Two new morcellator wrongful death lawsuits have recently been filed against Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary Ethicon. According to the lawsuits, two women died from leiomyosarcoma, a deadly form of cancer. They allegedly developed this form of cancer when the cancer cells were spread during their laparoscopic hysterectomies, which were performed using Ethicon’s power morcellator tool.

The two morcellation lawsuits were brought by the widowers of Cynthia O., a resident of South Carolina, and Jonel R. from Pennsylvania. Both women underwent total laparoscopic hysterectomies back in 2012, although Cynthia’s procedure also included the removal of uterine fibroids.

Prior to their morcellator surgeries both Cynthia and Jonel underwent testing in order to determine whether either woman had cancer, but no cancer or cancer cells were detected. According to recent morcellation cancer studies, 1 in 350 women undergoing hysterectomy or myomectomy are later found to have uterine sarcomas. Unfortunately, there is no reliable way for doctors to diagnose the cancer pre-surgery in many cases.

Cynthia’s morcellator lawsuit claims that the cancerous tissue in her uterus was encapsulated and would have remained encapsulated had the tissue not been shredded and disseminated by the Ethicon power morcellator. The Ethicon mrocellation cancer lawsuit alleges that use of the morcellator upstaged Cynthia’s cancer, profoundly injuring her and eventually causing her death. Cynthia died in September 2014, two months after Johnson & Johnson recalled the Ethicon Power morcellator.

Unlike Cythinia’s surgery, Jonel’s hysterectomy involved an endoscopic bag, a surgical bag used with some morcellators in order to catch tissue debris and hopefully prevent the spread of cancer. However, the endoscopic bag allegedly failed to prevent Jonel’s cancer from spreading and she also eventually died from the uterine cancer in February 2013. Both morcellator lawsuits allege that the women were not warned of the extremely high risk associated with morcellators spreading undiagnosed cancer before their respective surgeries.

Overview of Ethicon Morcellator Lawsuits

The Ethicon morcellator was developed to allow surgeons to perform minimally invasive hysterectomies and uterine fibroid removals through laparoscopic procedures. Many women choose laparoscopic procedures due to the shorter recovery time and the reduced risk of infection. Morcellator manufacturers aggressively marketed their power morcellator products as being superior to other surgical tools commonly used for hysterectomies and myomectomies. Unfortunately many doctors and patients remained unaware of the risks of spreading undiagnosed cancer cells associated with morcellation.

The FDA recently determined that their was no way to make morcellators safer, but has continued to allow them to remain on the market despite morcellation cancer risks. This was widely criticized and controversial on the part of the FDA. Johnson & Johnson chose to recall their Ethicon morcellator in 2014, stating their was no way to make the device safe and prevent the spread of undiagnosed cancer.

Hundreds of women and family members of women who allegedly died from morcellator cancer have filed lawsuits against morcellator manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson. These power morcellator lawsuits claim that the device manufacturers violated consumer protection laws and failed to warn the medical community and general public about serious risk associated with using the devices. In some cases, spouses are joining the lawsuits as co-plaintiffs bringing loss of consortium claims.