Mirena IUD Papilledema Injury Led To Blurred Vision, Light Sensitivity, Lawsuit Claims

According to allegations raised in a product liability lawsuit filed earlier this month against Bayer Healthcare, side effects of a Mirena IUD caused an Ohio woman to develop a dangerous buildup of fluid pressure on her optic nerves, resulting in papilledema, light sensitivity, blurred vision, headaches and other complications.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Sarah Jenkins in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, indicating that the papilledma injury was caused by a medical condition known as pseudotumor cerebri (PTC), which is also commonly referred to as intracranial hypertension (IH), and has been linked to other forms of birth control that release the progestin levonorgestrel.

Jenkins indicates that she had a Mirena intrauterine device (IUD) implanted in her uterus in October 2012, which is designed to prevent pregnancy for up to five years. The complaint reports that she began to suffer severe headaches, vision problems, ringing in the ears and a a condition known as photophobia; a sensitivity to bright lights.

In April 2015, Jenkins was diagnosed with papilledema, and in June 2016, a lumbar puncture revealed that she had pseudotumor cerebri (PTC), which involves increased fluid pressure around the brain that can result in irreversible optic nerve damage.

Jenkins had the Mirena IUD removed in June 2017, but the lawsuit indicates she has been left with a permanent injury as a result.

“Defendant failed to adequately and properly test the Mirena both before and after placing it on the market,” the lawsuit states. “A prudent seller in the exercise of ordinary care would and should have discovered and foreseen the dangerous and defective condition of Mirena and its potential to cause severe conditions, including PTC/IH, when placing the product on the market.”

Jenkins’ complaint joins a growing number of similar Mirena IUD lawsuits filed nationwide by women who suffered intracranial hypertension or pseudotumor cerebri, often resulting in a papilledema injury, vision loss and other complications associated with damage to the optic nerve caused by the fluid pressure around the brain.

Given similar questions of fact and law raised in complaints filed throughout the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) established coordinated pretrial proceedings in April 2017, centralizing all cases involving pseudotumor cerebri or intracranial hypertension complications from Mirena IUDs before one judge in the Southern District of New York.

There are currently more than 200 complaints pending before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Englemayer as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation. However, as Mirena injury lawyers continue to review and file claims for women nationwide, it is expected that the size and scope of the litigation will continue to grow over the coming weeks and months.