A Mirena IUD is an intrauterine T-shaped polymer device that is implanted in the uterus. The device works by releasing levonorgesterel, a synthetic progestin hormone that acts similarly to naturally occurring progesterone. This hormone alters the uterine wall, decreases sperm survival rate, and may stop ovulation. The Mirena IUD is manufactured by Bayer Pharmaceuticals and is supposed to last for five years. However, our Mirena lawyers know that over 70,000 complaints about the device have been reported since 2000. If you suffer serious injuries due to a Mirena IUD or another defective medical device, you should consult a product liability attorney. Moll Law Group has helped consumers nationwide and billions of dollars have been recovered in cases in which they were involved.
Most of the complaints state that the Mirena IUD spontaneously migrates outside the uterus and travels into the abdomen, causing complications such as ectopic pregnancy, perforation of the uterus, and pelvic inflammatory diseases. Surgeries and hysterectomy have been necessary to address these complications.
The FDA has reported that Bayer used misleading marketing tactics to overstate its product’s benefits and minimize its serious risks. Mirena lawyers have alleged that the manufacturer of the Mirena IUD has been accused of negligence, intentionally selling a dangerously defective product, concealment, failure to warn, and deceptive advertising.
Bayer may be held strictly liable for any design defects or failures to warn. Design defects can be challenging to evaluate. While a manufacturing defect is a mistake that causes a product to deviate from the manufacturer's "blueprint" or "formulation" of the intended design, a claim of design defects suggests that the designers failed to take safety into account. Design defect lawsuits are among the types of claims that are of greatest concern to manufacturers because they suggest an entire product line is defective.
Courts judge whether a design is defective by using either the consumer expectations test or the risk-utility test. In the former, the court looks at whether a design meets the safety expectations of consumers. If the Mirena IUD is dangerous to a degree beyond what the ordinary consumer who buys it would contemplate, using his or her ordinary knowledge about its characteristics, it has a defective design under the consumer expectations test.
In the risk-utility test, which is the dominant test used in design defect cases, the court looks at whether the safety benefits of designing out a foreseeable danger are greater than the cost of doing so. Factors considered relevant to this test include whether alternative designs were available, their cost and feasibility, and the frequency of injury with regard to the original design. Both tests depend on expert testimony, and design defect cases often become battles between the plaintiff's expert and the manufacturer's expert.
If Bayer knew that its device was defective and not only failed to warn about but also concealed the defects, it may be liable for punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages. Punitive damages are also known as exemplary damages, and they are awarded to punish and deter a defendant. Each award of punitive damages is judged on its own terms, based not only on the ratio between punitive and compensatory damages but also on the egregiousness of the defendant's conduct and the defendant's capacity to pay.
If you were injured due to your use of a Mirena IUD, our product liability lawyers are available to help you recover compensation. Our attorneys represent injured consumers in states around the nation, such as California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, and Michigan. Call us at 312-462-1700 or use our online form to set up a free consultation with a Mirena attorney.