On October 15, 2015, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) issued a transfer order consolidating 20 power morcellator personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits into multidistrict litigation (MDL) No. 2652 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas before Judge Kathryn H. Vratil. The number of cases included in the MDL … [Read more...]
The Growing Scope of the FDA Warnings about Power Morcellators
The FDA first issued a warning about the use of power morcellators in hysterectomy and myomectomy procedures in April 2014 and then expanded and clarified it in Sept 2014. Since that time there have been growing voices of disquiet against the devices, with the first lawsuits being filed in Pennsylvania in March 2014, and up to two dozen cases … [Read more...]
The Three Hurdles of Proving Damages in a Power Morcellation Case
The number of hysterectomy operations in the United States each year exceeds 500,000. Of that number, approximately 55,000 involved the use of power morcellation devices between 1995 (when they were licensed for use in gynecological surgery) and 2014 (when the FDA started to issue warnings against their use in certain circumstances). Based on … [Read more...]
Three Legal Avenues in a Power Morcellation Device Case
The FDA has issued two warnings against the use of power morcellators in certain gynecological surgeries. The first in April 2014 to highlight that 1 in 350 women will have an undetected sarcoma that can potentially have lethal consequences if the devices are used. With a second in November 2014 to further make clear when the devices should not be … [Read more...]
Power Morcellators used in Surgery Can Spread Cancer
A power morcellator is a tool used in “minimally invasive” hysterectomy and uterine fibroid removal surgery. Your doctor may not have mentioned the tool or may have been vague about the details because the description of how it works is fairly horrifying. But the real danger is that it can spread previously undetected cancer cells throughout the … [Read more...]
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