Dozens of cases have come to light this year of women whose cancers rapidly worsened after morcellation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in April that the device can worsen cancer. The top U.S. power morcellator maker, Johnson & Johnson, halted sales in April, and many hospitals have curtailed their use.

Linda I. was one of hundreds of women nationwide who made their personal experiences public in an controversial debate about whether an approved medical device should be banned.

Linda began a public crusade against power morcellators saying doctors shouldn’t tolerate the one-in-350 risk that the tool can spread cancer in women undergoing procedures such as hers.

After her gynecologist diagnosed her with benign uterine growths and recommended a relatively non-invasive procedure to remove her uterus using a power morcellator – a device that shreds tissue — Linda was reportedly assured she could resume a normal life shortly after the hysterectomy.

However, days after undergoing the procedure, in which a laparoscopic power morcellator is inserted through an incision to cut the uterus into bits and remove it, Linda received the devastating news that the tumors were actually leiomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of uterine cancer.

Linda was told by her doctor that the power morcellator likely left behind bits of cancerous tissue that seeded into multiple tumors. She underwent chemotherapy but the damage had already been done.

Linda died almost one year to the day after undergoing the procedure using power morcellation.

What is Power Morcellation?

Gynecologists use power morcellators when they perform laparoscopic procedures, such as a hysterectomy or a myomectomy in which they remove uterine fibroids. These instruments have rotating blades that break large tissue masses into small fragments. Broken down tissues are then vacuumed away and out of the body.

The inherent risk of laproscopic power morcellation is the dissemination of the broken-up tissue. Benign tissue can become implanted on abdominal structures and organs, resulting in conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis, potentially requiring further surgery.

However, while doctors can diagnose most forms of cancer before an operation, a rare form, called leiomyosarcoma or uterine sarcoma, may mimic the appearance of benign uterine fibroids in medical imaging and is often undetectable in preoperative testing. If these fibroids harbor cancer cells, they may be spread throughout the abdomen.

The Controversy

In the time when Linda had the procedure and died, warnings about cancer spreading with power morcellation devices were just beginning to make headlines.

The FDA issued a safety warning that discouraged use of the devices and urged doctors who wanted to continue using them to inform patients of the risk of cancer spread and the worsening odds of survival in the event cancer is present.

The FDA has gone so far as to estimate that as many as one in 350 women having surgery for fibroids may have a hidden cancer but has yet to decide whether it should permanently ban morcellation.

Numerous power morcellation lawsuits have also been filed against makers of power morcellators alleging failure to warn.