Teva Moves A ParaGard IUD Lawsuit To Federal Court System

Teva Moves A ParaGard IUD Lawsuit To Federal Court System

Introduction

Earlier this week, Teva Pharmaceuticals filed a notice over the removal of a ParaGard IUD lawsuit to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which was originally filed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

The lawsuit was filed by a North Carolina woman in October 2020, alleging that the birth control device fractured during removal, leaving her with permanent injuries.

According to the court memorandum, the plaintiff had the device implanted by a physician on October 14, 2013, and during the removal on August 14, 2017, one arm of the device remained inside her body. Two unsuccessful attempts were made on September 21, 2017, and May 29, 2018, and the physician was unable to retrieve the broken pieces.

The plaintiff, in her complaint, asserted that the device was marketed as safe and effective, and the defendants knew or should have known that it was defective and unreasonably dangerous. She further claimed that the warnings were vague, incomplete, or otherwise wholly inadequate to alert prescribing physicians and patients to the actual risks associated with the device.

The defendants removed the lawsuit from state court to federal court due to diversity jurisdiction, as the plaintiff is from North Carolina and Teva Pharmaceuticals is based in New Jersey.

A hearing session is scheduled for December 3, 2020, in San Antonio, Texas, to hear the oral arguments from various parties over the motion filed by the plaintiffs asking the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate all ParaGard IUD cases before one judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

ParaGard, a small IUD (intrauterine device) that is used to prevent pregnancy works differently using one simple active ingredient, copper, instead of hormones, unlike its other counterparts. It is a T-shaped device and can help avoid pregnancy for up to 10 years.

The copper present in the device is continuously released into the uterine cavity, which interferes with sperm transport or fertilization, and the prevention of implantation. The use of IUD results in less than 1 pregnancy per 100 women each year as per the pregnancy rate in clinical studies. The FDA approved five IUD brands for sale in the U.S.: Mirena, Kyleena, Liletta, Skyla, and ParaGuard.