With tears streaking her face, Elizabeth Fleurisma traces the healed marks across her scalp.
When she turned 30, the Long Island mother was stunned to learn she carried a brain tumor the size of a lime.
After a grueling 16‑hour operation and weeks of radiation, a fragment of the tumor still clings to her skull, throwing her everyday life into turmoil.
“When I came out of surgery, when I came home, it’s almost like I didn’t even know my environment,” the 33‑year‑old, who turns a month older this week, told The Post.
“Sometimes when I’m trying to speak, I’ll forget a word,” she added. “It’s not easy healing from these things or getting back to where you left off.”
Living in Centereach, Fleurisma argues that her meningioma resulted from eight years of Depo‑Provera use.
She joins 75 other New Yorkers who have sued Pfizer, the company behind Depo‑Provera, for allegedly failing to inform users about the elevated risk of potentially devastating brain tumors.
Her attorney, Ellen Relkin, told The Post, “I’ve filed cases on behalf of about 150 women and have many other clients that we’re still evaluating, and Elizabeth’s tumor is the largest of all the ones I’ve seen.”
Over 1,700 lawsuits have been filed separately in federal court. Plaintiffs claim Pfizer knew or should have known about the higher meningioma risk but deliberately kept this information hidden to protect profits.
Pfizer responded that it “believes these claims are without merit and will vigorously defend against these allegations.”
The company added: “The Company stands behind the safety and efficacy of Depo‑Provera, which has been used by millions of women worldwide and remains an important treatment option for women seeking to manage their reproductive health.”
What is Depo‑Provera?
Reproductive health became a priority for Fleurisma after she gave birth to her son in 2011 at the age of 18.
She tried birth‑control pills but struggled to keep them on a regular schedule.
Her gynecologist recommended Depo‑Provera, a widely used contraceptive that has been tried by nearly 25 % of sexually active women at some point.
The injection is administered in the upper arm or buttocks every three months.
It contains progestin, a synthetic hormone that halts ovulation, blocks sperm from reaching eggs, and thins the uterine lining to make implantation challenging.
Research indicates that long‑term exposure to certain progestins—including the form used in Depo‑Provera—can markedly increase the risk of intracranial meningiomas.
“The relationship between sex hormones and meningioma tumors has been known since the 1920s, and the presence of progesterone receptors in meningioma tissue has been reported since the 1970s,” Fleurisma’s suit states.
“Several scientific studies have established that progesterone, its synthetic analogue progestin, and Depo‑Provera in particular, cause and/or substantially contribute to the development and growth of intracranial meningioma tumors.”
These meningiomas grow slowly and originate from the meninges—the membranes that shield the brain and spinal cord. While generally benign and non‑metastasizing, they can press against nearby brain tissue, nerves or blood vessels.
Fleurisma recalls that her gynecologist never discussed Depo‑Provera’s side‑effect profile in detail, only that the chance of pregnancy remained minimal.
Side‑effects listed on the product label include bone mineral density loss, a modestly increased risk of breast cancer, clotting disorders, stroke, ectopic pregnancy, severe allergic reactions and vision loss, among others. Meningiomas are not mentioned.
Pfizer says it requested the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to add a warning after reviewing 2023 studies linking Depo‑Provera to meningiomas, per Reuters. The FDA declined, stating that the findings of available observational studies alone were insufficient to support a warning. Pfizer resubmitted the request in June 2025.
Inside Fleurisma’s emotional battle
Fleurisma began using Depo‑Provera in 2014 at 21. She felt fine until early 2023, when:
“I was having severe headaches, fatigue. It was excruciating pain that I could no longer bear.”
When she checked her temperature one night, the emergency room team delivered the shock of a brain tumor.
“It was very shocking news, because I’ve never faced a crisis like this before,” she told The Post.
The months that followed feel surreal. She underwent a craniotomy at Stony Brook University Hospital in July 2023, but the surgeons couldn’t excise the entire tumor.
She then received radiation therapy five days a week for roughly a month—27 sessions in total, as detailed in her lawsuit.
Each treatment lasted less than two hours, during which a radiation mask—resembling something out of “Star Wars”—held her head and neck still for precision targeting.
“You just lay there,” she described the routine. Read More Read All
“The staff asked, ‘What would you like to listen to to help keep calm?’,” she added. “I’d think about the next vacation I want to take, my favorite food, to keep my mind off the real situation.”
On the road to recovery
Recovery has been an uphill battle, full of setbacks and small frustrations.
She sent her now‑14‑year‑old son to stay with his father because she was no longer able to care for him.
She watched the scarwork grow and her hair fall out.
The fight goes on; Fleurisma meets her radiologist annually to monitor the remaining tumor fragment for growth.
She reported in her suit that she still endures vision troubles, headaches, nausea and dizziness.
Before this ordeal, Fleurisma worked as a residential manager for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“The moment I learned about the diagnosis, everything stopped. I couldn’t bear the headaches at work,” she shared.
“I was in the middle of recertifying as a certified nursing assistant and also preparing to become a mental‑health hygienist, so everything was put on hold. Two years later, I’m back where I began; it’s still a struggle.”
She is now studying to become a medical assistant, hoping to join the pediatric field.
She stopped taking Depo‑Provera in 2023 after her neurosurgeon advised her to.
In March 2025 she filed suit against Pfizer, saying, “Let women know they have a voice.”
“Some women…don’t ask questions, and that’s what I didn’t do,” she added. “You have a voice, you speak on your health, and you take care of yourself.”
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