Studies
What is the depo shot, and why is it in a lawsuit?
The depo shot is Depo-Provera, the injectable birth control shot now linked to meningioma risk in two peer-reviewed studies. Here's what the science shows.
What is “the depo shot,” exactly?
Depo-Provera is a brand name. Most people just call it the depo shot. It’s an injection of medroxyprogesterone acetate, given once every three months as a form of birth control. It’s the same drug at the center of the meningioma lawsuit playing out today, MDL 3140. That case count is still climbing.
If you got the depo shot in the 1990s or 2000s, this is the drug the lawsuit is about. That’s true whether you’ve always known it by its brand name, its generic name, or just “the shot.”
Two studies, one signal
Two independent studies found the depo shot linked to a higher meningioma risk.
Relative risk of meningioma among depo shot users, compared with non-users, by study.
| Study | relative risk | What it measured | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMJ (2024) | 5.55x | National case-control study, progestogen users vs. non-users | Roland N, et al., BMJ 2024;384:e078078 |
| JAMA Neurology (2025) | 2.43x | Matched subgroup of 88,667 depo shot users vs. non-users, from a 10.4M-woman cohort | JAMA Neurology, DOI 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.3011 |
A 2024 study published in The BMJ looked at long-term use of the depo shot. It found 5.55 times the risk of meningioma, compared with women who hadn’t used it.
JAMA Neurology published a second study in 2025. It followed a group of more than 10 million US women, then compared 88,667 depo shot users against matched non-users. Within that matched group, depo shot users had 2.43 times the risk. That risk was concentrated in women who’d used it for more than four years, or who’d started after age 31.
Both numbers describe relative risk. That’s how much higher the risk is compared with someone who never used the depo shot. It’s not the odds that any one woman develops meningioma.
The JAMA Neurology study also reported a number needed to harm of 1,152. Researchers estimate it would take 1,152 depo shot users at that same exposure level to see one additional meningioma case. Relative risk stays real. Absolute risk stays small. Both are true at once.
Neither study proves the depo shot caused any one woman’s meningioma. That’s the exact question a federal judge hasn’t ruled on yet.
Where the lawsuit stands today
The depo shot lawsuits are consolidated into one federal case, MDL 3140. A judge in the Northern District of Florida oversees it. As of July 1, 2026, the court’s own count stood at 5,830 pending actions. The court is still taking new cases today.
Pfizer and plaintiffs’ counsel reached a settlement in principle on June 15, 2026. It covers only people who already have a case pending in the MDL. The eligibility rules haven’t been made public yet.
If you used the depo shot and were later diagnosed with meningioma, a usually non-cancerous brain tumor, that door is still open to you today.