Women’s Health Lawsuits

Birth control is intended to be a safe and effective form of medicine. However, many forms of birth control can have serious and potentially fatal side effects. These side effects may include blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.

The women’s health lawyers at Motley Rice have experience helping women seek justice for harms they suffered from defective or otherwise harmful birth control products. In the past, our law firm has helped women file lawsuits related to:

• Essure®
• Mirena IUD®
• NuvaRing®
• Yaz®/Yazmin®
• Ortho Evra®

Currently, Motley Rice attorneys are helping women file Paragard® IUD lawsuits. Medical attorney Fidelma Fitzpatrick is a member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the multidistrict litigation against Paragard’s manufacturer, CooperSurgical. This birth control device has allegedly been linked to serious complications in many women and may have led to the death of 15 women.

Learn more about birth control lawsuits.

The women’s health attorneys at Motley Rice have experience helping mothers and families seek justice for preventable, congenital birth defects. These birth defects include:

• Cleft lip and/or palate
• Congenital structural heart defects
• Neural tube defects, such as spina bifida and anencephaly

In many cases, these birth defects may be caused by medication the mother took during pregnancy. These birth defects can arise from both on-label and off-label uses of medication.

In other cases, birth defects may arise because of toxic exposure during pregnancy. Toxic exposure that could result in birth defects include:

• Pesticides, such as Roundup
• Chemical run-off, such as the toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune or other contaminated sites/communities

Learn more about birth defect lawsuits here.

Women who receive breast implants have a right to expect that these medical devices are safe, but this isn’t always the case. Many women develop serious and sometimes life-threatening complications because of their breast implants. In these cases, a breast implant lawsuit is one way to recover the damages and losses incurred.

Motley Rice attorney Sara Couch holds a leadership role on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the multidistrict litigation against Allergen for its Biocell® textured breast implants. The lawsuit alleges Allergen’s implants cause Breast Implant-Associated Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Learn more about breast implant lawsuits here.

Scientific studies have allegedly linked chemical hair relaxers to ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, and endometrial cancer. People who develop these cancers may be able to seek compensation for medical treatments, as well as for pain and suffering through women’s health litigation.

Motley Rice is at the forefront of pursuing justice for women harmed by hair relaxers. Motley Rice attorneys have taken a number of leadership roles in ongoing multidistrict litigation (MDL) In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices And Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3060, including:

• Fidelma Fitzpatrick: Co-lead counsel
• Carmen Scott: Co-chair of the Leadership Development Committee
• Tope Leyimu: Serves on the Leadership Development Council and co-chairs a liability committee

Learn more about hair relaxer lawsuits here. 

Talcum powder has a long history of use by women for personal hygiene and to prevent baby diaper rash. However, recent studies have found a link between talc and an increased risk of ovarian cancer for women who use the powder in their genital area.

Motley Rice attorneys are currently helping women file lawsuits against talcum powder manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson over claims that their product increased the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Daniel Lapinski and Carmen Scott are both members of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for multidistrict litigation alleging manufacturers of talc-based products increased women’s risk of cancer.

Learn more about talcum powder lawsuits.

Transvaginal mesh devices are implanted to help women deal with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). However, many women have suffered serious injuries and side effects from defects in these products. These injuries and side effects sometimes require multiple surgeries to repair the damage or remove the implanted mesh devices.

Women’s health lawyers at Motley Rice have served in active cases against transvaginal mesh manufacturers. These cases include:

• In re Bard Litigation, in both New Jersey and Massachusetts state courts
• In re American Medical Systems, Inc. Pelvic Repair Systems Product Liability Litigation, in federal court and Delaware state court
• Multiple multidistrict litigation cases in U.S. district court in West Virginia

Learn more about transvaginal mesh and hernia mesh lawsuits.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) requires a complex pharmaceutical mixture to transport fertilized embryos. One of the ingredients in this mixture is magnesium. CooperSurgical, a manufacturer of one form of this IVF fluid, is alleged to have shipped out dosages without magnesium. CooperSurgical issued a recall of 1,000 bottles of its IVF fluid in December 2023.

As a result of this error, thousands of potentially viable embryos could have been lost. If you or a loved one underwent IVF using a CooperSurgical mixture before December 2023 and were unsuccessful, you may be impacted by this avoidable mistake. Dozens of individuals have filed IVF fluid lawsuits against CooperSurgical to seek justice.

Learn more about IVF fluid lawsuits.

Our medical drug experience

Our medical attorneys have represented thousands of patients seriously hurt by dangerous prescription medications, over-the-counter medications and medical devices. Our experience includes helping victims of proton pump inhibitors and other devices and drugs in addition to representing patients in the above cases.

We understand that as a patient or family member, what you know about your or a loved one’s medications may be limited.

If you believe a medicine or medical device made you sick or hurt you, our women’s health lawyers have the resources needed to thoroughly investigate and:

• Identify potentially harmful medicines and devices
• Review if the medicine or device did hurt you
• Review the manufacturer’s compliance with FDA regulations
• Examine the adequacy of the manufacturer’s warning to you about potential side effects
• Recognize other issues that could affect your potential claim

Learn more about how we’ve helped people seek accountability through medical device litigation and medical drug lawsuits.