Bayer to pay $1.6 billion to resolve U.S. claims for Essure birth-control device

[August 21, 2020]  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German drugs and pesticides group Bayer <BAYGn.DE> said on Thursday it will pay around $1.6 billion to settle the majority of U.S. claims involving its Essure birth-control device.

The agreement follows a $10.9 billion settlement in June of U.S. lawsuits claiming the company's weedkiller Roundup caused cancer.

Bayer said the Essure settlement is for around 90% of the nearly 39,000 claims by women alleging injury from the devices and that it was in discussion with counsel for the remaining plaintiffs.

"There is no admission of wrongdoing or liability by Bayer in the settlement agreements," Bayer said.

Women have claimed in lawsuits that the device, which is implanted in the fallopian tubes to permanently block the passage of eggs to the uterus, could pierce the tubes, and that the device's metal parts could become dislodged and migrate to other parts of the body.

Bayer said in 2018 that it would phase out the birth control product in the United States, a decision which the company said was due to declining sales of the implantable device and not based on safety concerns.

(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Chris Reese, Kirsten Donovan)

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