Power Morcellator News: Potential Cancer Risk Prompts Third U.S. Senator to Urge Action on Power Morcellators, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports
New York, New York (PRWEB) October 13, 2014 -- Growing concerns that the use of power morcellators (http://www.injurybeacon.com/power-morcellator/) in hysterectomies and other gynecological surgeries might promote the spread of uterine cancer has prompted another U.S. Senator to write federal health regulators, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. In a letter dated October 6, 2014, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) asks Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), to “swiftly and closely evaluate the concerns that have been raised, and take any additional action necessary that is appropriate to safeguard the health of the public." Among other things, the letter also points out that Johnson & Johnson has already pulled its power morcellators from the market due to the concerns surrounding their use, and that one large Pennsylvania health insurer has stopped covering uterine morcellation.*
“Senator Casey is the third U.S. Senator to write to the FDA on this matter. Our Firm has heard from a number of women who allegedly experienced the spread of uterine cancers due to power morcellators. We are pleased to see this issue is getting the attention it deserves,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is now evaluating potential morcellator lawsuits on behalf of women who may have experienced the spread of undiagnosed uterine sarcoma and other cancers due to uterine morcellation.
Uterine Morcellation and Cancer
Power morcellators are used in laparoscopic hysterectomies and fibroid removals to shred tissue so that it can be easily removed through a small incision in the abdomen. In April, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) warned that use of the devices in gynecological procedures could spread undetected uterine cancer cells throughout a woman’s body. According to the agency, roughly 1 in 350 women with fibroids has uterine sarcoma cells within that tissue. Current screening methods do not always detect these malignancies prior to surgery, and dissemination of cancer cells outside of a woman’s uterus via a power morcellator can result in the upstaging of the disease, greatly reducing a patient’s chances of long-term survival.
In August, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, both Democrats from New York, wrote to FDA Commissioner Hamburg, and asked that the agency seek a power morcellator recall. The letter was sent in the wake of an FDA advisory panel meeting, at which time the agency heard emotional testimony from a number of cancer patients and their loved ones, many of whom urged the FDA to ban the devices. Senators Gillibrand and Schumer also implored the FDA to seriously consider that testimony as it prepares to make a final determination regarding the use of the surgical tools.**
Women who allegedly experienced the spread of uterine sarcomas and other cancers due to power morcellation may be entitled to take legal action 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.
*roc.democratandchronicle.com/assets/pdf/A22230361010.PDF, U.S. Senator Robert Casey, October 6, 2014
**modernhealthcare.com/article/20140820/NEWS/308209948, Modern Healthcare, August 20, 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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