Many morcellator cancer lawsuits brought against Ethicon have recently reached settlements, but the U.S. District Judge presiding over this litigation has stated that the remaining cases should be remanded for individual trials.

Previously, these product liability lawsuits had been centralized as part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, before the U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil in Kansas.

Of the dozens of morcellator cancer lawsuits included in the original MDL, only three remain unresolved. Two of these three were filed against Ethicon.

Judge Vratil released a Suggestion of Remand on June 30, in which she recommended that the three remaining cases be sent to the U.S. District Courts in which they would have been originally filed individually.

The judge indicated that the reasons for coordinating these cases no longer exist with just the three remaining lawsuits.

Though the coordinated litigation is likely reaching its end, it is expected that injured patients and their families will continue to file morcellator cancer lawsuits against Ethicon and other manufacturers.

Morcellator lawyers are still reviewing and filing lawsuits on behalf of families who have discovered that a family member’s cancer diagnosis or death may have been the result of power morcellator use during a uterine fibroid removal surgery.

The morcellator cancer lawsuits were brought on behalf of women who underwent laparoscopic uterine fibroid removal, and were later diagnosed with cancer.

Morcellator cancer lawsuits allege that the use of a power morcellator during fibroid removal jumpstarted and exacerbated the spread of cancer throughout the body.

The claims in this MDL were nearly identical, citing the rapid spread of leiomyosarcoma, endometrial stromal sarcoma, and other cancers due to power morcellator surgery.

What is a Power Morcellator?

Power morcellators have become popular medical tools in the last decade, but have been in use since their approval in 1991. They are used in minimally invasive procedures, making a small cut in the abdomen and removing uterine fibroids through just that small incision.

However, if the uterus or uterine fibroids contain some form of cancer, the power morcellator can actually spread cancer cells throughout the body as it spreads tissue.

The FDA reports that around 1 in 350 women who undergo power morcellation surgery have undetected uterine cancer that, through surgery, can be spread to other parts of the body. This can speed up the spread of cancer, thereby increasing the overall risk to the patient.

Ethicon, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, has stopped manufacturing and selling power morcellators since the rise in adverse event reports and warning from federal regulators.

Power Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits

A growing number of injured patients and their families are filing power morcellator cancer lawsuits. Had plaintiffs been adequately warned about the risks of cancer linked with power morcellation, lawsuits claim, they would have chosen a safer alternative.

If you or someone you love has undergone power morcellation surgery and has since been diagnosed with ovarian cancer or another kind of cancer, you may be able to join litigation.

While filing a morcellator cancer lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering of cancer or bring a loved one back to life, it can help to at least compensate for the financial expenses incurred by medical bills and lost wages.