The Essure settlement payout per person averaged roughly $35,000 to $40,000 before attorney fees and other deductions, based on Bayer’s August 2020 agreement to pay about $1.6 billion to resolve close to 90 percent of the nearly 39,000 U.S. claims.1Bayer. Bayer Announces Resolution of U.S. Essure Claims Individual amounts were never made public, the settlement terms are confidential, and what any one woman actually received depended heavily on her injuries.2SelectJustice. Essure Lawsuit
Why Individual Amounts Varied
The $35,000-to-$40,000 figure is arithmetic, not allocation. Mass tort settlements of this size are almost never split equally. A points-based matrix scores each claim on the severity of the injury, whether surgery was needed, the claimant’s age, documented medical expenses, lost wages, and how strong the evidence tying the device to the harm is. A higher score puts the claimant in a higher compensation tier.3Herald-Dispatch. How Are Payouts Calculated in Mass Tort Settlements
In practical terms, a woman who underwent a hysterectomy to remove the coils and lived with chronic pain for years would receive substantially more than one whose device was removed without lasting complications. A court-appointed special master typically oversees the scoring, reviews medical records, and resolves disputes over point totals so the approved distribution plan is applied consistently across claimants.3Herald-Dispatch. How Are Payouts Calculated in Mass Tort Settlements
What Comes Out Before You See the Money
The gross award and the check are two different numbers. Standard deductions taken before funds reach a claimant include:
- Contingency attorney fees, often around 40 percent of the recovery
- Litigation costs advanced by the firm
- Medical liens owed to private insurers, Medicare, or Medicaid
Together, these can reduce the net payment significantly. A claimant with a $40,000 gross award and a 40 percent fee, plus costs and liens, may take home well under half of the stated figure.
When Payments Went Out
Women who were part of the 2020 global settlement began receiving payments in waves between 2021 and 2023. For claimants settling more recently, the expected timeline from signing a settlement agreement to receiving a check runs about six to eighteen months, covering medical-record review, claim verification, and processing by the settlement administrator.4Drugwatch. Essure Lawsuits
Some claimants have reported frustration with delays and poor communication from their attorneys. Complaints filed against at least one plaintiff law firm reflect that individual offers had not been communicated to certain clients years after the global settlement was announced, and that the firm would not disclose settlement details until a final award determination was issued or funds were ready for distribution.5Better Business Bureau. Johnson Law Group Complaints
Claims Not Covered by the 2020 Deal
Bayer said its $1.6 billion figure included an allowance for the roughly 10 percent of claims not yet resolved when the settlement was announced, and that the company was in talks with lawyers for those remaining plaintiffs.6FierceBiotech. Bayer to Pay $1.6 Billion to Settle 90% of Essure Injury Claims Some of those cases have kept moving. A multi-plaintiff lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in June 2023 was stayed until February 2025 to allow settlement talks, with no public outcome reported.4Drugwatch. Essure Lawsuits As of early 2025, Bayer continues to face active claims in the United States and abroad.7SelectJustice. Essure Lawsuit
One boundary worth naming: a class action brought in Australia by more than 1,400 women was dismissed by the Victorian Supreme Court in December 2024, with the judge finding the evidence did not establish that Essure caused the injuries claimed.8The Conversation. The Essure Contraceptive Device Left Some Women With Chronic Pelvic Pain. Why Did Their Class Action Fail? Women in that class did not share in the U.S. settlement fund.
Two Things to Keep in Mind
Bayer’s settlement included no admission of wrongdoing or liability.1Bayer. Bayer Announces Resolution of U.S. Essure Claims And the FDA never issued an official recall of Essure, though the agency’s 2019 guidance effectively ended the device’s availability in the United States.7SelectJustice. Essure Lawsuit
If You Are Still Waiting on a Payment
Most legal-referral organizations have stopped accepting new Essure cases. Women still waiting on funds from the original settlement have been advised to contact the law firm handling their individual claim for status updates, since the settlement administrator communicates with claimants through their attorneys rather than directly.