Petition to Ban Surgical Device Named in Morcellator Lawsuits Nears 11,000 Signatures, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports
New York, New York (PRWEB) July 03, 2014 -- A petition to ban a surgical device named in several morcellator lawsuits (http://www.morcellatorlawsuit2015.com/) is nearing 11,000 signatures, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. According to a posting on Change.org, some 10,969, people have signed the petition, which seeks a ban on the use of power morcellators in gynecological surgeries due to concerns that the devices can promote the dissemination of undetected uterine cancer cells into the pelvis and abdominal cavity. *
“Our Firm has heard from a number of women who allegedly experienced the spread of uterine sarcoma and other cancers due to the use of power morcellators in laparoscopic hysterectomy and fibroid removal surgery. We are pleased that this issue is garnering the attention it deserves,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is now offering free morcellator lawsuit reviews to women who may have been harmed by uterine morcellation.
Morcellator Lawsuits
Power morcellators are used in minimally-invasive hysterectomies and fibroid removals to cut up tissue so that it can be easily removed through a small abdominal incision. According to a report from CBS News in Boston, the petition to ban uterine morcellation was launched by a Massachusetts woman and her husband after the woman was diagnosed with stage four leiomyosarcoma, a rare but aggressive form of uterine cancer, following a morcellation procedure she underwent last October to remove fibroids.**
In April, the U.S. Food& Drug Administration (FDA) warned that the use of uterine morcellation might allow undetected uterine sarcoma and other cancers to spread outside of the uterus. The FDA estimates that 1 in 350 women undergoing fibroid removal have uterine sarcoma cancer cells in their fibroids. Unfortunately, uterine sarcoma is difficult to detect and is almost never discovered until after fibroids have been removed and biopsied. Spread of such cancers beyond the uterus will greatly diminish a woman’s chances of long-term survival, according to the FDA.
According to court documents, a number of morcellator lawsuits are now pending in U.S. courts, all of which allege the use of power morcellators resulted in the spread of uterine cancer. In February, for example, the husband of a 53-year-old woman who died from uterine cancer less than a year after she underwent power morcellation filed a hysterectomy cancer lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Case No. 14 5557). On May 1, 2014 a similar complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of New York on behalf of a woman who blames uterine morcellation for the spread of leiomyosarcoma in her abdominal cavity (Case 6:14-cv-06218). Less than two weeks later, a case was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California on May 13, 2014 that claims the use of a Wolf Power Morcellator promoted the dissemination of uterine cancer cells throughout a woman's peritoneal cavity (Case No. Case5:14-cv-02209-PSG).
Victims of uterine sarcomas or other cancers that were allegedly spread via uterine morcellator may be entitled to file their own power morcellator lawsuit against the manufacturer of the device used in their surgery. To learn more about the risks potentially associated with power morcellators, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. To obtain a free legal review, please call 800-511-5092.
*change.org/petitions/women-s-health-alert-deadly-cancers-of-the-uterus-spread-by-gynecologists-stop-morcellating-the-uterus-in-minimally-invasive-and-robot-assisted-hysterectomy, Change.org, July 3, 2014
**boston.cbslocal.com/2014/04/25/local-couple-makes-push-to-ban-morcellation/, CBS, April 25, 2014
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993. As a national law firm, Bernstein Liebhard LLP possesses all of the legal and financial resources required to successfully challenge billion dollar pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As a result, our attorneys and legal staff have been able to recover more than $3 billion on behalf of our clients. The Firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the Plaintiffs’ Hot List, recognizing the top plaintiffs firms in the country, for the past 12 consecutive years. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is the only firm in the country to be named to this prestigious list every year since it was first published in 2003.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP represents the victims of defective drugs and medical devices on a contingency-fee basis, and our clients are never expected to pay attorneys fees unless their case results in a successful recovery on their behalf. New York State’s contingency fee cap rules generally limit those fees to 33 1/3% of the total recovery. As a result, the Firm’s fees can be significantly lower than those assessed by attorneys in other states, which depending on the law may amount to as much as 40% or more of a plaintiff’s recovery.
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Contact Information:
Felecia L. Stern, Esq.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
info(at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com
http://www.morcellatorlawsuit2015.com/
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Felecia L. Stern, Power Morcellator Lawsuit Information, http://www.morcellatorlawsuit2015.com, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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