woman’s body can cause various internal injuries. The fragments of the Paragard arms usually end up embedded in the uterine wall, which can cause extreme and chronic pain. In many cases, the arm fragments eventually puncture through the uterus wall and impact other organs. This can cause several severe health problems, including:
- Chronic abdominal pain
- Vaginal bleeding
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
- Infection
- Infertility
What Are the Treatment Options for Fractured Paragard IUDs?
Once the arms of the Paragard IUD break off inside the woman’s body, it can be challenging to remove them safely. The first option is to attempt to locate and remove the fragments with a hysteroscopy procedure. This involves the insertion of a small endoscopic device with a camera through the cervix and into the uterine cavity in the hopes of removing the broken pieces of the Paragard. However, hysteroscopic removal will usually not be impossible if the fragmented pieces have become embedded in the uterine wall already.
The only other options for removal of fragmented Paragard pieces are: (a) surgically opening the uterine cavity (similar to a C-section) or (b) performing a hysterectomy (which will leave the woman permanently infertile).
Plaintiffs’ Paragard lawsuits allege that this IUD is inherently dangerous and defective, unfit and unsafe for women.
Can You File a Lawsuit if Your Paragard IUD Fractured During Removal?
Yes. If you had a Paragard IUD and fractured it during removal, you may be entitled to financial compensation for any resulting injuries. The Paragard IUD is NOT supposed to fracture and harm patients during removal. This results from an obvious design defect in the Paragard IUD, and the manufacturer will be fully liable.
How Many Paragard IUD Lawsuits Have Been Filed?
The fracturing of the Paragard IUD has prompted many lawsuits. In federal court, there are nearly 2700 individual Paragard fracture lawsuits are pending in 2024. There are also a significant number of Paragard lawsuits that have been consolidated in Pennsylvania state court in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
All these cases involve the same basic allegations: that the Paragard IUD had a design defect that caused it to fracture inside the body, That the ParaGard IUD was defective, and that it caused dangerous and adverse side effects, including but not limited to the unacceptable incidence of breakage upon removal.
You might think our lawyers would be pushing for a Paragard recall. We are not. The gist of every Paragard lawsuit is the duty to warn. This is a warning case, not a failure to recall lawsuit. Women are smart. Some women may want to ignore Paragard’s side effects and take the risk. They have that right. But too many women were not given the information about the risks to make the best choice.
That is what this copper IUD lawsuit is about. If women would not have chosen the Paragard IUD had they been given a choice, Teva and CooperSurgical should pay for the physical pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish and anxiety, and medical treatment needed when there is a breakage during copper IUD removal.
Is There a Paragard IUD Class Action Lawsuit?
A “class action” MDL (multidistrict litigation) for the Paragard IUD fracture lawsuits. This class action houses all federal court lawsuits involving these claims in Georgia.
The terms “MDL” and “class action” are often used interchangeably, but they refer to different legal processes. In an MDL, multiple lawsuits with common issues are consolidated into one court to streamline pretrial proceedings, such as discovery and motions. This allows for a more efficient resolution of cases that share similar allegations, like product liability or personal injury related to the Paragard IUD. Although each plaintiff retains their individual case within the MDL, the collective nature of the proceedings can help strengthen plaintiffs’ settlement position.
Teva’s lawyers fought this class action vigorously, arguing that there are not enough Paragard lawsuits – an idea that seems silly in 2024 – and that this entire litigation has been trumped up by victims’ mass tort lawyers who are trying to make a buck. Our Paragard attorneys think juries will see it differently… if it gets that far. These case may settle long before a jury judges the defendant’s conduct.
What Will I Be Required to Do in a Paragard Lawsuit?
Many Paragard victims want to know what they have to do to bring a Paragard lawsuit. They often imagine a very different process than reality. Most likely, victims need to talk to a Paragard lawyer to see if they are eligible, fill out some forms, and wait until there is a global Paragard settlement.
Paragard Lawsuit Settlement Amounts
We are likely in the late innings of the Paragard fracture litigation. Still, until a settlement deal is done, it is difficult to know with any degree of certainty settlement amounts in the Paragard class action lawsuit. Our lawyers can, however, make cautioned estimates about the possible value of Paragard lawsuits based on settlement amounts in prior mass tort cases involving similar claims.
The settlement amounts for an individual Paragard lawsuit will vary depending on how seriously the plaintiff was injured due to the device fracturing during removal. If a global settlement is reached in the class action MDL, Paragard lawsuits will be ranked into “tiers” according to the severity of the plaintiff’s injuries.
The top settlement tier will include plaintiffs who suffered permanent, life-altering injuries when the Paragard device fractured. This could include permanent infertility (in younger plaintiffs) or severe infections. Cases in the lower settlement tiers will include plaintiffs who only suffered pain and discomfort without permanent injury.
| Injury Level | Settlement Range |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $100,000 – $200,000 |
| Tier 2 | $25,000 – $75,000 |
| Tier 3 | Under $25,000 |
How would those individual settlement calculations be done? In Paragard class action settlement, a points system will likely be used to thin slice the general tiers to determine individual compensation by assigning points to various types of injuries and damages based on their severity and impact.
Severe injuries, such as organ perforation and the necessity of a hysterectomy, receive the highest points. More moderate complications like significant pain receive fewer points, and mild injuries receive the least. Points are also awarded based on the medical treatment required, with surgical interventions, including hysterectomy, and hospitalization earning more points.
The duration of suffering and the impact on quality of life are considered but they will be measured objectively in the medical records, not looking at the victim’s subjective experience. That is just the nature of mass tort settlements.
Not to beat a dead horse but, again, these predicted Paragard settlement numbers are entirely speculative.
Legal Fees in a Paragard IUD Lawsuit
Few Paragard lawyers who are handling these lawsuits will ask you for upfront legal fees. If they do, it is a red flag.
Our legal team, and almost every other attorney in this litigation, works on a contingency fee basis. This means you only pay us if we secure a favorable outcome for you.
This structure allows you to seek justice without the burden of paying hourly rates, making it easier to focus on your case without financial stress. Moreover, since our payment depends on your success, you can the additional assurance that comes with our interests being aligned with yours in the pursuit of fair settlement compensation.
Contact Miller & Zois About Your Paragard IUD Lawsuit
If you had a Paragard IUD device that broke or fractured during the removal process (or while implanted) you probably have a valid claim for financial compensation. There is a statute of limitations in these lawsuits, so the deadline to sue is a real issue.
Our attorneys can help file your Paragard case before it’s too late. Call us today at 800-553-8082 or contact us online. Our Paragard IUD lawyers are looking for women who had a Paragard fracture within the last four years.