Since 1992, the Depo-Provera birth control (DMPA) shot has been available to women in the U.S. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) estimates that between 2017 and 2019, three percent of American women used DPMA in the past month. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) states that one in five adolescent girls/women used DPMA at some point in their lives.
That translates to millions of American women. The DMPA, like all medications, comes with risks and side effects. In the U.S., the FDA warns that DPMA can lead to bone loss, irregular bleeding/amenorrhea, weight gain, and a delayed return to fertility.
Now a massive lawsuit against Pfizer alleges DMPA is also giving women meningiomas, a type of brain tumor.
Popular birth control is linked to brain tumors in new study — as over 1,000 women sue Pfizer over health risks https://t.co/Qem88W3hpV pic.twitter.com/qEIiAWomQI
— New York Post (@nypost) October 17, 2025
Here's more from the New York Post:
Women who use Depo-Provera face a higher risk of developing a slow-growing brain tumor, according to a new study that comes as the contraceptive’s maker, Pfizer, faces hundreds of lawsuits claiming that it was aware of the potential risks.
Depo-Provera — the brand name for depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) — contains the synthetic progestin hormone, which stops the ovaries from releasing an egg to prevent pregnancy.
The injections, used by roughly 1 in 4 sexually active US women at some point, last about three months.
For the new study, researchers examined over 61 million female patient records, finding that women who used DMPA had a twofold higher risk of getting diagnosed with meningioma compared to women not on hormonal birth control.
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A meningioma is a type of tumor, usually benign, that grows from the meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. They account for approximately half of all benign brain tumors, and are more common in women (especially middle-aged women) than men. This is likely because they express progesterone receptors, and are sensitive to female hormones.
The tumors can interfere with brain functions and blood flow, causing vision changes, headaches, seizures, memory issues, and weakness. If in the spinal cord, they can impair mobility and cause paralysis. Malignant meningiomas are rare, but are aggressive with far lower survival rates.
Treatment of meningiomas often involves surgery and radiation.
One of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, Dillon White, said that some 10,000 women have come forward after being diagnosed with a meningioma after taking DMPA.
In a post on Instagram, White said, "Pfizer was actually warning about the risk about the risk of meningiomas as far back as 2015 in other countries, but didn't do it here in the United States."
"So many women don't even know that this is happening," White said, "For the most part, this has been vastly underreported."
White also points out that these cases and social media awareness have helped improve diagnoses, expand studies, and help more women. "Doctors, neurosurgeons, OB-GYNs, hospitals are all now recommending when a patient comes in experiencing symptoms of meningioma and they have a history of Depo-Provera use, get checked for one. Get cleared to do so for medical and insurance purposes," White said. "This is a huge hurdle that these cases have helped overcome."
"This should've never happened," White added. "But that said, we are very hopeful that the continued exposure of all of this will mean that more women get the care that they need."
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