December 5, 2014 — A major chain of hospitals has banned the use of power morcellators in hysterectomies and fibroid surgeries because the tools might spread cancer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The hospital chain is Nashville-based HCA Holdings, Inc., which owns 165 hospitals and 115 surgery centers in 20 states. HCA handles an estimated 4-5% of all inpatient care in the United States.
HCA and other hospitals discouraged the use of morcellators in April 2014, soon after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began investigating reports of cancer associated with the tools.
HCA is the largest major hospital chain to ban the devices in gynecological surgery. The announcement was made soon after the FDA announced stronger warnings on the labels and said they should not be used in the “vast majority” of women.
The campaign to ban power morcellators began in December 2013 and was led by Dr. Amy Reed, an anesthesiologist who was diagnosed with stage-4 leiomyosarcoma after a morcellator was used in her hysterectomy. Many hospitals stopped using them, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where her hysterectomy was performed.
When the FDA stopped short of banning the devices, Dr. Reed told Philly.com:
“I can’t begin to tell you how disappointing this is. It’s proof to me that the FDA is beholden to the manufacturers. I’d like to know what the FDA plans to say to the next patient who has an upstaged cancer. It’s an indictment of the agency.”
Do I have a Morcellator Injury Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting power morcellator induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been diagnosed with cancer after a hysterectomy or fibroid surgery, 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.
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs' law firms and handles cases in all 50 states. We are very proud of our legal achievements, but equally self-respecting of our firm's reputation for providing personal attention to each and every client we represent.
