Higher Risk Of Meningioma Side Effects Associated With Depo-Provera for These Women, According to a 2025 Medical Study Report

(Posted by Tom Lamb at Drug Injury Watch)

A recent medical study looking at Depo-Provera meningioma cases in the US pointed out that there is a higher risk for women with at least 4 years of Depo-Provera use or for those who started their Depo-Provera injections after age 31. These new findings seem to narrow the population most likely to experience the meningioma side effect associated with Depo-Provera (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate).

This recent medical study focused on the association between Depo-Provera use and a meningioma diagnosis in US women, and its findings were reported in the article “Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate and Risk of Meningioma in the US“.

That article appears in the November 2025 print edition of JAMA Neurology, after being initially published online in September 2025. In summary, from the Results part of its Abstract:

Use of [Depo-Provera (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate)] had a relative risk of 2.43 (95% CI, 1.77-3.33) for meningioma diagnosis compared with controls. Notably, this risk was confined for patients with longer than 4 years of exposure or starting the prescription at ages older than 31 years.

For more details, here is the Conclusions part from the full-text article:

In this US population cohort study, we demonstrated that patients using [Depo-Provera (injection dMPA)] had a greater [relative risk (RR)] of developing a meningioma diagnosis compared with matched patients using [oral medroxyprogesterone acetate (oMPA)], other contraceptives, or controls. Notably, this risk appears to be confined to patients with more than 4 years of [Depo-Provera (dMPA)] exposure or older than 31 years at initiation. The number needed to harm with [Depo-Provera (dMPA)] use was high at 1152 patients and the attributable risk percentage was 59% suggesting [Depo-Provera (dMPA)] may have low clinical risks for meningioma diagnosis but could be attributable for those who do develop meningiomas. Oral MPA had a much lower, but statistically significant increased risk of meningioma diagnosis. No increased risk of meningioma diagnosis was found with any other contraceptive.

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An Editorial piece that appeared in the November 2025 JAMA Neurology edition presented the findings of this recent medical study about Depo-Provera meningioma cases in the US in a slightly different manner, and in the context of additional information. From “Depot Medroxyprogesterone and Meningioma Risk“, with footnotes omitted:

In the current study, women without a previous diagnosis of meningioma were assigned to 7 groups based on their method of contraception, ie, [Depo-Provera (dMPA)], oral MAP, intrauterine devices, combined oral contraceptives, progestin only pills, subdermal implantable contraceptives, or control patients without these contraceptives. First, all groups were matched for other meningioma risk factors, including age, race, neurofibromatosis, history of pregnancy or breast cancer, body mass index (BMI), and previous exposure to radiotherapy, and experimental groups were then compared with controls. In a second, more detailed analysis, all experimental groups were matched across additional covariates and meningioma risk related to [Depo-Provera (dMPA)] was compared with all other contraception groups.

As the primary outcome, [Depo-Provera (dMPA)] was associated with an increased RR of 2.43 (95% CI, 1.77-3.33) for a meningioma diagnosis compared with the control population, with a number needed to harm of 1152 patients. Importantly, this risk was limited to a start age of [Depo-Provera (dMPA)] exposure older than 31 years and an exposure duration of longer than 4 years. Oral MPA was also associated with a significantly increased risk of meningioma compared with controls (RR, 1.18; 95% CI; 1.10-1.27) with a number needed to harm of 3020 patients. [Depo-Provera (Depot MPA)] showed a significantly increased meningioma risk compared with all other contraceptive methods investigated, including oral MPA. There was no significantly increased risk for the nonmedroxyprogesterone acetate contraception groups.

We are investigating Depo-Provera meningioma cases for women who have been diagnosed with intracranial meningioma and are seeking legal compensation from the responsible pharmaceutical companies. We point out that these Depo-Provera drug injury lawsuits will not be filed against the women’s doctors who prescribed the Depo-Provera injections. This is because a primary focus of the drug injury lawsuits filed on behalf of these women will be why the Depo-Provera drug label in the US does not include any of the warnings about the increased risk of intracranial meningioma that are included in the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) drug labels for Depo-Provera.

You can submit an Online Case Evaluation Form for a possible Depo-Provera drug injury lawsuit, or call 910-256-2971 to speak with attorney Tom Lamb about your Depo-Provera meningioma case.

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