Lawsuit Alleges Depo-Provera Neurological Symptoms Were Result of Meningioma

Brain tumor caused by Depo-Provera continues to grow more than a decade after woman stopped receiving the birth control shots, raising concerns that the meningioma may need to be surgically removed.

According to a recently filed lawsuit, Lynn Peacock received Depo-Provera injections for long-term birth control from about 2000 until 2013, yet it would be another decade before doctors discovered a that ongoing neurological symptoms she was experiencing were the result of a meningioma brain tumor caused by the shots.

Her complaint (PDF) was brought in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida on December 9, indicating that the drug makers Pfizer Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. LLC, and Pharmacia LLC knew or should have known about the risks, yet withheld warnings and information from consumers and the medical community for decades.

Depo-Provera was originally approved in the U.S. in 1992, as a long-acting hormonal contraceptive that requires a quarterly injection of the synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate. Believing advertisements that claimed the “Depo shot” is safe and effective, tens of millions of women have chosen to receive the injections instead of taking a daily birth control pill.

However, concerns about the shot’s safety first began to emerge last year, after studies warned that Depo-Provera is linked to an increased risk of intracranial meningioma, indicating women who received the injections faced 5.5 times the risk of brain tumors than women who did not take the birth control shot. Intracranial meningioma can cause serious, potentially life-threatening complications, often requiring brain surgery to remove the tumors and life-long medical monitoring.

Peacock’s complaint joins hundreds of other Depo-Provera meningioma lawsuits now being pursued in federal and state courts nationwide, each raising similar allegations that women could have avoided a devastating diagnosis if they had been aware of the risk and more closely monitored for neurological symptoms while receiving the birth control shot.

Peacock, of South Dakota, indicates she began receiving Depo-Provera injections in the early 2000s, and continued to receive the shots until 2013. Despite the manufacturers’ claims that the injections were safe and effective, Peacock argues that Depo-Provera side effects caused her to suffer severe neurological injuries.

The lawsuit states that in recent years Peacock suffered increasing health problems, including pain and neurological impairment. Eventually doctors discovered she had developed an intracranial meningioma in June 2024 after an MRI.

By July 2025 doctors warned her that the brain tumor was increasing in size, and could potentially require surgery to be removed.

“As a direct consequence of Plaintiff’s prolonged use of Defendants’ DMPA/ Depo-Provera and the development of the meningioma, Plaintiff requires ongoing and future medical imaging, care and/or treatment.”

– Lynn Peacock v. Pfizer Inc. et al

In addition, the lawsuit indicates that Peacock may suffer additional injuries and complications if the brain tumor keeps growing. As seen in other Depo-Provera complaints filed to date, the tumors may cause symptoms when they press on surrounding nerves, including vision problems, chronic headaches and neurological impairment.

Peacock 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 Lawsuits

The complaint will be consolidated with more than 1,600 Depo-Provera lawsuits pending in the federal courts system, which have been centralized in the Northern District of Florida under U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is overseeing pretrial proceedings. Hundreds of additional Depo-Provera claims have also been filed in state courts, primarily in Delaware and New York, and more than 10,000 other potential claims are currently being reviewed by lawyers before filing.

To help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the lawsuits, Judge Rodgers has indicated she plans to conduct a series of pilot trials in the coming months. However, as part of the process of preparing those claims, the plaintiffs must first show that it is scientifically feasible that Depo-Provera can cause the development of brain tumors, which is known as general causation.

Under a pretrial schedule recently issued by the court, both sides will disclose and depose general causation experts through March 2026, followed by motions challenging whether testimony linking Depo-Provera to meningiomas meets scientific reliability standards.

If the plaintiffs establish that there is sufficient evidence for a jury to find general causation between Depo-Provera and meningioma brain tumors, the litigation may proceed to the pilot trials.

While the outcomes of these early trial dates will not be binding on other claims in the federal or state courts, they could be helpful in forming the basis of a Depo-Provera lawsuit settlement agreement to avoid the need for hundreds of individual trials to be scheduled nationwide.

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