German drugs and pesticides giant Bayer AG stated, it will pay around $1.6 billion to settle the majority of U.S. claims involving its Essure birth-control device.

The agreement comes in the wake of a $10.9 billion settlement which it hammered out in June, 2020, following U.S. lawsuits claiming that its weedkiller Roundup caused cancer.

The Essure settlement is for nearly 90% of the nearly 39,000 claims by women alleging injury from the devices, said Bayer. The company is also in discussion with counsel for the remaining lawsuits.

“There is no admission of wrongdoing or liability by Bayer in the settlement agreements,” said Bayer.

According to the U.S. lawsuits filed by women, Bayer’s device, when implanted in the fallopian tubes to permanently block the passage of eggs to the uterus, can pierce the tubes; with the device’s small metal parts being dislodged, they could migrate to other parts of the body.

In 2018, Bayer had disclosed, it would phase out this birth control product from the U.S. market, with the company attributing the decision to declining sales of the implantable device and not on safety concerns.

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