The Paragard lawsuit is a mass tort involving more than 4,000 women who allege that the Paragard T 380A copper IUD is prone to breaking during removal, leaving plastic fragments inside the body that can cause serious injury. The cases are consolidated in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia against Teva Pharmaceuticals and CooperSurgical. As of mid-2026, no settlement has been reached, and the defense won the first bellwether trial in February 2026.1AboutLawsuits. Lawsuit Paragard IUD Removal Risks Defense Verdict
What Plaintiffs Are Alleging
The core claim is simple. Plaintiffs say the T-shaped arms of the Paragard IUD snap off during removal instead of folding inward as designed, and that Teva and CooperSurgical knew about the problem for years before adequately warning patients or doctors.
When the device fractures, fragments can embed in the uterine wall or migrate. Reported consequences include uterine perforation, chronic pain, heavy bleeding, infection, adhesions from retained copper, and infertility. Many women have needed follow-up procedures, from hysteroscopy up to full hysterectomy, to retrieve the broken pieces.2Drugwatch. Paragard
The lawsuits pursue three main theories. A design-defect theory argues the polyethylene frame becomes brittle in the uterine environment and cannot withstand the pull of a normal removal, particularly after six to ten years in place.3Wallace Miller. Paragard IUD4Legal Examiner. Paragard IUD Breakages Continue Even After FDA Warning5Keller Postman. Paragard IUD Litigation Additional counts allege manufacturing defects and general negligence.6Drugwatch. Paragard Lawsuits
The FDA data plaintiffs rely on is substantial. From 2009 through October 2025, the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System received 9,618 reports of Paragard breakage out of 56,379 total adverse event reports for the device, of which 25,546 were classified as serious. A 2023 study in Contraception found that 9.6% of adverse event reports for copper IUDs involved breakage, compared to 1.7% for hormonal IUDs.2Drugwatch. Paragard
There has been no product recall. The FDA opened an investigation in May 2021, released findings in December 2022, and approved updated labeling in June 2024 that instructs providers to “assess for embedment and perforation” when a device resists gentle removal and to use imaging such as X-rays or MRIs.7FOX 11. Spotlight Inquiry Led to FDA Safety Review of Paragard Breakage
Who Is Being Sued
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries manufactured and marketed Paragard until November 2017, when it sold the business to CooperSurgical, a subsidiary of The Cooper Companies, for approximately $1.1 billion. The sale included the North Tonawanda, New York, plant that exclusively produces the device.8Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Teva Announces Completion of Paragard Divestiture to CooperSurgical Five defendants are named in the litigation: CooperSurgical, Teva USA, Teva Women’s Health LLC, Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D, and The Cooper Companies.9Motley Rice. Paragard Lawsuit
On December 16, 2020, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated 55 pending cases from 31 federal districts into MDL No. 2974, In re: Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation, in the Northern District of Georgia before Judge Leigh Martin May.10U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. MDL-2974 Transfer Order9Motley Rice. Paragard Lawsuit6Drugwatch. Paragard Lawsuits
Each plaintiff has filed an individual lawsuit. The MDL groups them for shared discovery and pretrial rulings, but any recovery depends on the individual case. Some Paragard cases have also been filed in state courts, including a consolidation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.11Stark & Stark. A Definitive Guide to Paragard Lawsuits
The First Bellwether Trial and What the Jury Did
Three bellwether trials were scheduled for 2026 to test how juries would respond to the evidence. The first, Rickard v. Teva Pharmaceuticals, began January 20, 2026, in Atlanta.12Reuters. Teva Can’t Delay First Trial Over Paragard IUDs With Appeal
Pauline Rickard received a Paragard in 2012 from a Florida doctor. She alleged the device broke while implanted, required complicated interventions to remove the fragments, and affected her fertility. Her complaint accused Teva of failing to warn about a known pattern of breakage. Cooper Companies had been a defendant in her case but was dismissed in October 2025.13Butler Snow. Teva Wins First Paragard IUD Bellwether Trial
After a two-week trial, the jury returned a complete defense verdict on February 4, 2026, rejecting every claim: strict liability failure to warn, negligent failure to warn, strict liability defective design, negligent design, negligent misrepresentation, and fraudulent omission. Because the jury found no liability on any count, it never reached the question of damages.1AboutLawsuits. Lawsuit Paragard IUD Removal Risks Defense Verdict
The Preemption Appeal Now Reshaping the Case
Teva’s central defense is federal preemption. Because the FDA approved Paragard through the premarket approval process for Class III medical devices, the company argues federal law bars state-law claims that attack the FDA-approved label.12Reuters. Teva Can’t Delay First Trial Over Paragard IUDs With Appeal
Judge May rejected Teva’s preemption-based motion to dismiss, finding evidence that Teva had “new information” about Paragard that would have permitted a label update. She also initially refused to pause the first trial for an appeal, calling the preemption question “too fact-specific for an appeal at this early stage.”12Reuters. Teva Can’t Delay First Trial Over Paragard IUDs With Appeal
That changed in April 2026, when the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted Teva’s request for an interlocutory appeal on the preemption question. One further bellwether trial is allowed to go forward, but the broader litigation will be stayed after it concludes while the appeal plays out. If the Eleventh Circuit sides with Teva, the ruling could undercut the failure-to-warn claims that sit at the center of the litigation.6Drugwatch. Paragard Lawsuits
Judge May has also issued other significant rulings. In November 2025, she denied CooperSurgical’s motion to dismiss failure-to-warn claims but granted partial summary judgment barring design-defect claims against CooperSurgical for devices implanted before it took over the design role. The second bellwether trial, originally set for March 2026, was rescheduled for fall 2026 after the defense verdict.14Robert King Law Firm. Paragard IUD Lawsuit
Settlement Status
No Paragard settlement has been reached. No global settlement fund exists.9Motley Rice. Paragard Lawsuit Retired judge M. Gino Brogdon Jr. was appointed as a settlement mediator in January 2023, but no agreement has come from those efforts.15ConsumerNotice. Paragard Lawsuits
Settlement talks in mass torts typically pick up momentum after bellwether trials show how juries react to the evidence. With the first verdict going to the defense and a preemption appeal pending at the Eleventh Circuit, both the prospects and the timeline for any settlement are uncertain.
Cases Already Dismissed on Timing Grounds
Not every filed case has survived. In early 2025, Teva and CooperSurgical challenged 236 lawsuits as untimely under state statutes of limitations. Judge May dismissed roughly 100 of them. The dismissed plaintiffs came from Alabama, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Texas, and Virginia.16Miller & Zois. Paragard IUD Anyone considering a claim should know that the deadline to sue depends on state law and typically runs from when the injury was discovered.
Where the Litigation Stands
The Paragard MDL is at an inflection point. The defense won the opening bellwether, the second bellwether has slipped to fall 2026, and the Eleventh Circuit is weighing a preemption question that could reshape the case for every remaining plaintiff. For the more than 4,000 people with pending claims, the next trial verdict and the outcome of the appeal are the two events most likely to decide whether these cases move toward settlement or continue to be fought one by one.