July 6, 2015 — The Wall Street Journal reports that Lina Medical has settled a lawsuit filed by the husband of a woman who died from cancer after a morcellator was used in her hysterectomy.
The lawsuit was filed in February 2013 and was set to go to trial later this year. Instead, plaintiff Scott Burkhart has accepted an undisclosed settlement, according to his attorneys.
His wife, 53 year-old Donna Burkhart, died from leiomyosarcoma in February 2013, only eleven months after a morcellator made by Lina Medical was used in her hysterectomy.
Burkhart accused Lina Medical of failing to adequately warn about the cancer-spreading risks associated with power morcellators, which use spinning blades to grind up uterine tissues before they can be sucked out of a patient’s body through small incisions.
Nearly two dozen similar lawsuits have already been filed in state and federal courtrooms in the United States. Lawyers have asked federal judges to centralize the litigation into one court. Meanwhile, more wrongful death lawsuits continue to be filed. Attorneys say they are investigating about 300 potential lawsuits.
Power morcellators were once used in over 60,000 hysterectomies in the United States every year. Their popularity has declined dramatically since last year, after the FDA warned that they could spread undiagnosed uterine cancer in about 1 out of every 350 patients.
Do I have a Morcellator Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting morcellator induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been diagnosed with cancer, 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.
Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.