Searle Taking 2 IUDs Off U.S. Market

G. D. Searle & Co. announced today that it is withdrawing from the U.S. market its two intrauterine devices, including the nation’s most-prescribed IUD, because of the cost of defending the products against lawsuits and the company’s inability to obtain adequate insurance.

“Searle has full confidence in the safety, efficacy and medical utility” of the product, said Tod Hullin, vice president of communications for the Skokie-based pharmaceutical giant.

“We and many physicians deeply regret this action because it limits the choices of the American public in birth-control methods,” he said at a news conference.

The IUDs to be withdrawn immediately are marketed under the trade names CU-7, the most-often-prescribed in the nation, and TATUM-T, Hullin said.

Subject of 775 Lawsuits

The devices, which have been on the market for 12 years, were the subject of 775 lawsuits against Searle, Hullin said. Most of those lawsuits contended that the IUDs caused infertility or bacterial infections.

Of those lawsuits 470 have been disposed of and 305 are pending, he said.

Of the 470 lawsuits disposed of, Hullin said one-third were dismissed without any payment by the company. But, he said, four recent trials in which the company paid no damages cost $1.5 million to defend.

“The cost of such litigation and the non-availability of insurance made this (the manufacture of IUDs) no longer economically sensible,” he said.

Company Lost 2 Suits

Hullin said 10 of the 775 cases had resulted in jury verdicts, with the company losing two of the 10.

The CU-7 was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a prescription drug in 1974, while the TATUM-T received similar approval in 1979.

Hullin estimated that about 1 million of the IUDs may be now in use and said women using them need not have any immediate concern. He said the device is safe and effective for about three years and suggested that any woman who is worried consult her physician.