Colorado Mom Warns Others About Paragard IUD

When Colorado resident and mom S.F., who asked to use her initials for her privacy, talked to her doctor about having her Paragard IUD removed, she treated it like any other routine procedure. She had no idea she should be worried.

That routine removal turned into an emotional nightmare when the IUD broke inside her, leaving a piece of the device in her body.

S.F. isn’t alone. At least 2,965 women have filed Paragard IUD lawsuits centralized in The Northern District Court of Georgia. Lawsuits say the popular birth control device can break during removal and cause injuries like pain and infertility. Some women also needed surgery to remove the broken pieces.

In an interview with Drugwatch, S.F. shared her story, hoping to warn others. She still thinks about the potential that the device is still in her body.

“I would 100% say do not use it,” S.F. said. “It’s not worth it. I would not let my daughter do it … or a friend of mine.”

S.F.’s doctor recommended the IUD to her several years ago. No one warned her it could break during removal.

The marketing website for Paragard lists the birth control as 100% hormone-free and over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. They also tout that, for over 30 years, Paragard has been the only FDA-approved IUD.

As a health-conscious person, the fact that Paragard didn’t use hormones sounded great to her. When she was finally ready to remove the IUD after about eight years, her doctor mentioned that she could leave it in longer.

“The doctor said that I could go longer with it, but I was just having a weird feeling about just getting it out because it just had been a long time,” S.F. said.

However, the day she went in for the procedure, S.F. started feeling like something might go wrong.

“I did have a weird gut feeling going into [getting Paragard removed]. It just made me more nervous than it probably should have.” Afterward, she understood why she felt so nervous.

During the Paragard removal procedure, the IUD’s arm broke. What followed was an extremely upsetting and emotional time for S.F. and her family.

After leaving her doctor’s office, S.F. was upset. She had no idea what would happen with the Paragard arm fragment still inside her body.

Then, she learned she wasn’t the first person in her family to experience this.

“After I got [the IUD] taken out and found out that the arm had broken off, I called my mom crying, really, really upset. And I found out my cousin had the same thing,” S.F. recalls.

S.F. found out that her cousin had surgery to remove the broken fragment and filed a Paragard lawsuit.

S.F.’s doctor discouraged her from removing the fragment, citing the risks of anesthesia and potentially not being able to find the broken IUD arm.

“The doctor said to me, you can leave it in there the rest of your life, and it won’t affect you in any way.”

But S.F. wanted the fragment out. After seeking a second opinion, she drove five hours to a doctor in Denver for an ultrasound to locate the device.

“I had to get a hotel room, leave my kids with someone else. It was a whole ordeal. They did an ultrasound, and they could not find anything.”

Throughout the process, S.F. and her kids were going through an emotional rollercoaster. Her kids had just lost their dad, S.F.’s first husband, to cancer four years before. Watching their mom get upset and go through medical procedures was difficult for them.

“It was extremely emotional. Just any medical procedure can make you nervous. And then having my kids have to watch me get upset.”

S.F.’s doctors poked and prodded, looking everywhere for the device with no luck. At that point, there was nothing else they could do unless she started having side effects. She has no choice but to wait and see if she eventually develops problems.

Since doctors couldn’t find the IUD, S.F. didn’t file a Paragard lawsuit. She encourages women affected by the device to come forward and get a lawyer to potentially file a claim.

S.F.’s cousin was able to get the fragment removed. “I know she is a part of the lawsuit and still is,” S.F. shared. She hopes that her story can inspire others to take charge of their health and hold the makers of Paragard accountable. “If I can’t be a part of [the lawsuit], then I hope other people can benefit in some way from it.”