Anita Petersen was only 47 years old when she died suddenly in October 2024. It took an autopsy to reveal the cause of death. This revealed that she had been suffering from an intracranial meningioma—more commonly known as a brain tumor. It was bleeding caused by this undiagnosed tumor that led to Anita’s untimely death.
But what had caused the tumor itself?
The answer is Depo Provera, an injectable contraceptive containing medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). Anita had used Depo Provera from 2006 to 2012, and—although she had stopped taking it over a decade ago–it was too late. The cancer that was to kill her had already taken root in her brain.
At the time that Anita was taking the drug, the deadly side effects of Depo Provera were unknown. But over the last few years, evidence has emerged that prolonged use (>1 year) of the injectable contraceptive can give rise to brain tumors. We at PRI exposed these dangers in an article that we published last spring.
The contraceptive—brain tumor link was first confirmed by a major 2023 study published in The BMJ in English in 2024. The researchers found that prolonged use of any one of several progestogens—including medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), the active ingredient in Depo Provera—was associated with an increased risk of intracranial meningioma.
Depo Provera was highlighted as a particular concern because of its widespread use by women in developed countries. Moreover, the injectable contraceptive is also a staple of population control programs run by the UN Population Fund and other agencies in the developing world.
The contraceptive—brain tumor link was further affirmed by a study published in the JAMA Network in September 2025 which found the same results.
The drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer, claims to have first become aware of the risk of brain tumors from the 2023 study mentioned above. In February 2024 the company requested that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warn women of this newfound risk by including it on the warning labels for all drugs containing MPA, including Depo-Provera.
The FDA, which at the time was under the thumb of the radically pro-abortion, pro-population control Biden administration, summarily rejected that request. The agency claimed that “the findings of the available observational studies alone do not support the addition of a warning on Meningioma risk to medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA)-containing products.”
As the evidence of tumor link continued to mount, Pfizer tried again, submitting an amended application to the FDA in June 2025.
This time, the FDA relented—at least in part. In December 2025, the agency announced it would update safety labeling for injectable Depo-Provera products, so that these would warn users of the risk of meningioma.
The updated warning label now reads:
5.4 Meningioma. Cases of meningiomas have been reported following repeated administration of medroxyprogesterone acetate, primarily with long term use. Monitor patients on Depo-Provera CI for signs and symptoms of meningioma. Discontinue Depo-Provera CI if a meningioma is diagnosed.
While the FDA has finally admitted the truth of the MPA–Brain Tumor connection, it is worth asking why it took them so long. After all, many other countries had already acted to protect women’s health in this way. In 2024, for example, European and Canadian health agencies added meningioma warnings to high-dose hormone products like Depo-Provera. South Africa followed suit.
The truth is that the first reports of the MPA-Brain Tumor link go back a decade or more. The Canadian health authorities have known of the link since at least 2015. That was the year that it first listed meningiomas under “Post-Market Adverse Drug Reactions” for Depo Provera.
In other words, the anecdotal evidence that women on Depo Provera were developing brain tumors had been building for over a decade. But for some reason–regulatory capture?—no nation’s health agency was willing to fund an expensive peer-reviewed scientific study to confirm the link. This meant another decade went by–and many women had to die–before the risk was formally acknowledged.
There are currently thousands of women suing Pfizer and other generic manufacturers of Depo Provera for failing to disclose this deadly adverse effect of their product sooner. Even more women now live in fear that the slightest headache will reveal that a contraceptive they once used has planted a secret tumor in their brains.
The addition of the MPA—Brain Tumor link on warning labels may dissuade some women from using MPA-laced contraceptives. But the reality is that most Western doctors will be happy to continue prescribing it regardless of the risk to their patients of developing tumors, brittle bones, or inflamed reproductive systems. The average Ob-Gyn makes half of his profits from prescribing contraceptives of one kind or another.
The confirmation of a Depo Provera–Brain Tumor link will have even less effect overseas. Depo Provera and other drugs that are used in family planning/population control programs overseas are distributed without warning labels. The young women who receive the injections are simply told that “the shot” will stop them from getting pregnant.
Thankfully, we in the United States are no longer in the business of shipping containers full of abortifacient contraceptives—including Depo Provera—overseas.
The Trump administration has also zeroed out its nearly $300 million annual contribution to the UN Population Fund, the biggest provider of such abortifacient contraceptives around the world.
The UNFPA and other population control groups may still claim that they are saving women’s lives by contracepting them into infertility. But the truth is that these drugs cause long-term—and in some cases life-threatening—harm.
Just ask Anita Petersen’s family.
