Did you undergo a laparoscopic hysterectomy or myomectomy with a power morcellator only to find that you had undetected cancer that spread?

Women across the country who underwent removal of uterine fibroids may face an increased cancer risk if their surgeon used a power morcellator in the operation.

What is a Power Morcellator?

A power morcellator is a small bladed device that minces fibroid tumors (or the uterus) into bits, allowing the surgeon to remove the tissue through tiny laparoscopic incisions in the abdomen.

Used during hysterectomy or myomectomy (the surgical removal of uterine fibroids), the power morcellator has become a popular alternative to full abdominal incisions which come with bigger scars, more pain, more blood loss, a longer recovery time, and a higher risk of infection.

Tragic complications arise, however, when a fibroid is harboring a hidden undiagnosed cancer such as leiomyosarcoma. Morcellation can then spread microscopic cancer cells throughout the abdominal cavity, essentially disseminating the patient’s body with disease.

Prior to 2015, it was estimated that 55,000 to 75,000 U.S. hysterectomies a year were performed using power morcellators. Doctors also use them in myomectomies, the removal of fibroids alone. As noted in reports summarized by the FDA, up to 80 percent of women will have uterine fibroids during their lifetime.

While some members of the medical community still hold that a morcellator can be a useful and efficient surgical tool in some patients, the FDA and most of the medical community have concluded that the device’s potential benefits are greatly outweighed by a fatal danger when used in women with an unsuspected malignant uterine sarcoma or leiomyosarcoma hidden within the fibroid.

Power Morcellator Cancer Risks

Based on current data, the FDA estimates that 1-in-350 women undergoing a hysterectomy or myomectomy for the treatment of fibroids have an unsuspected uterine sarcoma, a type of uterine cancer that includes leiomyosarcoma.

Most women with uterine sarcoma first notice abnormal vaginal bleeding, spotting, or unusual vaginal discharge between menstrual periods or after menopause. Other symptoms can include pain and an unusual feeling of fullness in the pelvic area and frequent urination.

Power Morcellator Lawsuits

A number of women and their families have filed power morcellator lawsuits.  These morcellator lawsuits similarly allege that the power morcellator device used during a laparascopic hysterectomy or fibroid removal surgery caused them to develop an aggressive form of uterine cancer and that the manufacturers of these devices knew about the risk of leiomyosarcoma and uterine cancer associated with the devices.

One plaintiff, Viviana R. of New Jersey, filed her power morcellator cancer lawsuit after she developed leiomyosarcoma following a morcellator hysterectomy in 2014. Viviana was diagnosed with metastasized stage four uterine cancer that spread to her abdomen, pelvis, and lungs.

Another plaintiff has brought forth claims that power morcellator surgery caused his wife’s death. John P. says that his late wife Kelly died in September 2015 after undergoing uterine fibroid removal surgery where a power morcellator was used. Kelly had been diagnosed with uterine cancer that spread into her abdominal cavity.

Additionally, the FDA issued an advisory last April discouraging the use of laparoscopic power morcellators during hysterectomy or myomectomy after Dr. Amy R., a 40-year-old Boston anesthesiologist and mother of six, launched a very public campaign to ban the procedure following a routine hysterectomy in October 2013 that upstaged her undetected cancer from Stage 1 to Stage 4.

If you or a family member have been diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma or uterine cancer you believe is linked to a surgery performed using a laparoscopic power morcellator between 2000 and present, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

While a financial award can not take away your pain and suffering, it can help with medical expenses and help to hold the companies who make these devices accountable for failing to warn about the dangers and risks associated with power morcellators.