Latebreakers

Clinicians and health educators may encounter patient concerns stemming from recent media coverage and legal actions regarding Depo-Provera and its potential link to meningiomas. This resource provides evidence-based responses to frequently asked questions, helping you guide informed, reassuring conversations. Use this guide, developed by Contraceptive Technology editor Alison Edelman, MD, MPH, to support patient-centered decision-making and address misconceptions with clarity and clinical confidence.¹

For Patients

Background: News and social media sites are sharing information about a class action lawsuit that claims an increased risk of meningiomas for people who have used or are using Depo-Provera. Depo-Provera is a brand name for medroxyprogesterone acetate, a contraceptive injection that contains the hormone progestin.

Here are answers to frequently asked questions:

• What are meningiomas? Brain tumors that are not cancer (also called benign tumors).
• Who gets meningiomas? Women have a higher risk of meningiomas than men.
• Do meningiomas have hormone receptors? Yes, meningiomas appear to have progesterone receptors. A receptor is a molecule inside or on the surface of a cell that binds to a specific substance and causes a particular effect in the cell. Your body naturally makes progesterone.
• Does Depo-Provera cause meningiomas? No evidence exists that Depo-Provera causes meningiomas. The class action lawsuit is using a large study published in February 2024 that identified a small connection or association.
• What if this means taking Depo-Provera is a true risk? A person’s risk is small in all situations. It is possible that taking Depo-Provera is not causing the meningioma, but may be changing how it grows.
• Should I stop taking Depo-Provera? Only if you want to. You should talk to your health care provider if you want to switch to a different type of birth control. You can also read these frequently asked questions from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/progestin-only-hormonal-birth-control-pill-and-injection.
• Should I get an MRI to check for a brain tumor if I am using or have used Depo-Provera? No, it is not recommended to get an MRI of your brain if you have used or are using Depo-Provera and are feeling well. You should talk to your health care provider if you have any questions about your health.

For Providers

• What are meningiomas? Benign brain tumors
• Who gets meningiomas? Women have a 3 times higher baseline risk of meningiomas than men
• Do meningiomas have hormone receptors? Yes, meningiomas appear to have progestin receptors (doesn’t everything that is a higher risk in females? Yes)
• Does DMPA cause meningiomas? No evidence exists that DMPA causes meningiomas. Some large cohort studies identify a low-level association. This is the most recent one, published last February, that is being touted by this class action lawsuit https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-078078
• What if this association is actually demonstrating a true risk of DMPA? Of note, this is not a study of DMPA users but a study of individuals with and without meningiomas and the associated risk with a very small number in the cohort having used DMPA. However, if you were to take the absolute risk as truth, it is still small even if you take the highest OR/HR risk and calculate the absolute risk (if 4.5 per 100,000 at baseline. Though the absolute risk is probably less than that, as at baseline, meningiomas are age-related). And likely, DMPA is not causing the meningioma, but rather, possibly changing the rate of growth.
• Should you stop people from taking DMPA? Only if they want to stop it.

¹Edelman A. Patient Communications Information. Oregon Health & Science University, June 18, 2025. A. Patient Communications.I