The son of a woman who died of uterine cancer is suing the Storz family of companies, claiming their power morcellator aggravated his mother’s cancer.

The plaintiff’s power morcellator lawsuit, filed in federal court in South Carolina, arises from his mother’s hysterectomy and oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) in May 2011. Both procedures involved the use of a Storz surgical device known as a power morcellator. Six days after her surgery, the plaintiff’s mother was diagnosed with adenosarcoma and sarcomatous overgrowth. She died a year later. Her son alleges her cancer and subsequent death are attributable to the use of the Storz power morcellator during surgery.

Risks Associated With Power Morcellation

Morcellation is the surgical technique of cutting larger masses of tissue into smaller pieces so they can be removed through the smaller incisions used in laparoscopic surgery. Power morcellators are sometimes used in laparoscopic hysterectomies (surgical removal of the uterus), or myomectomies (uterine fibroid surgery). Morcellation offers patients the benefits associated with laparoscopic surgery rather than abdominal surgery, such as a shorter recovery time and reduced risk of infection.

A power morcellator works by gripping the tissue in a small set of pincers and holding it against a set of rotating blades. This process can incidentally cut loose tiny bits of tissue that are left inside the abdomen and may migrate elsewhere inside the body. The problem arises when some of the loose tissue left behind is cancerous. When that happens, morcellation can cause the cancer to spread elsewhere in the body. Unfortunately, such “occult cancer” may not be detected before making the decision to use a power morcellator in surgery.

In April 2014, the FDA issued a Safety Communication, updated in November 2014, warning of the risk of spreading cancerous tissue through power morcellation. The FDA instructed power morcellator manufacturers to reassess whether their product labeling accurately represents the risk of morcellation cancer.

The communication estimates about one in 350 women undergoing fibroid removal surgery has an unknown uterine sarcoma, possibly a leiomyosarcoma, with no reliable way to test for the condition before surgery. Leiomyosarcoma creates a particular danger of morcellation cancer because it resembles non-cancerous fibroids and is not easily detected. The odds of survival are poor once malignant leiomyosarcoma spreads.

Johnson & Johnson voluntarily withdrew all of its power morcellators from the market in August 2014. However, power morcellators made by several smaller companies like Storz remain on the market. Several hospitals have also imposed voluntary moratoria on the use of these devices.

Power Morcellator Lawsuits

The plaintiff in the South Carolina power morcellator lawsuit claims Storz failed to warn physicians and the general public of the risk of morcellation cancer. His morcellator cancer lawsuit raises claims for negligence, defective manufacturing and design, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and fraud by concealment. He seeks compensation for his mother’s personal injuries and pain and suffering prior to death. He also seeks punitive damages based on the alleged knowing or intentional nature of Storz’s conduct.

So far only a few power morcellator lawsuits like this one have been filed, but plaintiffs’ attorneys estimate there could ultimately be several thousands of such suits.