Pfizer Sued for Link Between Contraceptive and Brain Tumors

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc. is facing lawsuits from approximately 400 women across the U.S. and U.K., claiming they developed brain tumors from Depo-Provera – Pfizer’s hormonal birth control shot.

This multidistrict litigation (MDL No.3140) follows a 2024 British Medical Journal (BMJ) study correlating progestogens in Depo-Provera to increased risk of meningiomas – the most common type of brain tumor.

The lawsuits claim Pfizer was “aware of the link between these birth control injections and brain tumors and that they failed to adequately warn of the risk and promote safer alternatives.”

Following the litigations, Pfizer acknowledged the potential risk of meningiomas.

“We are aware of this potential risk associated with long-term use of progestogens and, in collaboration with regulatory agencies, are in the process of updating product labels and patient information leaflets with appropriate wording.”

However, Depo-Provera’s 27 page drug label still does not contain information on the risk of meningiomas as of 2025.

Depo-Provera is the most widely used form of injectable hormonal contraception, designed to prevent pregnancy for three months following each shot. It is not recommended to be used longer than two years.

The BMJ study found that women who consistently receive Depo-Provera injections for more than one year are 5.6 times more likely to develop a meningioma. The study cites 18,601 women who had surgery to remove brain tumors between 2009 and 2018.

According to a 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, 24.5% of sexually active women in the United States have received at least one Depo-Provera injection. In addition, roughly 10,000 U.K. women receive the shot each month.

Another 2024 study, published by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), also concluded the prolonged use of progestogens in Depo-Provera “was found to increase the risk of intracranial meningioma.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic,

If [a meningioma] grows large enough, it can press on important nerves and structures of your brain, which can cause harm and even be life-threatening.

Women are more likely to have a meningioma. This is likely due to hormonal factors that contribute to the development of meningiomas.

Pfizer previously issued a warning in South Africa correlating the contraceptive with brain tumors, but failed to provide similar notification in the United States.

This isn’t the first time Pfizer has been in hot water because of their birth control shot. Upon its original release, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied the drug’s approval three times due to concerning side effects, including correlation with breast tumors in test animals. However, the shot was eventually cleared by the FDA in 1992.

Since then, the drug has been linked to bone density loss and a 49% increased risk of HIV.

Additionally, a 2019 collection of United Nations data estimated 74 million women across the globe receive Depo-Provera injections – with or without consent. The Population Research Institute (PRI) previously recorded three such instances of countries administering the drug to their female citizens unethically:

• India – “The Indian government ignored protests from social welfare groups and proceeded with promotional plans for the distribution of the injectable drug Depo-Provera.”
• Kenya – “The African women who are so cavalierly given powerful, steroid-based contraceptives are often not informed of the serious side effects that can result.” Depo-Provera was noted to cause “terrible side effects to the poor people in Kenya, who do not even have competent medical check-ups before injection.”
• South Africa – “Among black and colored women the most common way of first encountering family planning was when, on the day of their discharge from a postnatal ward, they were given an injection of Depo-Provera, often without information or consent. … At some factories the employer actually checks to see that female employees regularly receive contraception.”

These women, and countless others worldwide, are being represented by the 400 bold enough to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Misinformation on Depo-Provera is not only dangerous, but cannot and should not be tolerated.

Women everywhere deserve better. 

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