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Sadia Aslam had no idea her life would change beyond recognition after getting a contraceptive device fitted, leaving her “crippled in pain” and needing a hysterectomy.
“I would be waking up [feeling] like I had been massacred,” the 47-year-old digital executive tells The Independent. “With blood on the bed well beyond what a regular sanitary night-time pad could cover. It would look frightening.”
Ms Aslam is by no means the only woman to cite problems with the device - with around 200 women launching legal action last year after claiming they endured “excruciating pain”, bleeding and nickel poisoning in the aftermath of getting the Essure coil device fitted.
Lawyers said thousands of women around the world have the Essure coil device and many have gone on to endure “adverse” repercussions. Pogust Goodhead, a law firm representing women in the UK, said many women who had the coil fitted have later undergone hysterectomies or are waiting for procedures to get the coil taken out.
The German Pharma firm Bayer, which manufactures the Essure, has taken it off the market as it faces lawsuits around the world related to its use.
Pogust Goodhead said the Essure coil, which was available on the NHS, was marketed “as an easy, non-invasive, non-surgical procedure” targeted at women who did not want children.
I couldn’t do normal activities. I struggled with work because I was just feeling constantly tired and bloated and it affects your sex life.— Sadia Aslam
The law firm said manufacturers said the metal coil would cause scarring inside the womb’s tubes to the ovaries, to prevent pregnancy – but claimed it would be less intrusive than sterilisation surgery.
Ms Aslam says it felt like something had changed in her body after she had the contraceptive device fitted in 2012.
“It was really bad period cramps, like first or second stage labour equivalent,” she recalls. “You would be crippled in pain but it wasn’t consistent. Every time I went to the doctor they were dismissive. I just thought I must be one of those women who has heavy periods. Then I suddenly thought, is it this contraceptive?”
And then in around 2015, she started to experience excruciating pain which impeded her ability to work and her relationship with her then-husband, she adds.
“ I was sometimes bleeding about three weeks out of four,” Ms Aslam says. “That was towards the end. It didn't start off in 2015 like that. It slowly, slowly, slowly got worse. And it just became that I couldn't do normal activities. I struggled with work because I was just feeling constantly tired and bloated and it affects your sex life.”
She explains it affected her ability to look after her young children as she was perpetually tired - adding she was bloated, in pain and feeling frustrated.
“Covid hit and then I eventually managed to get seen and then I was told that the coil had migrated,” Ms Aslam says. “Looking at the screen it was just really frightening.”
She says she was forced into having a hysterectomy in 2022 to ensure no shards from the coil were left - adding this was the only option offered to her and meant she “car crashed into menopause” at the age of 45.
If they can’t take those companies to court, because the product was manufactured more than 10 years ago, they have no access to justice.— Lisa Lunt
Ms Aslam explains she has not been able to launch legal action as rules stipulate you must submit your claim ten years after the item is made in the factory rather than from when you get the device fitted. She called for the UK government to urgently change these rules and raise the time limit to 15 or 20 years.
Lisa Lunt, head of medical product liability at Pogust Goodhead, which is leading litigations for women affected by Essure, warned the current ten year limit is an “archaic rule” and is “unreasonable, unfair and unjust”.
“The Consumer Protection Act needs to be changed to extend the current 10-year longstop limitation which protects industry, not the trusting patient,” the lawyer said.
“Sadly, some pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies are selling medical products without proper testing and adequate follow-up for adverse effects, leaving women and men vulnerable. If they can't take those companies to court, because the product was manufactured more than 10 years ago, they have no access to justice.”
She urged the UK government to consider increasing the limit “in line with discussions taking place by our European counterparts” to 20 years.
“It got me to the level where I was depressed,” Ms Aslam says of the coil. “I was so upset. It affected my marriage. It affected my job. It affected my ability to raise my children. I feel like I’ve lost my prime years to this blasted thing. How can companies get away with this?”
She says her health and quality of life have vastly improved as she is no longer anaemic and bleeding. However, she has simultaneously been catapulted into early menopause and experiencing the usual symptoms such as brain fog, depression and anxiety.
A spokesperson for Bayer said its “highest priority is the safety profile and effectiveness of our products, and we have great sympathy for anyone who has experienced health problems while using any of our products, regardless of cause. The company stands by the safety profile and efficacy of Essure and will continue to defend itself from these claims vigorously.”
A representative for the Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.
