THE DALKON SHIELD was a defective intrauterine birth control device manufactured and sold by the A. H. Robins Co. Of Richmond, Virginia, from January 1971 through June 1974. It cost $3, but caused numerous injuries, including miscarriages, loss of female organs, and infertility. Like other intrauterine devices, the Dalkon Shield was designed to be inserted inside the uterus, where it usually prevented pregnancy by making it difficult for a fertilized egg to attached itself to the wall of the womb. Robins sold 4.5 million Dalkon Shields around the world, including 2.8 million in the United States.

The Dalkon Shield appeared on the market just after the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Women, whether married or not, were no longer bound by compulsory images of motherhood, yet ...