Morcellator Complications Lawsuit

The nature of a morcellator is that it chops up pieces of tissue into tiny pieces prior to extraction. As such, one of the biggest risks of using a morcellator is that pieces of tissue will escape through the pelvic cavity of a woman’s body, leading to harm later on – sometimes months, or even years, later.

Even more serious is when the pieces of tissue that a morcellator chops up and spreads around the body contain cancerous cells. While the majority of uterine fibroids are benign, as many as one in 400 to one in 1,000 cases are cancerous, according to a March 17, 2014 article published in The New York Times. Because there is no way to tell if a fibroid is cancerous prior to removal – or if there are other cancerous cells within in a woman’s uterus – a woman who undergoes morcellation of the uterus may at serious risk of having cancer spread through her body.

A November 2014 news release published by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration states that the use of a morcellator during fibroid surgery may “spread cancer and decrease the long-term survival of patients.”

Informed Consent Violations             

Many women who have suffered from cancer spreading through their bodies following fibroid surgery in which a morcellator was used were not informed of the risks the use of a morcellator posed prior to surgery. As such, these women’s rights regarding informed consent – or the right to know all of the serious risks of a procedure prior to consenting to it – were violated.

Some women who have suffered harm due to morcellator complications have filed defective medical device lawsuits against the manufacturer of the morcellators used. Others have filed medical malpractice lawsuits against the doctors who performed the surgery. If you have had cancer spread through your body at a rapid rate due to the use of a morcellator, an attorney can help to determine if a morcellation cancer lawsuit is necessary.