A Virginia woman filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against an OB/GYN clinic and her doctor for allegedly leaving a Mirena IUD (intra-uterine device) floating in her system.
The Mirena IUD was approved by FDA in 2000 as a birth control device. In addition to preventing sperm and egg contact, the birth control also releases the hormone progestin (levonorgestrel) to prevent pregnancy.
The complaint was filed by Angela Collins in Winchester Circuit Court in Virginia against Blue Ridge Gynecology and Obstetrics PC and Dr. Karen Wade as defendants.
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The story…
According to the lawsuit, Collins had a Mirena IUD implanted for birth control in September 2006. Within months, she developed an ectopic pregnancy; a pregnancy that develops outside of the uterus, typically in the fallopian tubes.
As a result, Collins went to see Dr. Wade in February 2007, and the physician could not find the IUD. The lawsuit alleges that once she realized the device was missing and that Collins had not expelled it, Dr. Wade failed to use an imaging device to find the IUD.
Collins states she suffered pain in her left side and/or abdomen after the procedures. The defendants treated Collins for the pain on April 1, April 20, May 11 and May 24, 2007, “but failed to order any test or image or take any action that would have revealed that the Mirena was lodged in Plaintiff’s abdomen,” according to the complaint.
“Instead, Defendants advised Plaintiff she was ovulating and suggested she take ibuprofen for her pain,” the complaint states.
Collins again suffered abdominal pain and went to the Winchester Medical Center emergency room June 3, 2007, according to the complaint. She returned to the defendants for treatment on June 18, 2007. Wade advised Collins her pain was caused by scar tissue “and told her to deal with [it],” according to the plaintiff.
“Defendant Wade gave Plaintiff a prescription for pain medicine and told her to make it last because she would not give her any more,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff did not return to Defendant Wade for further treatment after that date because she believed Defendant’s diagnosis that her pain was caused by scar tissue and nothing could be done to relieve it.”
Collins suffered abdominal pain Nov. 20, 2010, and went to Winchester Medical Center.
“They did a CT scan and found the [Mirena] floating in her abdomen,” the complaint states.
Collins underwent surgical removal of the device at the University of Virginia Medical Center on Jan. 12, 2011.
“Defendants failed to provide appropriate care and treatment to Plaintiff for the injuries she suffered as a result of leaving a foreign object in her abdomen during and after the surgery on February 12, 2007 as the device had no therapeutic or diagnostic effect on her body,” the complaint states.
The suit claims Wade and the medical office showed negligence when they: failed to properly assess and diagnose the plaintiff or to “image” Collins to search for the missing device during the Feb. 12, 2007, surgery; left a foreign object in her body causing injury, pain and emotional distress; ignored the patient’s requests to look for the missing IUD; and misdirected her by stating scar tissue was causing the pain.
What she is requesting…
Collins is suing Wade and the clinic for $2 million, claiming they were negligent in failing to use proper medical procedures to find and remove a foreign object from her body. The lawsuit seeks compensation for temporary and permanent disability, disfigurement, pain and suffering, lost wages and medical expenses.
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im very sorry for your problems but i know what your going threw my mirena is tearing my uterus and it is very painful and i went to the er and they wouldnt take it out! i got told to have an obgyn take it out but with my insurance and no money to pay out of pocket i am unable to get it removed! Im sure you hear all the time that people know how you feel but im going threw just about the same thing! i have lower adbomen pain 24/7 and nothing helps it either! so again im very sorry you had to go threw all that!
with no insurance…. sorry mistyped!
how did you find out that it was tearing your uterus? they told me my iud was sideways and might be causing my pain (pain similar to what you described) but that it was fine to leave it in.
i had mirena inserted in july, i have had abdomiable pain ever since and very rapid weight gain (ten pounds in a week) plus more acne than i had as a teenager. the pain in my abdomen has been so paingul that i haven’t gotten out of bed for days at a time. i went to the dr. and let her know and she sent me home and told me that i wasn’t as young as i used to be and weight gain is normal. im 25 and had no problem before this. i waited a week and went back to my obgyn and she called for ultrasound. dr. said the ultrasound came back fine but that an egg in my right ovarie ruptured when i ovulated and there was blood iin my urine but nothing to worry about. so she set me up another appt. to come get a ct scan $200 with insurance to find the cause of my pain. took them 3 weeks to call me with my results when i was told i would know something in 2 days…. the nurse calls me and says my iud is sideways but in place??? what does that mean. she gave me 3 options; 1. leave it as it is 2. remove it and replace with a new iud 3. remove it and be given a different form of birth control. i would like to know how they couldn’t see that my iud was crooked with an ultrasound… im no expert so i dont know if you can or not. but my obgyn just acted like i was getting fat bc i overeat (which i do not) im very careful about watching what i eat. i would like to have it removed and use implanon instead but i need to find out if i my insurance will cover something like this again. also she told me i could leave my iud sideways, does my obgyn know for sure that it isn’t harmful? after all she acted like i wasnt in as much pain as i told her i was in *very rude* but in the nexxt sentence told me that my iud being sideways could very well be the cause of my pain. i have no idea what i should do, no solution seems very simple to me right now.
They made it so u can pull it out yourself no need to go through the pain!…I wouldn’t!!!