Corporate Harm and Consumer Risk in Reproductive Health: Faulty Contraceptives as a Form of Victimization

Access to safe and effective contraception is central to reproductive autonomy and public health, yet numerous contraceptive products have been associated with recalls, safety warnings, litigation, and allegations of insufficient risk disclosure. This article examines the harms associated with defective and insufficiently disclosed contraceptive products through the lens of white-collar and corporate crime. Drawing on scholarship on corporate harm, consumer fraud victimization, and gendered inequality, the article argues that these harms are not simply isolated product failures but reflect broader patterns of organizational decision-making, information asymmetry, and regulatory limitation within pharmaceutical systems. Using documented case illustrations involving the Dalkon Shield, oral contraceptives, Mirena, and NuvaRing, the analysis identifies recurring patterns involving delayed recognition of harm, contested disclosure of risk, and reliance on civil litigation as a primary mechanism of accountability. The article further emphasizes the gendered distribution of these harms given women’s disproportionate reliance on contraceptive technologies. By conceptualizing faulty contraceptive products as a form of corporate harm and consumer victimization, this article extends criminological scholarship on white-collar harm into reproductive health contexts and highlights how institutional systems shape the production and distribution of consumer risk.