Plaintiff takes to stand in contraceptive class action

If she knew a permanent contraceptive could cause heavy bleeding, intense pain and end in a hysterectomy at 32, Patrice Turner says she would have never have gone through with it. 

Ms Turner, now 37, told the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday she suffered severe and at times constant pelvic pain and heavy uterine bleeding in the years she had the device, which resolved after she underwent the major abdominal surgery.

She is the lead plaintiff in a class action suing six companies involved in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of the Essure device in Australia.

They include Bayer Australia and German parent company Bayer AG.

The plaintiffs say the device caused them chronic pelvic pain and abnormal uterine bleeding disorders. 

Ms Turner, a mother of three, had always been generally healthy and active.

But faced with the collapse of her marriage - and knowing she didn't want any more children - she sought out medical advice for permanent contraception, which she underwent in 2013. 

At fist she requested a hysterectomy, and then tubal litigation but her doctor explained the Essure device was a good, cheaper option, especially with its quick recovery time compared to the others. 

"I got the sense that it was safe and uncontroversial," Ms Turner said. 

"I do not recall being told that there were risks that having the device implanted may result in pelvic plain or very heavy menstrual bleeding.

"I recall thinking the Essure was a great option for me because I was adamant that I didn't want another child."

She also knew her then-husband would not get a vasectomy, she said. 

The Essure device was inserted into both of her fallopian tubes in September 2013. 

Once it was inserted, Ms Turner began to experience regular sharp, severe pains in her pelvic and abdominal areas.

She described the pains as debilitating and said they would last for as long as an hour.

Hundreds of thousands of women worldwide were implanted with the Essure device.

Designed to permanently block the fallopian tubes, they were used in Australia for nearly two decades until being discontinued by Bayer for commercial reasons in 2017.

The trial continues before Justice Andrew Keogh.