Scottish women launch legal action against Pfizer over contraceptive injection linked to brain tumors

A former nurse who has been diagnosed with three brain tumors believes they were caused by the contraceptive injection she used for more than two decades, in a case that forms part of an emerging legal challenge against Pfizer (PFE).

Nicola McKay, 53, from Portmahomack in Easter Ross, began three-monthly injections of Depo-Provera in the early 2000s. In February last year she was taken to hospital after suffering five seizures. A scan the following day revealed three non-cancerous brain tumors known as meningiomas. She is one of about 150 women in the early stages of legal action against the drug's manufacturer.

"The drug was convenient, you just assume these things are safe," McKay told BBC Scotland News. Surgeons were unable to remove the tumors completely, although one shrank with radiotherapy. She now faces a lifetime of medication to manage the condition and the prospect of further seizures, and has been unable to return to nursing in the rural Highlands.

"Before I was such a busy, adventurous, outgoing person and now it has completely changed my life," she said. "This isn't a minor side effect like a rash — it is brain tumors — and dozens of women are impacted."

Depo-Provera is the brand name for medroxyprogesterone acetate, a progestogen hormone that is more than 99 per cent effective as a contraceptive. In 2024 a study published by the British Medical Journal found that women who used the drug for at least 12 months were 5.6 times more likely to develop meningiomas. The same year, the UK medicines regulator and Pfizer updated the patient information leaflet to warn about brain tumors.

McKay joined a group of women who met Jackie Baillie of Scottish Labour to press for a UK-wide inquiry into the link, and for additional support for those who believe they have been affected. "I want every person who prescribes the drug to warn women of the possible side effects," she said.

Among those who visited Holyrood was Kirsty McCord, 52, from Biggar, who said she had been offered the injection as a teenager as a "wonder drug" that would regulate her periods and hormones. More than three decades later a seizure led to a tumor diagnosis. Surgeons could not remove all of the growth because of its proximity to a major vein. "It totally blindsided me — I had a tumour the size of a tangerine which had a cyst attached to it," she said, adding that she remained on anti-seizure medication with no means of preventing further growth.

Maree Todd, Scotland's public health minister, said she could not comment on matters that could become subject to legal action, but added that she had "the utmost sympathy for women who believe they have been harmed by Depo-Provera" and would meet some of them this week.

The regulation of medicines is reserved to the UK government. The Department of Health and Social Care said it would consider the most appropriate regulatory action if significant new information emerged, adding that for most people the benefits of the drug outweighed the risks and that anyone with concerns should consult a healthcare professional.

Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said the safety of medroxyprogesterone acetate and other synthetic forms of progesterone was kept under continual review using emerging research, global data and international developments, and that further regulatory action would be considered should significant new information be identified.

Thompsons Solicitors Scotland is handling the claims. Patrick McGuire, a partner at the firm, said the process remained at an early stage. "We are in a very early stage of gathering evidence — these cases are not simple," he said, adding that more than 200 women in Scotland had approached the firm, of whom 150 had signed up.

Pfizer said patient safety was its top priority and that it conducted "rigorous and continuous monitoring" of all its medicines, including assessments of reported adverse events, in collaboration with health authorities worldwide. The company said Depo-Provera had been approved in more than 60 countries over the past 30 years, had a well-established efficacy and safety profile, and had been a treatment option for millions of patients. It urged anyone with concerns or side effects to speak to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse.