The family members of a deceased Missouri woman have filed a wrongful death power morcellation lawsuit against Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson which manufactures medical devices.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that a power morcellator caused the spread of previously undetected cancer after the medical device was used in a surgery to remove the deceased woman’s uterine fibroids.

According to the morcellation cancer lawsuit, the deceased woman had uterine fibroids surgically removed. A uterine fibroid is a noncancerous growth that develops in a woman’s uterus. These growths often develop during a woman’s childbearing years.

Power Morcellation Risks

Power morcellators allow surgeons to remove these growths or tumors in a minimally invasive way. The use of power morcellators was marketed as a way to reduce recovery time and risk of infection.

A morcellator is a small device with whipping blades that shred tissue so that it can easily be removed from the body. Power morcellators were commonly used to remove fibroids, a woman’s uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety warning regarding the risk associated with using power morcellators and spreading undetected cancer cells. According to the warning an estimated one-out-of-every-350 women who undergo gynecological surgeries have undetected cancer cells within their uterine fibroids.

When a morcellator is used the cancer cells may be released and spread throughout the patient’s body. This can rapidly increase the spread of cancer causing it to be discovered in a much later stage of advancement.

The Food and Drug Administration suggests women avoid using power morcellators during gynecological surgeries in order to avoid these risks.

Morcellation Lawsuits

The lawsuit mentioned above is just one of many power morcellation lawsuits that have been filed against various medical device manufacturers.

Due to the number of lawsuits filed regarding power morcellation devices, Ethicon, the above named defendant, has stopped manufacturing the device and in 2014, issued a recall for their morcellator devices that were on the market.

As a result of the large quantity of power morcellation lawsuits filed the litigation against the medical device manufacturers has been consolidated to form multidistrict litigation. This funnels the cases before a single judge for pretrial motions and discovery proceedings.

In some situations, a few cases will be tried early as bellwether trials. This helps foster settlement negotiations between the various plaintiffs and defendants by giving them an idea of the monetary value associated with their cases.

Product liability attorneys are currently looking to assist persons who may have a potential power morcellation lawsuit.

Deciding to bring a power morcellator lawsuit is a big decision that should be made after weighing the facts and circumstances of each individual’s situation. Successful plaintiffs may be awarded significant monetary compensation for their pain, suffering, and medical bills.

Power morcellator lawsuits like these also help hold large pharmaceutical and medical device companies accountable for the actions and to their consumers.