Key Points

• Meningioma surgery is performed in several different ways, including traditional craniotomy, skull base approaches, minimally invasive keyhole surgery, and endoscopic surgery through the nose. 
• How much of the tumor a surgeon can safely remove often determines whether radiation is recommended afterward and how closely the tumor is watched in the years that follow. 
• The operation a woman underwent does not control her right to sue. What matters is documented use of the birth control shot and a confirmed meningioma diagnosis. 

Why It Matters

Brain surgery is rarely a single, uniform procedure. Two women with the same diagnosis can undergo very different operations depending on where the tumor sits, how large it has grown, and which structures it touches. One may spend hours in open surgery through a large opening in the skull. Another may have the tumor removed through an incision hidden in the eyebrow or through the nasal passages. Both carry risk, recovery time, and lasting consequences, and neither woman chose to be there. 

Legal Claims for Depo-Provera Brain Tumors Surgery

Women who underwent brain surgery for a meningioma after using the Depo-Provera contraceptive injection may be eligible to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.  

Pfizer has been accused of hiding what it knew about medroxyprogesterone acetate, the active ingredient in the Depo shot, and of leaving women and their doctors without a warning about the tumor risk tied to long-term use. An operation a woman never should have needed is part of what she lost. 

The birth control attorneys at Hissey Mulderig & Friend are currently reviewing potential Depo-Provera claims at no cost. Find out whether you qualify to take legal action or start a Depo-Provera claim review by calling our office toll-free at 1-866-806-8117. 

Why Doctors Recommend Surgery for a Meningioma

Surgery is generally recommended when a meningioma is causing symptoms, when it is growing on repeat imaging, or when it is large enough to press on the brain, the optic nerves, or a major vein.  

The surgical removal of a tumor relieves that pressure directly and produces tissue for a pathologist to examine. That tissue determines the tumor grade, which in turn shapes the follow-up plan. 

Craniotomy: Open Surgery to Remove a Meningioma

A craniotomy is the most common operation for meningioma. The neurosurgeon makes an incision in the scalp, removes a section of skull known as a bone flap, opens the covering of the brain, separates the tumor from surrounding tissue and blood vessels, and takes out as much of it as can safely be removed. The bone flap is then replaced and secured with small plates and screws. 

The size and position of the opening depend on the tumor, and a growth at the base of the skull calls for a longer and more complex operation than one near the surface. 

Skull Base Approaches

Tumors along the floor of the skull sit near cranial nerves, the carotid artery, and the brainstem. Reaching them requires specialized surgical approaches with names that describe the route taken, including pterional, orbitozygomatic, retrosigmoid, and transpetrosal approaches.  

Sphenoid wing and other skull base tumors often require removal of bone at the base of the skull and reconstruction afterward. These operations carry a higher risk of injury to the nerves that control vision, eye movement, facial sensation, hearing, and balance. 

Keyhole and Endoscopic Surgery

Minimally invasive techniques allow some tumors to be removed through much smaller openings.  

In the supraorbital keyhole approach, the surgeon works through a small craniotomy behind an incision in the eyebrow, often with an endoscope for visualization. In the endoscopic endonasal approach, the tumor is reached through the nasal passages and the base of the skull, with no scalp incision at all. 

These approaches reduce brain retraction and improve cosmetic results in carefully selected patients. They also have limitations. The working corridor is narrow, the techniques suit midline tumors best, and the endonasal route carries a higher risk of cerebrospinal fluid leak, which sometimes requires a second procedure to repair. 

Embolization Before Surgery

Meningiomas draw a rich blood supply from the arteries that feed the covering of the brain. When a tumor is large or unusually vascular, an interventional radiologist may perform an angiogram and block those feeding vessels a day or two before the operation.  

Preoperative embolization is intended to reduce blood loss and operating time and to make the tumor easier to remove. It carries its own risks, including stroke, hemorrhage, cranial nerve injury, and swelling around the tumor. 

Complete Versus Partial Removal

Surgeons describe how much tumor was taken out using the Simpson grading scale, which ranges from removal of the growth along with its dural attachment and any involved bone down to partial removal or biopsy alone.  

When a tumor wraps around a nerve or a major vein, taking all of it would cause permanent injury, so a portion is deliberately left behind. 

The portion of the tumor that is not removed with surgery changes the treatment plan that follows. Published surgical series show that the risk of regrowth rises as the extent of removal falls, which is why partial removal is frequently followed by radiation and by long-term monitoring after meningioma treatment. 

Recovery and Complications After Meningioma Surgery

Recovery after meningioma removal surgery usually includes a hospital stay, restricted activity for several weeks, and follow-up imaging.  

Potential complications from these procedures may include seizures, infection, cerebrospinal fluid leak, blood clots, stroke, hydrocephalus, cranial nerve injury, and brain swelling.  

The side effects that persist after surgery can include ongoing headaches, exhaustion, changes in vision or hearing, weakness, hormonal problems, trouble with memory and concentration, and shifts in mood or personality. 

Some women are back at work within weeks after surgery. Others never return to the jobs they held before. 

Surgery Type Does Not Decide Who Can File

The choice between an open craniotomy and a smaller procedure belongs to a neurosurgeon, and it has no bearing on who can file a Depo-Provera meningioma claim. There are only a few criteria that determine whether a woman may be eligible to file a lawsuit. 

Women who used the Depo shot may be eligible to take legal action if they meet the following case criteria: 

1. Treatment with Depo-Provera, Depo-SubQ Provera 104, or a generic medroxyprogesterone acetate contraceptive injection. 

2. At least one year, typically four injections, of treatment with the birth control shot. 

3. A confirmed diagnosis of a cranial meningioma made by a health care professional. 

An open craniotomy, a keyhole or endonasal procedure, an operation followed by radiation, and a tumor under observation all sit on the same side of that line. 

What Surgical Records Show About Damages

While most women who meet the above criteria may be eligible to file a Depo-Provera claim, the compensation to which they may be entitled for a meningioma diagnosis can vary significantly.  

Medical records play an important role in helping to determine the damages that Depo-Provera users with meningioma may be entitled to receive.  

Operative reports, pathology results, and hospital records show the length and complexity of the operation, the extent of removal, complications that followed, permanent neurological effects, time missed from work, diminished earning capacity, the need for repeat surgery, and the cost of continued imaging.  

Missing paperwork is not a reason to wait to contact a lawyer, because law firms can help obtain medical records for their clients. 

Talk With a Depo-Provera Brain Tumor Lawyer

Women who underwent an open craniotomy, a skull base approach, a keyhole incision, or an endoscopic procedure after being diagnosed with meningioma brain tumors may qualify to file a Depo-Provera lawsuit and receive compensation. 

Our law firm, Hissey Mulderig & Friend, represents women across the country in Depo-Provera brain tumor claims. There is no charge to receive a case review from our attorneys, and there are no legal fees unless we recover compensation in your case.  

If you or a loved one received Depo-Provera injections and later developed a meningioma, contact the lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend to find out if you may be eligible to file a claim, or call our office toll-free at 1-866-806-8117 to talk with our attorneys and find out more.