In April of this year, a Georgia woman filed a morcellation cancer lawsuit against Gyrus Acmi Inc., the makers of the PKS PlasmaSORD Bipolar Morcellator, a medical device used in gynecological surgeries that has been linked to the spread of uterine cancer.

Plaintiff Betty D., a resident of Georgia, filed the morcellation cancer lawsuit in a Philadelphia state court, alleging she sustained personal injuries from the use of Gyrus’ power morcellator during her laparoscopic hysterectomy.

According to the morcellator cancer lawsuit, Betty underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy in July 2010. During this procedure, a PKS PlasmaSORD Bipolar Morcellator made by Gyrus was used to morcellate her uterus. What was not known prior to this surgery was that Betty had an undiagnosed leiomyosarcoma (or uterine sarcoma).

The malignant cancer cells were allegedly ground up by the Gyrus power morcellator and spread throughout the plaintiff’s abdomen, which upstaged her cancer. According to the morcellation cancer lawsuit:

“The Plaintiff relied upon the fact that the occurrence of upstaging, dissemination and seeding of malignant cells were not listed or emphasized in the product’s warnings as a basis to believe that the PKS™ PlasmaSORD™ Bipolar Morcellator was safe for use during her surgery and would not cause the upstaging, dissemination and seeding of malignant cells.”

Betty claims that had she been adequately warned about the possibility of morcellation cancer, then she would have never agreed to the laparoscopic morcellation procedure at all.

She brings several allegations against Gyrus in this morcellation cancer lawsuit, including failure to warn, design defect, negligence, negligent design, misrepresentation and suppression, constructive fraud, breach of express and implied warranties, and punitive damages.

Betty is seeking monetary damages, treble damages, attorney’s fees, pre and post-judgement interests, court costs, delay damages, and other forms of relief deemed fit by the court.

What are Power Morcellators?

Power morcellators are medical devices that are used during laparoscopic surgeries, usually myomectomies to remove uterine fibroids or hysterectomies to remove a woman’s uterus. The device is inserted into the patient’s body via a small incision in the abdomen were it then shreds the uterine or fibroid tissue in order to facilitate easy extraction.

While surgical procedures using power morcellators have become popular because of the speedy recovery time for patients post-op, these devices have come under fire in the medical community because of studies and morcellation lawsuits linking the use of these medical tools with the upstaging of uterine cancer.

Morcellation Cancer Risks and FDA Warnings

According to FDA reports, 1 in 350 women undergoing laparoscopic morcellator hysterectomy or myomectomy procedures have an undiagnosed sarcoma. As previously stated, if a power morcellator hits and shreds a hidden uterine sarcoma, the cancer cells can spread throughout a  patient’s abdominal cavity, thus upstaging a cancer diagnosis and bringing a patient closer to death.

In April 2014, the FDA launched an investigation in response to the morcellation cancer findings. The agency has also warned doctors to avoid using morcellation during  a hysterectomy or myomectomy surgery.

This Morcellation Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 150401312, in the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County, Civil Division.

If you believe you have sustained personal injuries like cancer after a power morcellator was used to perform a laparoscopic procedure, then you should consider filing a morcellation cancer lawsuit.