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Morcellation Media Monitoring 04/21/2016
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Johnson & Johnson Starts Settling Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits
Apr 19, 2016 | Top Class Actions
By Joanna Szabo
Johnson & Johnson has begun to settle a number of power morcellator cancer lawsuits, according to an attorney involved in the litigation. -
Laparoscopic Morcellator Review Should Be Included in ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Lawmaker Says
Apr 19, 2016 | About Lawsuits
By Irvin Jackson
A U.S. lawmaker is calling on the Obama administration to include a review of morcellator cancer risks as part of its ambitious “Cancer Moonshot” initiative.
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Johnson & Johnson Starts Settling Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits
Apr 19, 2016 | Top Class Actions
By Joanna Szabo
Johnson & Johnson has begun to settle a number of power morcellator cancer lawsuits, according to an attorney involved in the litigation.
The morcellator cancer lawsuits are product liability cases, and many of them were only consolidated a few months ago. The company has already reached settlement agreements for many of thesemorcellator cancer lawsuits, out of the 100 or so that they are currently facing.
According to Aimee Wagstaff, an attorney involved in the morcellator litigation, lawyers have even more potential plaintiffs lined up, ready to join the litigation. “I know that there are hundreds that remain under investigation around the country,” she said.
The decision to consolidate many of these morcellator cancer lawsuits was made in October 2014, and was decided by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
The JPML noted that power morcellators have a far reach in the U.S. As many as 650,000 women in the U.S. have uterine fibroid removal surgery each year, and power morcellation is an increasingly popular method, so any serious defects could have devastating effects for a large number of women. 500,000 hysterectomies are performed each year, and about 11 percent use power morcellator methods.
In November 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that power morcellator devices may actually spread cancer, and so should not be used in any gynecological surgery involving cancer or fibroid removal.
What is a Power Morcellator?
A power morcellator is a surgical tool that is used to break up fibroid tissue into tiny pieces so that they can be easily removed through a small incision in the stomach. Power morcellators make extremely small incisions, and are considered less invasive than other methods.
If a patient has cancer in their uterine tissue that they are unaware of, the use of a power morcellator during a surgery can spread that uterine cancer, which will ultimately worsen the patient’s long-term survival rate.
For most women, using a power morcellator for fibroid removal shouldn’t be a problem. However, about one in 350 women who undergo either a hysterectomy or fibroid removal have unsuspected uterine cancer.
Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits
An increasing number of patients who have been diagnosed with uterine cancer after power morcellator surgery are responding by filing morcellator cancer lawsuits. These lawsuits allege that the patients’ cancer diagnoses are attributable, at least in part, to the power morcellator surgeries.
While plaintiffs do not claim that morcellators cause the cancer itself, they do allege that the devices spread the cancer, causing it to be more dangerous. These morcellator cancer lawsuits claim that, had the plaintiffs been adequately warned about power morcellator dangers like uterine cancer, they would have sought a less dangerous alternative.
If you or someone you know has undergone a fibroid removal surgery or a similar surgery where a doctor has used a power morcellator, and have since developed uterine cancer, you may be able to file a morcellator cancer lawsuit.
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Laparoscopic Morcellator Review Should Be Included in ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Lawmaker Says
Apr 19, 2016 | About Lawsuits
By Irvin Jackson
A U.S. lawmaker is calling on the Obama administration to include a review of morcellator cancer risks as part of its ambitious “Cancer Moonshot” initiative.
In a letter sent last week to Vice President Joe Biden, Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick urged the administration to include medical device reviews and monitoring as part of the Cancer Moonshot initiative.
The request comes after concerns emerged in recent years about a risk of undiagnosed cancer being spread by medical devices used during minimally invasive laparoscopic hysterectomy and uterine fibroid report.
Known as power morcellators, the devices are designed to allow the surgeon to cut up and remove the fibroid or uterus through a small incision in the abdomen. Although morcellators were rapidly adopted by hospitals nationwide after they became available, they have now been largely abandoned by the medical community since it was discovered that they pose an unreasonable risk of upstaging hidden cancers that are contained within the uterus. This may disseminate the contained cancer throughout the body, greatly reducing life-expectancy and overall quality of life for women.
“While it is critically important we support the development of innovative new devices and drugs to treat cancer, it is just as important to take this opportunity to implement meaningful reforms to make medical devices safe,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “Unfortunately, for decades, a medical device known as a laparoscopic power morcellator proved tragically unsafe, spread cancer throughout the body of those it was designed to help, and led to the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of women.”
Although laparoscopic procedures reduce the risk of infections and shorten recovery time, the FDA has estimated that about 1 in 350 women who undergo hysterectomy or myomectomy for uterine fibroid removal may have unsuspected uterine sarcoma. Morcellators may pose a serious and potentially life-threatening risk of these women, advancing leiomyosarcoma, endometrial stromal sarcoma or other uterine cancers to an advanced stage that is difficult to treat and life-threatening.
The Cancer Moonshot program was announced in January, during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. The goal is to combine the knowledge and skills of the medical industry, federal regulators and scientists to look for new cures and treatments for cancer. The name is a reference to the program NASA launched to put a man on the moon.
Rep. Fitzpatrick wrote that by including medical device review and monitoring into the program, it could prevent thousands of unnecessary cases of advanced stage cancer, helping to achieve the program’s goals.
In December, Rep. Fitzpatrick urged the FDA to conduct a criminal investigation into how certain hospitals, like Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Rochester General Hospital, and the University of Rochester Medical Center, used laparoscopic power morcellators and whether they adequately warned women about the potential risks.
The agency responded in late March, acknowledging his request, but saying that they could not reveal whether there was a criminal investigation currently proceeding against those, or any other, medical facilities.
Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits
The letters come amid a growing number of laparoscopic hysterectomy cancer lawsuits being pursued against Ethicon, Karl Storz and other manufacturers of power morcellators, alleging that women and the medical community were not adequately warned about the potential risks associated with electing the minimally invasive procedure.
The litigation emerged after the FDA first highlighted concerns about the link between uterine morcellation and cancer in early 2014.
After concluding that there is no way to make the devices safe for women, Johnson & Johson’s Ethicon unit issued a morcellator recall in July 2014, and announced that they would no longer manufacturer or sell the devices. The company controlled about three quarters of the power morcellator market. A number of other manufacturers still sell the devices despite the FDA warnings.
Since October 2015, all Ethicon morcellator lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system have been consolidated as part of a federal MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which is centralized before U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil in the District of Kansas. Settlements have already been reached in a large number of cases.
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