Bayer to discontinue sale of Essure Birth Control Implant in the US
Bayer is going to stop the production of their birth control device Essure as the device has received nearly 27000 negative reports in last 15 years.
On Friday, 20 July, Bayer, German multinational pharmaceuticals have announced about the discontinuation of Essure. Essure was approved in 2002, and till 2017 it was reported with about 27000 misfortune cases. The company said until the end of this year they will stop the manufacturing and selling of the product.
The product has a long misfortunate history associated with it. Women reported many injuries and other inauspicious events regarding the product including perforation of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and other injuries. Several deaths were also reported including a few infants due to this product. However, Bayer has always claimed the device to be safe and never took responsibility for the damages caused by it.
Women have long been demanding from FDA to ban the selling of the device through a platform like Facebook with a group of 36000 members. FDA asked Bayer to limit the sale only for medical practices and doctor’s office in April after a meeting held with the advocates representing women.
The approval body said that the women should be given every detail about the product from the doctor before using it. Also, the FDA said there are many duplicates present in the market that causes bad events.
The Essure implant is a birth control device. This has two small coils made up of polyester-like fabric and nickel alloy. The device is placed into the fallopian tubes taken through the vagina of a female body. The device was developed in order to block the fallopian tubes by the inflammatory retaliation. Bayer has stopped the vending of product in many countries such as Canada, Brazil, England, France and a few other but it is still available in the United States.
There are many side effects allied with the product such as tooth loss, hair loss, miscarriage, severe bleeding and even turn into death. FDA also placed “black box warning” on the product package in 2016. The warning warns the people about injury associated with the implantation of the product.
The sale of the product has decreased by 70 percent, said the FDA commissioner, Dr. Scoot Gottlieb. She added the decline in the sale is because of the black box warning and limits on the sale. As now they were on allowed after doctor’s warning and the patient decision was prior. Also, she said that FDA will work on all the reports regarding the Essure and also work for the surgeries requires to remove Essure.
The company also said that they are discontinuing the product because women in the United States are not opting for permanent birth controls anymore. They prefer other, temporary birth control methods.
Image credit: www.essure.com
