Health Highlights: May 4, 2015

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

FDA Should Stop Sales of Essure Contraceptive Implant: Petition

Bayer’s contraceptive implant Essure can cause serious complications and should be taken off the market, says a citizen’s petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA approved Essure about 13 years ago after a review process that was fast-tracked because the device was the first alternative to surgical sterilization for women who did not want more children and offered patients a quick recovery, The New York Times reported.

Essure is a metal and polyester coil implanted in a woman’s fallopian tubes to make her permanently sterile. The procedure can be done in a doctors’ office in just 10 minutes.

However, since approving Essure, the FDA has received more than 4,000 reports of serious complications, including severe back and pelvic pain, coils that pierced the fallopian tubes and lodged in other organs, and heavy prolonged menstrual periods, The Times reported.

Thousands of women who say they were seriously injured by the implant want the FDA to take Essure off the market and to issue a public warning about its complications.

Both the FDA and Bayer say the device’s benefits outweigh the risks, The Times reported.

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