Tracey & Fox Attorneys Report At Least Seven Patients Have Now Filed Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits

June 08, 2015 – – According to attorneys at Tracey & Fox, a litigation surrounding the power morcellator has now grown to at least 7 personal injury lawsuits.

Power morcellators are a common choice among surgeons and gynecologists who perform hysterectomies and myectomies to remove “benign” fibroids from the uterus. Morcellators are equipped with a spinning blade and can break fibroid tissue into small pieces for removal. But according to medical experts, as well as the US Food & Drug Administration, morcellation can disseminate ground-up tissues throughout the abdomen and pelvis region.

While fibroids are assumed to be non-cancerous, surgeons currently have no conclusive way of distinguishing between these benign growths and undiagnosed uterine cancer. As a result, procedures in which power morcellators are used present the significant risk of spreading undetected cancer cells throughout a patient’s abdomen, exacerbating her condition and, in many cases, shortening her prognosis. According to a recent FDA analysis, the risks are far more widespread than were previously suspected. FDA researchers concluded that as many as 1 out of every 352 women who undergo fibroid removal surgery are harboring an unsuspected uterine sarcoma.

Prominent members of the medical community are now discouraging the use of morcellators in the majority of women. But plaintiffs in a series of recent lawsuits say that the companies behind power morcellators have known about the device’s risks for years. They claim that, in the face of mounting evidence, these manufacturers failed to warn patients and surgeons. At least four women have filed lawsuits, and three husbands who survive their deceased wives have also brought claims.

The first morcellator cancer lawsuit was filed on March 14, 2014 in Pennsylvania. Registered under case number 5:14-cv-1557, the complaint was brought by a plaintiff who alleges that his wife lost her battle against leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer, less than one year after undergoing a hysterectomy.

On October 24, 2014, Brenda Leuzzi died after a two year battle against uterine cancer, a condition she claimed was spread and “upstaged” by a morcellator procedure in 2012. Two months before her death, Leuzzi and her husband had become America’s second family to file a power morcellator lawsuit, claiming in court documents that Johnson & Johnson had manufactured an unsafe product and failed to warn patients of its dangers.

In case number 5:14-cv-02209-EJD, filed in California, the Robinson family alleges that Richard Wolf Medical Instruments’ power morcellator caused wife, Sarah, to suffer from a severe intensification of an undetected leiomyosarcoma. Plaintiffs claim that Richard Wolf, a German company with operations in Illinois, knew of the procedure’s risks but did not warn patients and surgeons adequately.

October 14th of 2014 saw the fourth morcellator lawsuit filed, a claim brought by a couple from California against Gyrus ACMI, a subsidiary of the Japan-based Olympus Corporation. Lisa Nielsen says that after undergoing a hysterectomy in which Gyrus’ power morcellator was used, she was diagnosed with seven cancerous tumors in her abdomen.

In the first months of 2015, three other plaintiffs have filed morcellator lawsuits. On January 26, 2015, a woman from Michigan filed a claim against Karl Storz, a German company whose power morcellator she claims caused her undiagnosed uterine cancer to spread. Plaintiff says that she is now battling stage-4 cancer that has metastasized to her breasts and bones.

Six days later, a widower in California filed suit against Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest morcellator manufacturer. In case number 6:15-cv-00516-MGL, he claims that his late wife’s death in 2012 was caused by a hysterectomy procedure in which J&J’s Gynecare Morcellex morcellator was used.

Two months later, Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary was hit by the most recent morcellator cancer lawsuit. In this complaint, filed by a couple in Georgia, plaintiff claims that she was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma and endometrial stromal sarcoma after undergoing a hysterectomy in 2011. According to court documents, her cancer went into remission after successful treatment, but has since recurred.

The experienced defective pharmaceutical and medical device attorneys at Tracey & Fox are currently offering free case evaluations to families who believe that a power morcellator procedure may have spread or worsened undiagnosed uterine cancer. Interested parties can schedule a consultation at no charge by calling (713) 322-5378.

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Contact Tracey & Fox:

Sean Tracey
888-427-0543
440 Louisiana Street , Suite 1901
Houston, TX 77002

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