Awaiting MDL Decision Plaintiffs Look Back At The First Power Morcellator Lawsuit

October 14, 2015 – – Tracey & Fox announced the filing of the first power morcellator lawsuit over a year ago in March 2014.

The plaintiff, in this case, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under case number 5:14-cv-1557, is the widower of a woman who died from uterine cancer.

His wife had undergone a laparoscopic hysterectomy to treat uterine fibroids. Nine days after her surgery, doctors informed her that one of the fibroids contained a uterine sarcoma known as leiomyosarcoma. She fought the cancer with chemotherapy and radiation treatments, but sadly succumbed to the disease in February of 2013.

Her husband filed the lawsuit a month after her death, knowing that he and his legal team may find themselves standing alone against some of the largest manufacturing companies in the world. But as he told the Wall Street Journal, even if he lost the case, his main goal was to bring public awareness to the potential risks associated with the use of a morcellator during a gynecological surgery.

The complaint alleges that when a morcellator was used during his wife’s surgery, the surgical tool spread her undetected uterine cancer throughout her body cavity. As a result, the leiomyosarcoma allegedly metastasized at a faster rate than it otherwise would have, and to organs that otherwise would have remained unaffected.

A month after this lawsuit was filed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a safety warning, which urged surgeons to stop using the morcellator during gynecological surgeries. The warning stated, “When used for hysterectomy or myomectomy in women with uterine fibroids, laparoscopic power morcellation poses a risk of spreading unsuspected cancerous tissue, notably uterine sarcomas, beyond the uterus. Health care providers and patients should carefully consider available alternative treatment options for symptomatic uterine fibroids. Based on currently available information, the FDA discourages the use of laparoscopic power morcellation during hysterectomy or myomectomy for uterine fibroids.”

The first plaintiff soon found that he was no longer alone, with new lawsuits being filed against morcellator manufacturers on a regular basis. Currently, there are more than 30 lawsuits filed against companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Richard Wolf GmbH, Karl Storz GmbH, and Gyrus ACMI.

The first lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial on November 3rd. 2015, however, in July 2015 it was announced that the two parties involved had reached a settlement agreement for an undisclosed amount. At this time, this is the only morcellator lawsuit that has been settled. All other complaints are set to go to trial, pending the decision of the Judicial Panel on MultiDistrict Litigation. If the panel agrees to the request to consolidate all morcellator lawsuits, submitted by the plaintiffs, all trials will be tried in one court, under one judge.

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Contact Tracey & Fox:

Sean Tracey
713-495-2333
440 Louisiana Street , Suite 1901
Houston, TX 77002

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