You chose a hormone-free IUD, used it exactly as intended, and then it broke apart during a routine removal. Women across Alabama have needed surgery, lost fertility, and in some cases undergone hysterectomy because a copper fragment stayed behind. Fob James Law Firm represents Alabama women in Paragard claims, and the consultation costs nothing.

More than 4,100 cases are consolidated in federal court, and the litigation is at a decisive stage. If your Paragard fractured, a Paragard lawsuit attorney can tell you where your claim stands and how long you have to act.

Paragard Litigation — August 2026 Status: More than 4,100 lawsuits are pending in MDL 2974 before Judge Leigh Martin May in the Northern District of Georgia. Teva won the first bellwether trial in February 2026, and the next trial, Robere v. Teva, is scheduled for September 28, 2026. There is no global settlement. Alabama women file into this same federal litigation, and Alabama’s two-year deadline applies.

What Paragard Is, and Why Removal Goes Wrong

Paragard is a T-shaped intrauterine device wrapped in copper wire. It contains no hormones, which is exactly why many women choose it, and it can remain in place for up to ten years. Removal is meant to be simple: the doctor pulls the string, the flexible arms fold upward, and the device comes out whole.

The lawsuits are about what happens when it does not. Women report that one or both arms snapped during removal, leaving copper fragments embedded in the uterine wall or migrating into the pelvis. Plaintiffs allege the plastic grows brittle over years inside the body and that the device was designed so breakage during the one procedure every Paragard eventually undergoes was foreseeable. They further allege Teva and CooperSurgical received thousands of adverse event reports describing breakage and failed to warn patients or the physicians performing removals.

Where the Litigation Stands

An MDL does not try thousands of cases individually. It selects representative bellwether cases, tries them, and lets both sides learn what juries do with the evidence. In the first Paragard bellwether, decided in February 2026, the jury returned a verdict for Teva.

That deserves to be stated plainly rather than buried: these cases are being contested hard and will be won on their facts. A bellwether does not decide anyone else’s claim, more than 4,100 cases remain pending, and the next trial is set for September 28, 2026. What it does mean is that a Paragard case needs to be worked properly, with the medical proof developed rather than assumed.

Injuries Alabama Women Are Reporting

The harm depends on where the fragment lodges. Some pieces are retrieved in an office procedure with a hysteroscope. Others are embedded in the uterine wall and require surgery under anesthesia. A fragment that perforates the uterus or migrates into the abdomen can require more extensive surgery to locate and remove, and in the most serious cases women have undergone hysterectomy, ending fertility permanently.

Alongside the surgeries come chronic pelvic pain, abnormal bleeding, infection, pelvic inflammatory disease, scarring, and infertility. Some women are told to leave a fragment in place and monitor it, which carries its own consequences worth documenting. Whatever your doctors chose, the operative reports and pathology records describing the retrieved piece are the backbone of the claim.

Who May Qualify in Alabama

You may have a claim if a Paragard IUD broke during removal and a piece stayed behind, whether it was retrieved later or is still inside you. It does not matter that removal was performed correctly; the allegation is that the device should not fracture under the ordinary forces of the procedure it was always going to undergo. Women who needed surgery, who lost fertility, who developed infection, or who had a hysterectomy have the most serious claims, and women whose fragment was retrieved in an office visit may still have one.

Evidence That Builds a Paragard Claim

The most valuable item is the device or fragment itself, if it was preserved. Ask your surgeon or the hospital whether it was kept, because facilities often retain explanted devices and pathology may have documented it. Beyond that, the file is built from implantation and removal records, operative reports from any retrieval surgery, imaging such as ultrasound or CT showing the fragment’s location, pathology reports, and records of what followed, including infections, fertility treatment, or hysterectomy. Documentation of missed work and the personal toll matters too. If you do not have these records, we obtain them, and cases still proceed when the device was discarded.

The Alabama Filing Deadline

Alabama gives most injury claimants two years under Ala. Code § 6-2-38, and for a Paragard case the clock generally runs from the fracture and resulting injury rather than from the original implantation years earlier. Claims proceed under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer’s Liability Doctrine, the state’s framework for holding a manufacturer responsible for a product that was unreasonably dangerous when it left their control.

Two Alabama points are worth knowing. Unlike some neighboring states, Alabama does not impose a fixed statute of repose that cuts off product claims a set number of years after a device was sold, so a Paragard implanted long ago is not automatically barred. And Alabama’s contributory negligence rule, which can bar recovery from a plaintiff even slightly at fault, has little practical force in a case about a device that fractured inside you. What controls is the two-year window, and it is shorter than most people assume. Have your dates reviewed rather than guessing at them.

What Paragard Cases May Be Worth

No global settlement exists, and the first bellwether ended in a defense verdict, so any figure quoted online as a Paragard settlement amount is an estimate rather than a reported result. What honestly drives value is the severity of what the fracture caused. A fragment retrieved in a simple office procedure sits at one end of the range. Surgery under anesthesia, uterine perforation, infection, lost fertility, or hysterectomy sit at the other, carrying medical costs, lost income, and profound personal loss. We will give you a straight read after reviewing the records, including telling you if we do not think you have a case.

What Filing Actually Requires of You

Less than most women expect. You provide your medical records and your account of what happened, and we handle the collection work. At some point you will likely answer written questions and sit for a deposition, and we prepare you thoroughly for it. Your case is filed into the MDL in Atlanta and coordinated with the others, so common issues are litigated once rather than thousands of times. You do not appear in court unless your case is selected for trial, which happens to a small fraction. You decide whether to accept any settlement offer, always.

Why Alabama Women Call Fob James Law Firm

Most Paragard advertising comes from national intake operations that sign clients and forward the file to whichever firm is buying cases that month. Fob James Law Firm is a Birmingham trial firm, and you speak with an attorney rather than a screener working from a script. The firm brings over 40 years of combined experience and more than $100 million recovered for injured people across Alabama, and there is never a fee unless we recover for you. Call (205) 407-6009 for a free, confidential review.

Alabama Paragard Lawsuit FAQs

Is there a Paragard settlement?

No. There is no global settlement in MDL 2974, and the first bellwether trial ended in a defense verdict for Teva in February 2026. More than 4,100 cases remain pending, and the next trial is scheduled for September 28, 2026.

Teva won the first trial. Is it still worth filing?

Yes. A bellwether is a test case tried on its own facts and does not decide your claim. What the result means is that these cases must be worked properly, with the medical proof developed rather than assumed.

Do I need the actual device or fragment to file?

It helps considerably, but it is not required. Many claims proceed on operative reports, pathology records, and imaging documenting the retained fragment. Ask your surgeon or the hospital whether the device was preserved, and tell us either way.

My Paragard was implanted more than ten years ago. Am I too late?

Not necessarily. In Alabama the two-year clock generally runs from the fracture and injury rather than the original implantation, and Alabama does not impose a fixed statute of repose cutting off product claims a set number of years after sale. Your specific dates decide it, so have them reviewed.

Do I have to live in Georgia to file, since the MDL is there?

No. MDL 2974 consolidates federal Paragard cases from across the country in Atlanta, and Alabama women file into that same litigation while working with our attorneys here in Birmingham.

What does it cost to hire a Paragard lawyer?

Nothing up front. Fob James Law Firm handles Paragard claims on contingency, so there is no fee unless we recover compensation for you, and the consultation is free.

Talk to an Alabama Paragard Lawyer Today

Fob James Law Firm, LLC, 2226 1st Ave S, Suite 105, Birmingham, AL 35233. Call (205) 407-6009 for a free, confidential case review. No fee unless we win.