July 11, 2014 — A woman from California has filed a lawsuit (PDF) alleging that a morcellator worsened her uterine cancer.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Richard Wolf Medical Instruments.
The plaintiff, Sarah Salem-Robinson, was treated with the Wolf Power Morcellator during a supracervical hysterectomy in May 2012. The morcellator was used to remove fibroids on her uterus.
Unfortunately, those “fibroids” turned out to be leiomyosarcoma, a highly-aggressive form of uterine cancer. She was also informed that the morcellator might have spread malignant cells throughout her abdomen, which may have significantly worsened her long-term prognosis.
She started undergoing routine imaging tests, which were negative at first. Unfortunately, doctors have recently found four small lesions in her lungs that are probably leiomyosarcoma.
According to the lawsuit:
“Because of the risk of metastatic disease, plaintiff has undergone and continues to undergo aggressive treatment and therapy that has caused plaintiff injury and severe pain and suffering.”
The lawsuit alleges that Wolf Medical knew about the possible risk of their morcellator spreading cancer, but failed to adequately warn doctors and patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended against the use of morcellators in hysterectomies in April 2014. They estimated that 1 in 350 women who has fibroid surgery actually has uterine cancer, and about 1 in 500 actually has leiomyosarcoma.
Do I have a Fibroid Surgery Injury Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting morcellator induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by cancer after a hysterectomy, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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