Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits Allege Power Morcellators Used To Remove Fibroids Spread Uterine Cancer, Including Leiomyosarcoma.
As Southern Med Law’s founder, Dr. François Blaudeau has advocated and represented numerous women in morcellator cancer lawsuits, another doctor joins his fight by filing a formal legal complaint demanding a full investigation and prosecution of morcellator manufacturers and companies that promote the medical devices.
The firm has learned that a California doctor’s legal complaint mirrors many of the same issues Dr. Blaudeau has been asserting for years, namely that power morcellators used during a hysterectomy or fibroid removal can spread undetected cancer, including a rare and aggressive form called leiomyosarcoma. Dr. Blaudeau was the first to file a federal power morcellator lawsuit which was settled in 2015 for an undisclosed amount. Since then, Dr. Blaudeau and the Southern Med Law attorneys filed and settled 10 morcellator cancer lawsuits against morcellator manufacturer, Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
The california doctor addressed her legal complaint to several California and federal governmental departments and agencies including the Federal Trade Commission, California Attorney General, the U.S. Congress, and The Hague (where the United Nation’s International Court of Justice is located in the Netherlands). Dr. Hufnagel wants to see a prosecution of doctors who used morcellators on women with undetected cancer and organizations that support using the medical device. The doctor also claims that women around the world are suffering from the “crime of morcellation” and The Hague must take the lead to educate and protect women globally from “medical abuse, harm and battery.”
[medium.com/@DrVikki/formal-legal-complaint-for-full-investigation-and-prosecution-of-9f9d836bd4c4#.jsy132q88]
“The call to prevent power morcellators from spreading undetected cancer in women has become a global issue,” says Dr. Blaudeau who was a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Ethicon Multidistrict Litigation (MDL). The MDL established for all federally filed morcellator cancer lawsuits was dissolved in September due to Ethicon resolving the majority of the morcellator lawsuits filed against them. (In Re: Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation–MDL No. 2652)
Laparoscopic power morcellators have become controversial due to their potential for spreading uterine cancer during a surgery to remove the uterus or to remove benign uterine fibroid tumors. The morcellator’s blades shred the uterine tissue into fragments for removal through small incisions in the abdomen. Undetected cancer cells in the uterine tissue can spread the sarcoma through the abdomen and pelvis, according to the morcellator cancer complaints. (In Re: Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation–MDL No. 2652)
In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restricted the use of power morcellation in the majority of women undergoing a hysterectomy or myomectomy. The agency also directed morcellator manufacturers to place a warning on the labels of their products that the medical devices have the potential to spread uterine sarcoma and other cancer cells if they are present at the time of surgery. The FDA’s action prompted Johnson & Johnson to pull Ethicon’s morcellators off the global market. Subsequently, some medical care facilities and major health insurance companies banned the use of power morcellators in gynecological surgeries. Morcellators are being investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, on behalf of the U.S. Congress
[pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/06/15/fbi-investigating-johnson-johnson-over-morcellators/]
Court documents show that morcellator cancer lawsuits are being filed against companies including Ethicon Inc., LiNA Medical APS, Kebomed AG and LiNA Medical USA, Karl Storz, Richard Wolf, and Gyrus ACMI. The complaints maintain that morcellator makers failed to adequately warn doctors and their patients about the cancer risks associated with their devices.
About Southern Med Law and Filing A Power Morcellation 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
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