Lawsuit Alleges Depo-Provera Caused Vision Changes, Leading to Meningioma Diagnosis Years After Injections

The makers of Depo-Provera face a growing number of lawsuits alleging that the birth control shot increases the risk of brain tumors, which can cause different injuries depending on where they manifest in the brain.

In a complaint (PDF) filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on February 7, Trish Stevenson, of Louisiana, indicates her Depo-Provera injections led to vision changes prior to her diagnosis of a meningioma brain tumor. She names Pfizer Inc., Viatris Inc., Greenstone LLC, Prasco, LLC, Pharmacia LLC, and Pharmacia and Upjohn Co. LLC, as the defendants.

Depo-Provera is a hormonal birth control shot that was first introduced in 1992, containing a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, known as medroxyprogesterone. Following decades of advertisements that promoted the quarterly injection as a safe means of preventing pregnancy, Depo-Provera has been widely used by more than 70 million women in the U.S.

However, studies published last year raised concerns about the safety of the birth control shot, warning that Depo-Provera causes meningioma brain tumors to develop in some women, which can be life-threatening and often require surgical intervention.

Since then, about 70 women have filed lawsuits over the side effects of Depo-Provera and vision changes, speech problems and other brain functions, which tumors can disrupt based on their location in the brain.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all Depo-Provera lawsuits filed in federal courts into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida for coordinated pretrial proceedings, where the parties will conduct discovery into common issues raised in the litigation, and decide various pretrial motions that may impact large numbers of individual cases.

In her lawsuit, Stevenson indicates she received Depo-Provera injections from 2012 until May 2024. Like millions of other women, she and her doctors determined that the injections were safe based on the manufacturers’ marketing.

“Over time, Plaintiff developed alarming symptoms, including blurry vision, right parietal headaches and right ear pain,” her lawsuit states. “During an eye exam it was confirmed that Plaintiff’s optic nerve was abnormally swollen.”

After being referred to a neurologist, Stevenson received an MRI in April 2019, where doctors discovered a meningioma pressing against her optic sheath, leading them to link the tumor to the vision changes she was experiencing.

Stevenson underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor, resulting in a long recovery, during which she was unable to work. Even after the surgery, she still suffers from balance problems, according to the lawsuit.

However, it was not until the study published last year that Stevenson was able to link the tumor and her vision changes to Depo-Provera. She is presenting claims of strict liability, inadequate warning, design defect, negligence, negligent failure to warn, negligent design defect, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of warranty, and is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.