The French medicines agency suspended the marketing of FemBloc, a medical device that promises permanent female contraception, on April 30, 2026, deeming the data on its effectiveness and safety insufficient.
“ The available clinical data (…) do not allow us to consider that FemBloc would be effective and safe in the medium and long term.", explains in a press release the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM). Therefore, we are taking a public health order (PHO) to suspend, in particular, its placing on the market, its distribution, or its possession for sale or free distribution in France.", the health authority continued.
Developed by the American company Femasys, FemBloc is a device that promises to completely sterilize its user without surgery. The idea is to introduce a polymer that initially blocks the fallopian tubes, then triggers a healing reaction leading to a permanent occlusion, before degrading and disappearing.
Available in France for a short time
“ To date, it is marketed in Spain, where a post-marketing study involving 100 patients is underway." , the ANSM specifies. It has obtained regulatory approval in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. "And Fembloc has recently become available in France, where four patients have been using it since March, according to the agency.
But " The clinical data provided to us by the manufacturer at our request do not, to date, allow us to demonstrate the medium- and long-term efficacy and safety of FemBloc due to the quality of the clinical studies conducted by the manufacturer on a small number of women and a relatively short follow-up period." explains the ANSM. It is therefore suspending the use of FemBloc in France if the manufacturer does not provide more convincing data. The only exception: a possible clinical trial.
Until now, only one non-surgical female sterilization device had been marketed in France: Essure implants. However, these caused a health scandal, leading to their withdrawal in the late 2010s due to adverse effects, with several lawsuits still pending.
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