High-Risk Brain Tumor From Depo-Provera Requires Frequent Monitoring, Lawsuit Claims

Lawsuit alleges Pfizer knew about brain tumor risks linked to hormonal injections like Depo-Provera for decades before placing the birth control shot on the market.

A Washington state woman has filed a lawsuit indicating she never would have agreed to receive Depo-Provera injections had she known that the birth control shots could cause her to develop a brain tumor, which is now threatening her health and life.

Rondella Kay Wray brought the complaint (PDF) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on March 31, naming Pfizer Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. LLC and Pharmacia LLC as defendants.

Depo-Provera (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, or DMPA) is a long-term contraceptive injection given four times a year. The birth control shot was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992, and it has been widely marketed as a safe and convenient way to prevent pregnancy, resulting in tens of millions of women being given the “Depo shot” worldwide.

About two years ago, concerns surfaced over the long-term side effects of Depo-Provera, after a study linked the birth control shot to a more than five-fold increased risk of developing an intracranial meningioma, which is a form of brain tumor.

These high risk brain tumors from Depo-Provera can cause serious complications, or even be life-threatening, based on their size and location in the brain, often requiring surgical intervention. In cases where the tumor is in too sensitive a place to be removed, it requires life-long monitoring to ensure that it does not grow in a way that creates an even greater threat to the patient.

Wray and others now say manufacturers hid this problem for decades. As a result, many women continued to receive injections for years, even after a brain tumor diagnosis since there was no way to know the two events were connected.

In light of these concerns, a growing number of Depo-Provera lawsuits have been brought over the past two years, each alleging Pfizer and other manufacturers of generic birth control shots failed to warn women about the risk of brain tumors.

Depo-Provera Side Effects Lawsuit

Wray’s lawsuit indicates she began receiving Depo-Provera shots in 2014, and continued to receive the injections until 2020. Some of the injections were Pfizer’s brand-name Depo-Provera, while others were authorized generic versions of the contraceptive.

However, in 2020, doctors informed Wray she had developed an intracranial meningioma along the left parietal convexity. Due to its location, the tumor cannot be surgically removed, requiring ongoing monitoring through regular MRI and CT scans to track its growth and potential complications.

“Plaintiff remains at a high risk of developing worsening neurological symptoms in the future and may necessitate radiation therapy or a surgical intervention. Such uncertainty surrounding Plaintiff’s medical condition and the possibility of worsening neurological injuries has caused and will continue to cause Plaintiff serious psychological injuries and emotional distress.”

– Rondella Kay Wray v. Pfizer Inc. et al

The lawsuit notes that there has been evidence that hormones like those used in Depo-Provera had a connection to brain tumor development since the 1930s. Researchers also have known, since at least 1983, that meningioma cells contain a high number of progesterone receptors, which respond strongly to estrogen, like the hormones included in Depo-Provera injections.

According to the lawsuit, the manufacturers knew about these studies and findings even before Depo-Provera was placed on the market, yet failed to warn patients and doctors to watch for early development of brain tumors in order to keep usage and profit levels high.

Wray’s complaint presents claims of failure to warn, design defect, negligence, negligent failure to warn, negligent design defect, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of warranty. She seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Depo-Provera Brain Tumor Lawsuits

The complaint will be consolidated with similar Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits in the Northern District of Florida, where all federal claims have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is leading the litigation through coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Early in the litigation, Judge Rodgers identified five “pilot” cases she indicated should serve as early test “bellwether” trials. These trials are designed to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony presented in cases meant to be representative of the litigation as a whole.

Judge Rodgers has scheduled the first Depo-Provera trial for December 7, 2026, involving a lawsuit filed by Donna Toney of Florida, who alleges she suffered vertigo, dizziness and hearing loss due to a brain tumor caused by the birth control injections. Additional bellwether trials will follow in early 2027.

Although the outcomes of these bellwether trials will not be binding on other claims, it is hoped they will help the parties form a basis for a settlement agreement. However, if no such agreement is reached after the bellwether trials are concluded, Judge Rodgers may remand Wray’s, and other Depo-Provera lawsuits, back to their originating districts for individual trial dates.

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