Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) spoke to the House on December 10. He presented Kathryn Fredrickson’s Essure story as part of his Faces of E-Free series, designed to inform his colleagues on the importance of passing H.R. 3920, the E-Free Act. Passage of this bipartisan legislation would make the FDA remove Bayer’s “permanent” sterilization device, Essure, from the market. It would also strip the product of its pre-market approval, thus allowing the women harmed by Essure to pursue legal action.
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) spoke to the House on December 10. He presented Kathryn Fredrickson’s Essure story as part of his Faces of E-Free series, designed to inform his colleagues on the importance of passing H.R. 3920, the E-Free Act. Passage of this bipartisan legislation would make the FDA remove Bayer’s “permanent” sterilization device, Essure, from the market. It would also strip the product of its pre-market approval, thus allowing the women harmed by Essure to pursue legal action.
Rep. Fitzpatrick’s presentation follows:
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to tell the story of Kathryn Fredrickson of Maryland, one of the tens of thousands of women harmed by the permanent sterilization device, Essure.
Essure was recommended as the “optimal birth control solution” for Kathryn despite a pre-existing autoimmune condition and known nickel allergy. After the procedure, she felt sever pain, extreme bleeding, vomiting, and rashes caused by the nickel-based devise. After three weeks of pain and discomfort, Kathryn paid $7,000 out of pocket to remove the device. One coil was found in her uterus. She lost 2 months of work and of her life. Kat’s health has never been the same.
I rise as a voice for the Essure Sisters. To tell this Chamber that their stories are real. Their pain is real. Their fight is real.
Mr. Speaker, my bill, the E-Free Act can halt this tragedy by removing this dangerous device from the market. Too many women have been harmed.
And I urge my colleagues to join in this fight — because stories like Kat are too important to ignore.”
I concur with Rep. Fitzpatrick’s statement that, “…stories like Kat are too important to ignore.” There are over 25,000 known victims of Essure. That’s 25,000 real women with stories similar to the one you’ve just read.
Essure’s impact on women’s health is unacceptable. Lives, careers, marriages and families are being destroyed. It’s time to pass the E-Free Act and remove this harmful product from the market.
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