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This is probably not what you want to hear but the only reason I've heard about it is in connection to lawsuits claiming permanent injury from it.

@lamariniere: My only exposure to it came today, in the form of a Toronto Star article talking about lawsuits: http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2016/04/18/essure-birth-control-subject-of-potential-class-action-lawsuit-in-canada.html

@lamariniere: I know - no thanks!

@lamariniere: I heard about it a few months ago on NPR. Again, like PPs, it was due to multiple law suits. Personally, I'd go in a different BC direction if able!

@lamariniere: Yeah, the story I heard was terrifying!

Our office does Essure placements. There's definitely been a drop-off in demand since all the bad press. It isn't really clear to me whether there's a true problem with the device/method vs shyster lawyers taking advantage. Hopefully that will sort itself out by the time you need to make a decision.

Most of the women who we see for it are choosing it over traditional tubal ligation for some combination of these reasons:

- They are uninsured or have no/limited coverage for sterilization. The out of pocket cost for traditional tubal ligation is upwards of 8k, Essure is around 2k.

- They are afraid of general anesthesia or have medical contraindications to being put under. Some women do get sedation for the Essure placement, but you can do it completely awake.

- They have kids/job/are busy and can't take the time for surgery and recovery. The whole procedure visit for Essure is less than 90 minutes and if you don't get sedation you can go right back to work/school/looking after littles. There's no real "recovery" period.

- Physician selection. Because Essure is a fancy, new thing I think there's a higher number of progressive young docs with a commitment to reproductive self-determination doing it in their practices. They are more comfortable offerring Essure to young/single/childless/etc women who often have trouble finding a provider willing to offer permanent options.

I don't know anything personally about it but I'm familiar with medical lawsuits and I will say that even a normal Bcp like yaz or tri-LO can get mega press from ambulance chasers. It doesn't mean the product is terrible or doomed to injure you. I would be aware of the risks and if you are interested in it- talk to a doctor. I remember when the patch got a bunch of bad press in early 2000s and it's still on the market I believe.