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Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is facing an increasing number of lawsuits in the U.S. over its alleged failure to warn that its Depo-Provera contraceptive injection for women can cause a brain tumor called intracranial meningioma, a law firm representing the plaintiffs announced Thursday.
Currently, a multidistrict litigation against Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is underway on behalf of women who claim to have developed meningiomas after receiving four or more consecutive injections of Depo-Provera. Levin Papantonio, one of the law firms handling the MDL, said.
The litigants allege that the New York-based pharma giant already knew about the risk but failed to warn customers adequately and recommend safer options.
The lawsuits included in the MDL had risen to 550 from 400 in May, Levin Papantonio noted, adding that two recently published studies also back its claims.
In one study, researchers found that the use of Depo-Provera for more than a year raises the risk of developing intracranial meningioma by 3.5 times compared to the use of a combined oral contraceptive. The peer-reviewed findings published in the medical journal Expert Opinion on Drug Safety in June were based on a study of more than 110M individuals.
The MDL came after the British Medical Journal in March 2024 published a study that found that Depo-Provera recipients are more than five times as likely to develop intracranial meningioma after 12 months of use.