IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v351y2024ics0277953624004076.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Signs and symptoms: Adverse events associated with a sterilization device

Author

Listed:
  • Leiter, Valerie

Abstract

Sterilization is now the most common contraceptive method used by women of in the U.S., and sterilization devices have played an important role in its increased popularity. This mixed methods study examines a random sample of 2500 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adverse event reports made between 2006 and 2017 about Essure, a sterilization device. Quantitative coding was used to examine patient problems; pain and bleeding were reported most frequently. Qualitative coding analyzed impacts of symptoms on patients' everyday lives and patients' healthcare experiences, including intimate relationships, mothering, and paid employment. Findings suggest that some patients struggled when their reported “subjective” symptoms didn't result in “objective” clinical signs of problems, and when physicians dismissed or deflected their concerns in diagnostic encounters. This paper raises important issues regarding the symptoms patients associated with Essure, the diagnosis of device-driven disease and injury, and the FDA's regulation of medical devices.

Suggested Citation

  • Leiter, Valerie, 2024. "Signs and symptoms: Adverse events associated with a sterilization device," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:351:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004076
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116963
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624004076
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116963?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stern, A.M., 2005. "Sterilized in the name of public health: Race, immigration, and reproductive control in modern California," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(7), pages 1128-1138.
    2. Brown, Phil & Lyson, Mercedes & Jenkins, Tania, 2011. "From diagnosis to social diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(6), pages 939-943, September.
    3. Bertotti, Andrea M. & Mann, Emily S. & Miner, Skye A., 2021. "Efficacy as safety: Dominant cultural assumptions and the assessment of contraceptive risk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    4. Zetka, James R., 2020. "Innovation, professional identity, and generational divides in medicine: The case of gynecologic laparoscopy in the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    5. Geampana, Alina, 2016. "Pregnancy is more dangerous than the pill: A critical analysis of professional responses to the Yaz/Yasmin controversy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 9-16.
    6. Jutel, Annemarie & Nettleton, Sarah, 2011. "Towards a sociology of diagnosis: Reflections and opportunities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(6), pages 793-800, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Armstrong, Natalie & Hilton, Paul, 2014. "Doing diagnosis: Whether and how clinicians use a diagnostic tool of uncertain clinical utility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 208-214.
    2. Rasmussen, Pernille Skovbo & Pedersen, Inge Kryger & Pagsberg, Anne Katrine, 2020. "Biographical disruption or cohesion?: How parents deal with their child's autism diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    3. Fisher, Michael P., 2021. "Politicized disease surveillance: A theoretical lens for understanding sociopolitical influence on the monitoring of disease epidemics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    4. Locock, Louise & Nettleton, Sarah & Kirkpatrick, Susan & Ryan, Sara & Ziebland, Sue, 2016. "‘I knew before I was told’: Breaches, cues and clues in the diagnostic assemblage," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 85-92.
    5. Nettleton, Sarah & Kitzinger, Jenny & Kitzinger, Celia, 2014. "A diagnostic illusory? The case of distinguishing between “vegetative” and “minimally conscious” states," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 134-141.
    6. Jennifer Barber & Jennifer Yarger & Heather Gatny, 2015. "Black-White Differences in Attitudes Related to Pregnancy Among Young Women," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 751-786, June.
    7. Carla Brailey & Brittany C. Slatton, 2024. "Centering Black Women’s Voices: Illuminating Systemic Racism in Maternal Healthcare Experiences," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-12, May.
    8. Michael A. Clemens & Ethan G. Lewis & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Immigration Restrictions as Active Labor Market Policy: Evidence from the Mexican Bracero Exclusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1468-1487, June.
    9. Gutin, Iliya, 2022. "Not ‘putting a name to it’: Managing uncertainty in the diagnosis of childhood obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    10. Armstrong, David, 2019. "Diagnosis: From classification to prediction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Turowetz, Jason, 2015. "Citing conduct, individualizing symptoms: Accomplishing autism diagnosis in clinical case conferences," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 214-222.
    12. Maslen, Sarah & Harris, Anna, 2021. "Becoming a diagnostic agent: A collated ethnography of digital-sensory work in caregiving intra-actions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    13. Kissling, Alexandra, 2022. "“Thinking with my dad brain, not my man brain”: Understanding Men's and Women's sterilization risk narratives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    14. Green, Sara & Carusi, Annamaria & Hoeyer, Klaus, 2022. "Plastic diagnostics: The remaking of disease and evidence in personalized medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    15. Fried, Talia & Plotkin-Amrami, Galia, 2023. "Not all diagnoses are created equal: Mothers’ narratives of children, ADHD, and comorbid diagnoses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    16. Yaqub, Ohid & Coburn, Josie & Moore, Duncan A.Q., 2024. "Research-targeting, spillovers, and the direction of science: Evidence from HIV research-funding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(8).
    17. Russell, Ginny & Kelly, Susan E. & Ford, Tamsin & Steer, Colin, 2012. "Diagnosis as a social determinant: The development of prosocial behaviour before and after an autism spectrum diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1642-1649.
    18. Schwarz, Joëlle & Dumbaugh, Mari & Bapolisi, Wyvine & Ndorere, Marie Souavis & Mwamini, Marie-Chantale & Bisimwa, Ghislain & Merten, Sonja, 2019. "“So that's why I'm scared of these methods”: Locating contraceptive side effects in embodied life circumstances in Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 264-272.
    19. Sarah Chard & Laura Girling & Brandy Harris‐Wallace & Loren Henderson & Erin G. Roth & J. Kevin Eckert, 2022. "“Here it was waiting for me:” Diabetes Diagnosis Pathways and Implications for Health Policy," Journal of Elder Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(2), pages 111-140, September.
    20. Coburn, Josie & Yaqub, Ohid & Ràfols, Ismael & Chataway, Joanna, 2024. "Cross-disease spillover from research funding: Evidence from four diseases," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:351:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004076. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.