Karina Basso  |  September 19, 2014

Category: Legal News

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uterine myomectomy cancerMorcellation, a popular fibroid removal surgical method, has recently come under fire for allegedly spreading cancer, and many women are seeking alternative forms of treatment for fibroids.

Uterine fibroids are benign tumors that develop in the smooth layer of a woman’s uterus. They usually do not develop individually and instead develop in clusters. These benign uterine tumors are usually found in female patients during the mid to late reproductive years, when they generally must undergo fibroid removal surgery to avoid further complications.

While uterine fibroids are technically benign, if they grow unchecked they can cause other side effects such as painful menstrual cycles, pain during intercourse, and frequent urination. In some cases, the presence of fibroids may be an indicator that a woman should undergo a hysterectomy.

Additionally, while fibroids are benign, non-cancerous tumors, they may indicate that other underlying medical problems exist or the possibility of uterine cancer. In the case of uterine sarcoma, a rare, but dangerous form of cancer, women discovered to have fibroids and subsequently undergo a hysterectomy or fibroid removal surgery generally have a higher risk of having uterine cancer.

What Are My Chances of Uterine Cancer?

According to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) statement released in April, the chances that a woman undergoing fibroid removal surgery and actually having an undiagnosed uterine sarcoma are 1 in 350 within the United States. Two months later, the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that the risk of women having undetected cancer was 1 in 368, which backs up the FDA’s findings. The JAMA study collected data from 36,000 women who, when undergoing a hysterectomy, chose to use a powered morcellator.

Older woman are at a higher risk of having an undetected form of cancer, with women in their 50s being 20 times more likely to have an undetected uterine sarcoma than those in their 40s. This suggests that older women should be cautious when choosing power morcellation for fibroid removal.

Some alternative treatments for fibroid removal include laparotomy, vaginal hysterectomy, medications, ultrasound and uterine artery embolization. Like any procedure, they all carry different risks, but none have the same risks of spreading uterine sarcomas like power morcellators.

What is a Morcellator?

A morcellator is a powered surgical instrument commonly used in laparoscopic surgeries that can remove large masses of tissue in a minimally invasive manner from the abdominal or pelvic area. This is accomplished by a doctor using the morcellator drilling a small hole into the surgical area and shredding the large tissue or fibroids into smaller pieces, thus allowing easy extraction.

While morcellation surgeries have had great success rates in removing fibroids, many scientists have recently discovered that power morcellators increase a woman’s risk of uterine cancer, especially when it is used in laparoscopic hysterectomy and myomectomy surgeries.

Women who have had a uterus removal or fibroid removal surgery where a morcellator was used and developed cancer afterward or had an undiagnosed uterine sarcoma shredded and spread during morcellation may find legal recourse against power morcellator manufacturers through a morcellator cancer lawsuit or by joining a morcellation cancer class action lawsuit.

In general, morcellator cancer lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

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If you or a loved one were diagnosed with cancer in the uterus, pelvis or abdomen within two years of undergoing surgery for a myomectomy (removal of fibroids), hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries), or salpingectomy (removal of fallopian tubes), you may have a legal claim. See if you qualify by filling out the short form below.

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