NC Husband Files Suit Alleging Power Morcellator Spread Fatal Uterine Cancer In Wife

January 27, 2016 – – Banville Law reports on another lawsuit which has been filed by a husband from North Carolina on behalf of his deceased wife. The suit was filed against a power morcellator manufacturer which made the morcellator brand used during his wife’s hysterectomy. He claims that the device caused cancer acceleration and spreading within her body, and therefore also her subsequent cancer death.

Court documents from the complaint further explain that his wife visited the hospital in March of 2012 in order to undergo a gynecological hysterectomy which would remove painful uterine fibroids that she had developed. During this procedure, the surgeon opted to use a laparoscopic power morcellator tool, in order to allow the surgery to be a less invasive one, and provide the woman with a shortened recovery time.

Laparoscopic power morcellator devices are like small, electric-powered medical drills. During gynecological procedures, the tools are inserted into women’s abdomens through small incisions. Once inside, the device works on breaking down uterine fibroid tissue by rapidly spinning jaw-like blades. The blades shred troublesome tissue into small bits, which are then removed from the patient’s body by being pulled up a hollow tube on the front of the morcellator, like a small vacuum.  

Unfortunately, according to the woman’s husband, and to the many people who have filed morcellator-related lawsuits from across the nation, during this surgery, “…(tissue) fragments can be left in the abdominopelvic cavity, or attach to surrounding organs, and cancerous cells can travel to remote areas of the body.” When the tool spreads these cancer cells it can help to significantly accelerate the disease and, post-surgery, can cause the patient a sudden diagnosis of high-grade, widespread cancer, leaving them to fight for their life.

In this particular case, just six months post-surgery, the husband and wife went to the emergency room after she was suddenly experiencing great fatigue and migraines. At first, the woman’s doctors diagnosed her with large masses in her pelvis, which they believed to be benign. Unfortunately, however, after conducting surgery on these tumors, doctors instead realized that the woman had quickly developed a high-grade leiomyosarcoma.This is a rare but highly malignant form of cancer.

According to the plaintiff, his wife attempted to fight the cancer by undergoing many extensive treatments including chemotherapy and multiple surgeries over the year and a half following her diagnosis. During this time, her cancer masses only continued to increase in size and spread to additional areas of her body, and she quickly passed away.

In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a public safety warning regarding power morcellation procedures. During this announcement, the FDA indicated that women should no longer undergo gynecological laparoscopic power morcellation to remove uterine fibroids due to a risk of spreading previously undiscovered uterine cancer cells. They also disturbingly estimated that 1 out of every 350 women who currently undergo these procedures may, in fact, have these uterine sarcoma cells, and are completely unaware of them. When sarcoma cells are encapsulated within a uterine fibroid, they are virtually impossible, even for doctors, to detect before surgery.

The attorneys at Banville Law understand that this procedure may put lives at risk and are working to help ensure that every woman who has undergone this procedure and who was subsequently given cancer diagnoses will have the ability to fully explore their legal rights. These women may be entitled to significant compensation. At this time, the attorneys at Banville Law are offering free legal consultations for those affected.

To request additional information regarding power morcellation cancer lawsuits, or to ask questions, please contact the attorneys at Banville Law by calling (888) 997-3792.

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Contact Banville Law:

Laurence Banville, Esq.
888-997-3792
info@banvillelaw.com
165 West End Avenue, #1H
New York, NY 10023
United States (US)

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