Side Effects From Depo-Provera Shots Led to Brain Tumor, Multiple Surgeries: Lawsuit

Woman continued to receive Depo-Provera injections for years, unaware the shots may be fueling the recurrence of her brain tumors.

Despite being first diagnosed with an intracranial meningioma in 2008, it would take nearly two decades for a Tennessee woman to learn her recurring brain tumor may be linked to Depo-Provera birth control shots that she received regularly for years.

Rebecca Beres filed a product liability complaint (PDF) in Delaware Superior Court last month, pursuing damages from Pfizer Inc., Pharmacia LLC and Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, alleging that the drug makers failed to warn her and the medical community about the potential risks associated with their popular birth control injection.

Depo-Provera is a long-acting hormonal contraceptive originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1992, which involves quarterly injections of the synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate to prevent pregnancy. Like Beres, tens of millions of women have received the injections, with some estimates indicating that 25% of U.S. women age 18-49 have received the “Depo Shot”.

In early 2024, independent studies were published linking Depo Provera to meningioma risks, indicating that women who received the shot faced a 5.5 times higher risk of developing brain tumors compared to those who did not use the drug. Intracranial meningioma can cause serious, potentially life-threatening complications, often requiring brain surgery and lifelong medical monitoring.

Late last year, the FDA approved an updated Depo-Provera brain tumor warning, adding new language to the drug’s label alerting users to the risk of intracranial meningioma, indicating patients should be monitored for signs of brain tumors and that Depo-Provera should be discontinued if a meningioma is diagnosed. However, for decades the shot has been sold without any warnings or information being provided to users or the medical community.

As a result of this failure to warn, Pfizer and generic manufacturers now face more than 2,100 Depo-Provera lawsuits brought by Beres and other women throughout the U.S., who say the manufacturers failed to give them or their doctors adequate warning that Depo-Provera side effects were linked to brain tumor risks.

Beres reports that she received her first Depo-Provera injection in 2004, for the purpose of long-term contraception. At the time, there was no indication or warning that the birth control shot could cause brain tumors.

However, the complaint indicates Beres was diagnosed with intracranial meningioma in 2008, undergoing her first brain surgery, a craniotomy resection of meningioma, that same year. Not having been warned about the potential link, she claims she continued to receive the injections until 2017.

As a result, Beres’ first surgery was followed by the need for a second bifrontal craniotomy resection in 2013, when the meningioma returned. A third procedure was required in 2014, according to the complaint.

“Plaintiff has undergone MRI monitoring of her meningiomas since her initial meningioma diagnosis through present, by healthcare providers in Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida. As a result of her meningioma, Plaintiff has suffered vision loss, particularly on her right side.”

– Rebecca Beres v. Pfizer Inc. et al

Beres alleges that the manufacturers knew, or should have known, about the connection between the hormones used in Depo-Provera and their link to an increased risk of brain tumors, years before the drug hit the market, and before Beres suffered her injuries. However, she claims the companies placed profits ahead of patient safety and women’s health.

The lawsuit indicates Beres will require medical monitoring for the rest of her life. She presents claims of failure to warn, design defect, negligence, negligent failure to warn, negligent design, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, gross negligence/recklessness, and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Depo-Provera Lawsuits

Beres’ complaint will be centralized with thousands of similar claims as part of a Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuit MDL in the Northern District of Florida, where U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. Judge Rodgers is leading the parties through the preparation of five “pilot” lawsuits that will serve as bellwether trials.

These representative cases are designed to help plaintiffs and defendants gauge the relative strengths and weaknesses of their claims. Judge Rodgers indicates she wants the first case ready for trial by December 7 or 14, 2026, with the rest of the trials scheduled to begin in January 2027.

These pilot trials will be closely watched to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that would likely be repeated in thousands of cases if the litigation is not otherwise resolved. However, if no Depo-Provera brain tumor settlement agreement is reached, Judge Rodgers may remand the remaining claims back to their originating District Courts for individual trial dates.

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