10 Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits Against Ethicon Settled By Southern Med Law

Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits Settled By Southern Med Law Contend Power Morcellators Spread Uterine Sarcoma, Including Leiomyosarcoma A Rare Uterine Cancer.

Southern Med Law has settled 10 morcellator cancer lawsuits filed by Women who have undergone a hysterectomy using power morcellation and were later diagnosed with upstage uterine sarcoma, including leiomyosarcoma, a rare uterine cancer. The morcellator cancer lawsuits were filed against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. unit. Power morcellators remain under scrutiny by federal authorities due to allegations of the medical device spreading undetected cancer while Ethicon is named as a defendant in numerous morcellator lawsuits nationwide.

Southern Med Law was the first law firm to file federal morcellator cancer lawsuits on behalf of women who developed cancer allegedly after a laparoscopic power morcellator was used during a hysterectomy to remove the uterus or a myomectomy to remove fibroid tumors. One of the lawsuits filed by Southern Med Law was on behalf of an Arkansas widower whose wife had a robotic laparoscopically-assisted hysterectomy and cystoscopy in June 2011. The morcellator lawsuit alleges Ethicon’s Gynecare Morcellex used during the procedure spread an aggressive form of cancer called, leiomyosarcoma, that was present in the tissue shredded by the morcellator. The woman died nearly three years later. (Morcellator Lawsuit Case 6:15-cv-06100, U.S. District Court, District of Western Arkansas)

“The resolution of our 10 morcellator cancer lawsuits have been confidential which means we cannot disclose the settlement terms,” explains Dr. François Blaudeau, co-founder of Southern Med Law, who was a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in a multidistrict litigation pending in the U.S. District Court, District of Kansas over Ethicon morcellator complaints. (In Re: Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation–MDL No. 2652) Dr. Blaudeau is still representing women in morcellator cancer lawsuits against morcellator maker, Karl Storz.

Laparoscopic power morcellators grind up fibroids so that doctors can remove the shredded uterine tissue through small incisions in the abdomen. However, when undetected cancer cells are in the tissue, a power morcellator can spread the sarcoma through the abdomen and pelvis, according to the morcellator cancer complaints.

Repeated calls from morcellator cancer victims and patient advocates to ban power morcellators have prompted hospitals and some health insurers to stop using the medical devices. In 2014, the FDA all but banned the use of power morcellation in the majority of women undergoing a hysterectomy or myomectony. After the FDA’s announcement, Johnson & Johnson removed Ethicon’s morcellators from the global market. Shortly afterward, news outlets reported that the FBI was investigating whether Johnson & Johnson concealed the morcellator cancer risks from U.S. health regulators and the medical community.
[pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/06/15/fbi-investigating-johnson-johnson-over-morcellators/]

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) questioned why it took the FDA so long to take action when women were reportedly dying due to the alleged cancer-causing devices. In December, Fitzpatrick asked the FDA to conduct a criminal investigation into deaths inked to Ethicon’s power morcellators at Boston’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Rochester General Hospital and the University of Rochester Medical Center. According to FDA regulations, hospitals and medical device manufacturers are required to report incidents in which devices may have caused or contributed to a patient’s death. Yet, the first time the FDA received a report associating a power morcellator with death or serious injury was from a doctor whose family member was diagnosed with cancer associated with the device, Fitzpatrick stated in his letter to the FDA. In August, the Congressman asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate power morcellator cancer risk claims, which the GAO agreed to do.
[massdevice.com/pa-rep-fitzpatrick-wants-fda-to-launch-criminal-probe-into-morcellator-deaths/, Mass Device]
[philly.com/philly/health20150905_GAO_to_investigate_medical_devic.html]

About Southern Med Law and Filing A Power Morcellator Cancer Lawsuit:

Southern Med Law is a full service law firm representing victims of negligence, personal injuries, medical malpractice, dangerous drugs, faulty medical devices and defective products. Led by Dr. François Blaudeau, an attorney and a practicing obstetrician/ gynecologist, and the legal staff at Southern Med Law possesses a deep understanding of the complex medical and legal questions at issue in all manner of power morcellators. They are not afraid to take on the manufacturers to make them accountable and enable all of their clients to have the aggressive legal representation they deserve.

Southern Med Law
François M. Blaudeau, MD JD FACHE FCLM Esquire
2224 1st Avenue North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
Phone: 205-547-5525
Fax: 205-547-5526
francois@sml-legal.i-mlaw.com