Norplant Lawsuit To Expand Focus

About 400 women are trying to join a class action lawsuit against Wyeth-Ayerst, the manufacturer of the implantable contraceptive Norplant, claiming that they have suffered severe pain and scarring when their doctors removed the six matchstick-sized capsules from their arms. Norplant provides contraceptive cover for at least five years.

The lawsuit was filed in Chicago last September, and a Cook County judge certified it as a class action last month, allowing any woman who felt that she was injured due to the removal of the device to join in. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to prevent the company from selling the device to doctors who have not been trained in its insertion and removal. Lawyers estimate that damages of $20,000-$50,000 could be claimed by most of the women involved.

Wyeth-Ayerst has issued a statement which notes that the incidence of removal difficulties with Norplant was below the 6% rate projected by the company, based on early estimates. The class action is inappropriate, adds the company, since removal was an individual procedure with many variables, including the way the implants were originally inserted, the procedure used for removal and the patient's own particular circumstances. The company has taught more than 28,000 doctors and medical assistants the proper procedures (using a lifelike model arm), but it does not require that doctors who purchase the contraceptive meet any special training requirements.