This video is two years old. Two. Years. Since then, the death toll (known to me at the time of writing) is seven. This doesn’t count women who have taken their own lives rather than continue to suffer. Two. Years. In that time, Bayer continues it’s canned responses and the FDA held a hearing. That’s pretty much it from them. Meanwhile, the Essure death toll may still be climbing.
Today, the Essure Problems Facebook group is over 24,000 women strong. And I mean strong. These women are some of the toughest, bravest warriors I’ve had the honor of knowing. As I continue working to get the word out on this issue, I have had the honor of connecting with many of the “E-sisters.” Let me tell you, my life has changed for the better because of them.
The Essure crisis is one of the biggest issues facing women’s health that most people have never heard of. I had never heard of it before a fellow writer began following the story. Many of my friends – all much more informed than I am – had never heard of it. To this date, I’ve yet to see it mentioned on television in my area.
It is nothing short of a crime that this is true. Why, in the “information age,” are people still unaware of this issue? How in the name of justice have we seen nothing but canned PR responses and one hearing? You want my opinion?
The answer is that the victims are women. Believe me when I say that if Viagra was causing men one tenth of the suffering that Essure is causing women, it would have been off the market and its maker sued into oblivion years ago. The sad truth, a truth that must be changed, is that the current power structure devalues women. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you heard a doctor tell a male patient:
“It’s all in your head. There’s nothing wrong with you.”
Is anyone else hearing crickets and the sounds of tumbleweeds blowing by in the wind?
There are some exceptions. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) has joined the fight for justice, introducing the “E-Free Act,” a bill which, if passed, would take Essure off the market and strip Bayer of the legal protection (called pre-emption) that prevents injured women from seeking justice in the legal system.
He’s a man who sees the suffering and wants justice. I’ve had the incredible honor of communicating with men whose wives are E-sisters and they get it, too. We need to continue to get the word out, to convince doctors and lawmakers that this is not “all in the E-sisters’ heads.”
Please help get the word out! Please support justice for tens of thousands of women who have been marginalized and ignored. I’m a man and I stand proudly with the women who fight this fight. If you’re a man and you’re reading this, I have a message for you.
Imagine it was your wife, mother, sister, daughter, cousin, friend suffering. Would you stand idly by and allow it? Worse, would you tell them it’s “all in their heads?” I doubt very seriously that you would. My challenge to you is simple:
Stand up and join the fight. You may not know an E-sister (I didn’t before this), but if you wouldn’t let your family suffer, how can you let them suffer? Add your voice to theirs. If we ALL make enough noise, ask our legislators for help, keep this issue in the public eye, we can make a difference.
Justice should be gender-blind, but sadly, we all know it’s not. Well, it’s time we take that injustice and turn it into an advantage for Essure victims. I’m not saying the E-sisters need us to fight the battle FOR them (trust me, they’re more than capable! More powerful women I have yet to meet!), but Bayer and the FDA and Congress may be less dismissive if they hear us roaring, too!
Rep. Fitzpatrick gets it. I get it. Frankly, the fact that the system ignores women pisses me off! But, Erin Brockovich was right:
If 20,000 men’s penises fell off, the world would stop.
I’m not suggesting we castrate ourselves, but dammit, if having “twigs and berries” dangling between our legs can make a difference (as much as it shouldn’t), then we should bloody well help! After all, profit-oriented men made the product, promoted the product and are ignoring the suffering.
It’s time for real men, men of honor to stand up and fight for justice. Coat those berries in brass and slam ’em on your Congressperson’s desk! Somehow, we men managed to convince Medicare to give us Viagra and penis pumps in our 80s; I think we can help fight for something more important, like women’s lives.
If that’s not a good enough reason (shame on you, if you think that!), consider the safety issues in the medical research arena. This product contains materials that aren’t safe for implantation in the human body; the MSDS for one (PET fibers) states that it is not suitable for medical applications involving permanent implantation in the human body. What else has gone on in medical research that we don’t know about and could it directly impact you as a man? (Motivated self-interest anyone?)
And if you don’t stand up, I’m telling all your mothers, so there!
Join the conversation!