Paul Tassin  |  July 19, 2016

Category: Legal News

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GranuFlo class action lawsuitBrigham & Women’s Hospital is facing two morcellator lawsuits claiming malpractice at the hospital led to cases of morcellation cancer.

Patients Erica K. and Amy R. underwent laparoscopic gynecological surgery at the Boston hospital in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Both procedures used a laparoscopic power morcellator to remove tissue, a controversial technique whose use has since declined drastically.

Like many patients involved in other morcellator lawsuits, both women later developed cancer.

In their morcellator lawsuits, the patients’ husbands, Richard K. and Hooman N., now attribute their wives’ later development of cancer to the morcellation used during these surgeries.

Erica later developed metastatic leiomyosarcoma, which ultimately took her life in December 2013. Amy also developed cancer, for which she continues to receive treatment.

The problem was further described in a warning issued by the FDA in April 2014 and updated later that November. According to the FDA, power morcellators are devices used to shred and remove tissue during laparoscopic surgery.

They have seen typical use in certain gynecological surgical procedures, particularly to remove uterine fibroids in a procedure called myomectomy, or to perform a hysterectomy.

Using a power morcellator allows surgeons to perform certain procedures using laparoscopic techniques instead of open abdominal surgery. The benefits for the patient can include a shorter recovery time, less scarring and a reduced risk of bleeding.

The current controversy over power morcellators stems from the risk that they may shred cancerous tissue and spread it elsewhere in the patient’s body. It’s not uncommon for a woman undergoing a hysterectomy or myomectomy to have a uterine sarcoma that goes undetected prior to the surgery.

According to the FDA announcement, about 1 in 350 women undergoing these types of surgeries have such a cancer.

The agency now recommends that surgeons avoid using power morcellators to remove uterine tissue in all but certain specific cases.

Morcellator Lawsuits Combined in Kansas

The link between these devices and morcellation cancer has spawned a wave of morcellator lawsuits. Some plaintiffs like those in the Brigham & Women’s Hospital claims take issue with the doctors and hospitals that performed the surgery.

Other morcellator lawsuits name as defendants the companies that have been manufacturing power morcellators – companies like medical device manufacturer Ethicon and its parent company Johnson & Johnson.

In October 2015, the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) combined a group of a few dozen morcellator lawsuits against J&J into a single multidistrict litigation, or MDL, to be conducted in a federal court in Kansas.

The federal court system use the MDL procedure to conduct pretrial processes more efficiently when several similar lawsuits are filed at roughly the same time.

Generally, plaintiffs in the morcellator cancer lawsuits claim that J&J knew about the risk of morcellator cancer for years without lifting a finger to address it properly with adequate warnings, design changes, or a recall of the devices.

They say evidence from the 1990s and 2000s shows the risk of spreading cancer after morcellation was greater than had previously been thought. Yet it wasn’t until August 2014, not long after the FDA issued its first warning, that J&J finally discontinued the sale of its power morcellators.

If you or a loved one was diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a laparoscopic power morcellation procedure, you may be eligible to pursue a legal claim.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The morcellation cancer attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, morcellator cancer lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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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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