Power Morcellator News: Bernstein Liebhard LLP Notes Publication of New Study Confirming Potential for Uterine Morcellation to Spread Undetected Cancer
New York, New York (PRWEB) July 23, 2014 -- A new study has uncovered additional evidence that the use of a power morcellator (http://www.injurybeacon.com/power-morcellator/) during minimally invasive hysterectomies can spread undetected uterine sarcoma and other cancers throughout a woman’s body, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. The research, which was published on July 22nd in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at 36,000 women who underwent a hysterectomy using a power morcellator at 500 U.S. hospitals from 2006 to 2012. Ninety-nine of the women, or 1 in 368, were found to have undiagnosed cancers present in their uterus at the time of the procedure.*
While women over 65 were more likely to have undiagnosed uterine cancers, the study found that 32 percent of the morcellation patients with undetected disease were younger than 50. According to a report from The Washington Post, that finding was particularly surprising, as proponents of uterine morcellation have long maintained that the risk for that age group is low.**
“Our Firm has heard from numerous women whose cancers were allegedly spread by a power morcellator. This study vindicates the concerns so many have voiced about these procedures in recent months,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is now evaluating potential legal claims on behalf of women who may have experienced the spread of undiagnosed cancers due to uterine morcellation.
Power Morcellation and Cancer
Power morcellators are surgical tools used during laparoscopic hysterectomies and other minimally-invasive gynecological procedures to cut up tissue so that it can be removed from the body via a small abdominal incision. In April, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert discouraging doctors from performing uterine morcellation because of the risk that the devices can spread undetected uterine cancer, resulting in an upstaging of the cancer and greatly reducing a patient’s chances of long-term survival. At the time, the FDA estimated that 1 in 350 women with uterine fibroids actually have undetected uterine sarcoma cells within that tissue.
Last month, the FDA’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel met for two-days to discuss the risks associated with uterine morcellation. According to a report from Boston Globe, the panelists heard emotional testimony from cancer victims and their families, many whom said they were never told that a power morcellator had the potential to spread uterine cancers.***
Women who allegedly experienced the upstaging of cancer due to uterine morcellation may be entitled to compensation for their medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and more. To learn more about the risks associated with uterine morcellation, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. To obtain a free legal review, please call 800-511-5092.
*jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1890400, JAMA, July 22, 2014
**washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/new-evidence-backs-fda-warning-about-device-to-remove-fibroids/2014/07/22/04b11662-11bc-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html, Washington Post, July 22, 2014
***bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/07/11/agreement-reached-whether-fda-should-ban-hysterectomy-cutting-tool/EkXZaFAUUnT5HZ7DBQvWbM/story.html, Boston Globe, July 11, 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.
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Felecia L. Stern, InjuryBeacon.com, http://www.injurybeacon.com/, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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