[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16950]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE E-FREE ACT

  (Mr. FITZPATRICK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, can you imagine such debilitating pain, 
fatigue, and depression that you feel as if your children have lost you 
as a parent?
  For women impacted by the medical device Essure and its documented 
damaging side effects, this unimaginable situation is a stark reality.
  Since it appeared on the market in 2002, Essure, a permanent 
sterilization device for women, has triggered over 5,000 formal 
complaints to the FDA, including reported symptoms of pelvic and 
abdominal pain, internal bleeding, autoimmune reactions, loss of teeth 
and hair, and even metal breaking and migrating throughout the body.
  On top of that, Essure has been proven responsible for the deaths of 
four women and five unborn children.
  Yet, in the face of all these facts, today Essure remains on the 
market, certified with FDA's stamp of approval. That is unacceptable to 
me and the tens of thousands of women who are living with this device's 
effects.
  That is why this week I will introduce the E-Free Act, legislation to 
remove this device from the market before it can hurt any other women. 
This is a women's issue, a safety issue, a regulatory issue, an issue 
with faces and names.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and join me and the 
thousands of women across the Nation in this fight.

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