
Through her outreach work, Firmalino cultivated the Essure Problems Facebook community where women were able to connect, share their experiences and find physicians able to remove the device. There were 800 failed births with Essure, according to Device Events. Some women who had the permanent birth control device were still getting pregnant, and their babies were born with severe health problems. Some women had five coils in them, according to Firmalino. When the devices misfired into the uterus, doctors implanted additional devices.
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She had a full hysterectomy at 31.įor many women, the Essure coils fractured, migrated and became untraceable or irremovable. Fuentes experienced heavy bleeding, and when she complained to her doctor, her symptoms were dismissed as normal. The film also shares the story of Ana Fuentes, a 35-year-old Latina mother who was no longer able to work because of her Essure-related side effects. Unwittingly, she became the leader of the Essure Problems awareness campaign that connected more than 35,000 women who had been affected by the birth control device. After experiencing ongoing pain and finding little information about Essure side effects, she began to research the medical device.įirmalino learned that other women who had an Essure implant experienced heavy bleeding, sharp pains and other issues. A major selling point for Essure was that it could take longer to get your nails done than to get sterilized.įilmmakers follow Angie Firmalino, a 45-year-old woman who had an Essure implant and developed life-changing complications.

When Essure was introduced in 2002, it was heralded as the birth control implant with no incisions and no anesthesia. The film focuses primarily on Essure, a permanent birth control device marketed as an easier, non-surgical option for female sterilization. Thanks to The Bleeding Edge, the public has an authentic picture of just how dangerous a failed medical device can be. The film captures real human stories of complications with Essure birth control, vaginal mesh, metal hip implants and other commonly used devices.


The pair, who also produced who also documentaries The Hunting Ground and The Invisible War, takes a fearless approach to exposing the truth about the various industry players putting profits over people. In The Bleeding Edge, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering deliver a thought-provoking commentary on the American healthcare system. It chronicles the lives of various patients who have been victims of poor regulation, misleading marketing and a failure to properly educate physicians. The hard-hitting Netflix documentary The Bleeding Edge, which premiered last week, delves into the risks of the multibillion-dollar medical device industry. Whether it’s a permanent implant or a piece of equipment, medical devices are embedded in and used on millions of Americans each year. Medical devices have become a way of life in our current society.
