Fertility
What Depo-Provera litigation means for the future of women’s health
By Aron Solomon, Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and chief strategy officer for Amplify
For decades, Depo-Provera was marketed as a convenient, long-lasting birth control option for women who want to take control of their reproductive health without the hassle of daily pills.
It was sold as a solution—an easy shot every three months that promised reliability and freedom.
But what was often left out of the conversation was the growing body of evidence linking the drug to serious, long-term side effects, including bone density loss, increased risk of certain cancers, and severe mental health impacts.
And now, lawsuits against the makers of Depo-Provera are bringing those risks into the national spotlight.
But this fight isn’t just about compensation. It’s about something much bigger: transparency, accountability, and the demand for better healthcare for women.
The lawsuits against Depo-Provera’s manufacturer aren’t happening in a vacuum.
They are part of a broader, long-standing pattern of medical products being introduced, marketed, and prescribed to women without full disclosure of their risks.
Time and time again, women’s health concerns have been dismissed, downplayed, or outright ignored until legal action forces the issue.
We saw it with the Dalkon Shield IUD in the 1970s, which led to infections, infertility, and deaths before it was pulled from the market and resulted in a massive lawsuit.
We saw it with the Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills, which were linked to life-threatening blood clots and only got black-box warnings after lawsuits mounted. And we are seeing it now with Depo-Provera.
At the heart of these lawsuits is a simple but powerful demand: women deserve to know what they’re putting into their bodies.
They deserve full transparency about risks, not sugarcoated reassurances or buried data.
Depo-Provera has been linked to decreased bone mineral density, a serious issue that can lead to osteoporosis later in life.
Studies have shown that the loss is often not fully reversible, yet many women were never warned about this before they started using the drug.
There is also an increased risk of cancer and mood disorders like depression and anxiety—again, side effects that weren’t always fully disclosed or studied in depth before Depo-Provera was widely distributed.
The legal action against the manufacturers of Depo-Provera represents more than just a quest for justice for those who have suffered—it’s a means of demanding systemic change.
These lawsuits pressure pharmaceutical companies to do better, not just in how they test and approve drugs but in how they communicate risks to patients.
They send a clear message that women are no longer willing to accept subpar treatment when it comes to their health. And they put the medical establishment on notice: accountability is no longer optional.
A crucial part of this movement is the push for more inclusive and thorough clinical research.
Historically, medical research has been male-centered, with women often being treated as an afterthought.
This has led to an incomplete understanding of how drugs affect women’s bodies differently.
When women’s unique health needs aren’t properly studied, they aren’t properly addressed—and that has real consequences.
The Depo-Provera lawsuits highlight the need for drug trials that take women’s long-term health seriously, rather than treating side effects as acceptable trade-offs.
Beyond the pharmaceutical industry, these lawsuits are also challenging the role of healthcare providers in informed consent.
Many women report that they were never told about the full extent of Depo-Provera’s risks before receiving the shot.
Some were assured that side effects were minimal or temporary, only to later discover that their bone density had been permanently compromised.
Others struggled with severe depression or anxiety, unaware that their birth control method could be a contributing factor.
Informed consent isn’t just a legal formality—it’s a fundamental right. Women have the right to make decisions about their bodies based on complete, unbiased information, and these lawsuits are reinforcing that right.
The implications of this legal battle extend far beyond Depo-Provera. They are part of a larger cultural shift in how we approach women’s healthcare.
Women are demanding better—not just in birth control options but in all aspects of reproductive and general health.
They are calling for safer medications, clearer communication, and a medical system that prioritises their well-being rather than treating them as a market for profitable drugs.
This movement is already starting to see results.
The increased scrutiny around Depo-Provera and similar cases is prompting more discussions about alternative birth control methods and the need for more research into safer, hormone-free options.
It’s pushing regulators to be more aggressive in requiring clear warnings and more thorough testing. And it’s empowering women to ask more questions, demand better answers, and take an active role in their healthcare decisions.
The lawsuits against Depo-Provera are not just about financial settlements. They are about changing the way women’s health is treated in this country.
They are about shifting the balance of power so that women are no longer passive recipients of whatever the pharmaceutical industry decides to sell them.
They are about ensuring that future generations don’t have to fight the same battles over and over again just to get basic transparency and respect in medical care.
Legal action has long been one of the most powerful tools for change, and in the case of Depo-Provera, it’s proving to be an essential force in the fight for better women’s healthcare.
The message is clear: women will no longer accept being kept in the dark about their own health.
They are standing up, speaking out, and demanding better. And the medical world—pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and regulators alike—needs to start listening.
Onto Health has acquired Levy Health, a fertility software company providing precision diagnostics and patient intake for reproductive medicine.
The acquisition, fuelled by Onto Health’s US$20m Series A fundraise in April, supports its plan to build scalable, tech-enabled infrastructure for reproductive medicine.
Onto founder Roohi Jeelani, MD, called it the first of several moves in the company’s expansion strategy in a LinkedIn post, adding that there was “more coming soon”.
She said: “This isn’t just an acquisition, it’s proof of how we’re building Onto: physician-led, tech-enabled, and built to scale without losing the personal touch fertility patients deserve.”
Headquartered in Chicago, Onto Health combines evidence-based fertility care with artificial intelligence-driven diagnostics, clinical automation and longevity science.
AI-driven diagnostics use software to analyse patient information and support clinical decision-making, rather than replace clinicians.
Levy Health, founded in Berlin with US offices in San Francisco, helps medical providers identify endocrine disorders more quickly and helps clinics streamline fertility workups.
Endocrine disorders affect the body’s hormone system, which can influence ovulation, menstrual cycles and fertility.
Co-founder Caroline Mitterdorfer said joining Onto would expand Levy Health’s fertility care tools to more clinics and patients, helping physicians focus on patient care.
Onto opened its first clinic in Chicago in February, with plans for three more in the greater Chicago area.
The company said in April that it would use its new funding, led by Artis and Humania, to support additional operations in the US and expand into the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Gulf Cooperation Council includes six Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf.
Softening ageing ovaries could help women remain fertile for longer, early animal research suggests.
Fertility declines with age for several reasons, including poorer egg quality, fewer ovarian follicles and the gradual stiffening of ovarian tissue.
Existing fertility treatments, including hormone therapy and in vitro fertilisation, mainly address hormonal imbalances or help eggs mature or become fertilised.
Scientists are now examining whether changing the physical structure of the ovaries could provide another route for future fertility treatments.
Stuart A. Cook, of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School, published an accompanying commentary on the research.
Researchers led by Shixuan Wang at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, collected healthy ovarian tissue from younger, middle-aged and older women.
They also examined samples from patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, known as PCOS, premature ovarian insufficiency, or POI, and endometriosis.
PCOS is a hormonal condition that can disrupt ovulation. POI occurs when the ovaries stop working normally before the age of 40, while endometriosis causes tissue similar to the womb lining to grow elsewhere in the body.
Tests of protein levels and gene activity found higher levels of the inflammatory protein interleukin-11, or IL-11, in ageing and diseased ovaries.
In laboratory experiments, the researchers exposed ovarian fibroblasts to IL-11. Fibroblasts are cells that produce connective tissue.
The protein caused the cells to produce excess collagen, a structural material that can build up during scarring and make tissue stiffer.
The researchers then genetically modified mice so they could not respond to IL-11. The animals developed less ovarian stiffening and maintained better ovarian function as they aged.
Similar results were seen in mouse models of PCOS and POI caused by chemotherapy.
In the final part of the experiment, older mice and rats were injected with a nanoparticle treatment containing small interfering RNA, or siRNA, designed to switch off IL-11.
The treatment made the animals’ ovaries less stiff and improved fertility.
Pregnancy rates among older mice rose from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, while average litter sizes also increased.
More rats treated with the therapy became pregnant and produced larger litters.
The approach remains highly speculative and will require considerably more research before its safety or effectiveness in women can be established.
However, the researchers said blocking the inflammatory pathway could eventually form the basis of new fertility treatments.
They said: “We propose that anti-IL-11 therapy represents a promising translational strategy for delaying ovarian ageing.”
W Group has opened applications for W Accelerate with Merck KGaA and M Ventures, inviting reproductive and maternal health startups, scaleups and spinouts to pitch for direct access to global pharma partnership and strategic investment.
Selected companies will pitch on 5th October, competing for the chance to accelerate their growth through commercial partnerships, investment, or both.
This is the third time Merck KGaA, a global leader in reproductive health, has partnered with W Group on the programme, which exists to close the innovation and investment gap in women’s health by connecting the sector’s most promising startups directly with the corporates and investors positioned to scale them.
What Merck KGaA and M Ventures are looking for
This year’s call is focused on breakthrough solutions in female infertility, fertility preservation, adenomyosis, endometriosis, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), ovarian insufficiency, preeclampsia and pregnancy comorbidities.
New for this round, applicants choose between three pathways depending on what they need from the programme:
- The Partnership Lane, for companies seeking commercial collaborations and strategic relationships
- The Investment Lane, for founders looking to connect with investors and secure funding to scale
- The Dual Lane, for innovators pursuing both partnership and investment opportunities
How the Accelerate event works
Selected companies get a 1:1 pitch practice session ahead of time, then a private 30-minute session with Merck KGaA and M Ventures leadership on the day itself, small-group sessions with regulatory and investment strategy experts, an “Ask Merck Anything” roundtable, and a VIP networking reception.
Key dates
- Open call launches: 8th July
- Open call closes: 2nd September
- Notification of successful companies: 11th September
- Pitch day: 5th October
Applications are open now at wplatform.typeform.com/to/KGzviBQM.
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