Lawsuit Alleges Depo-Provera Migraines, Headaches Led to Meningioma Brain Tumor Diagnosis

Wisconsin woman continued receiving Depo shots even after her tumor diagnosis, due to the lack of manufacturer warnings about risks.

An increasing number of women across the country are linking their use of the Depo-Provera birth control shot to the development of brain tumors, citing evidence that the injection may elevate the risk of intracranial meningioma, a condition that can cause serious neurological complications and, in some cases, prove fatal.

A complaint (PDF) filed by Ashley Smith of Wisconsin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on April 25, names Pfizer, Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn as defendants in a product liability lawsuit, alleging they either failed to adequately test the safety of Depo-Provera injections, failed to warn women about the risk of developing brain tumors, or neglected both responsibilities.

The Depo-Provera birth control shot was first approved for contraceptive use in the U.S. in 1992 and was originally introduced by Upjohn, a predecessor of Pharmacia & Upjohn, which was later acquired by Pfizer. 

The injection contains medroxyprogesterone acetate, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, and has been used by more than 70 million women worldwide, following years of marketing that promoted it as a safe, effective and convenient long-term contraceptive option.

However, a French study published last year linked Depo-Provera use to brain tumor risks, prompting a growing number of women who received the injections to file Depo-Provera lawsuits after being diagnosed with intracranial meningioma.

According to the lawsuit, Smith began receiving Depo-Provera injections in 2000 and continued with quarterly doses until 2012. She resumed use of the birth control shot from 2014 to 2015. During these time frames, Smith indicates neither she nor her physician were ever advised that Depo-Provera injections could cause brain tumors.

However, Smith states that in 2009 she began experiencing migraines and severe headaches, at which time she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the left frontal parietal region of her brain.

Despite the diagnosis, Smith continued receiving Depo-Provera injections for years, unaware of any potential connection between the drug and her condition. The lawsuit alleges that the manufacturers’ failure to provide adequate warnings deprived her of the opportunity to make an informed decision about her health, resulting in continued use of the injections and allowing the tumor to progress unchecked. 

A follow-up examination in 2024 revealed that the tumor had worsened, which Smith contends could have been avoided with proper risk disclosures. 

Smith states that she still suffers from headaches, cognitive loss and pain, and must be examined every six months to monitor the brain tumor for the rest of her life. 

“The use of Depo-Provera poses an excess increased risk of intracranial meningioma, a slow-growing tumor that compresses surrounding tissue, causing pain and lack of function,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants knew or should have known that Depo-Provera posed the increased risk of meningioma, but failed to warn the Plaintiff, her physicians, and the wider medical community of the connection between Depo-Provera and intracranial meningioma, although Defendants knew or should have known of the increased risk, and/or failed to perform sufficient testing of the risks, despite knowing that an increased risk of intracranial testing was required since at least 1983.”

Smith presents claims of negligence and negligent failure to warn, strict product liability, failure to warn and negligent misrepresentation. She seeks both punitive and compensatory damages.

Depo-Provera Meningioma Brain Tumor Lawsuits

Smith’s complaint will be consolidated with at least 289 other claims currently centralized as part of a Depo-Provera lawsuit MDL (multidistrict litigation) in the Northern District of Florida under U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Judge Rodgers has stated she is intent on quickly resolving the litigation and pushing toward early test trials. She has already selected a small group of pilot cases to be prepared to go before juries by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

While the outcomes of these trials will not be binding on other Depo-Provera lawsuits, they will give the parties a chance to see how juries respond to arguments and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation, which may help the parties reach Depo-Provera settlement agreements.