New Study Warning Against Power Morcellation to treat Hysterectomies

By Paul da Costa on July 29, 2014

According to the New York Times, a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association published this past Tuesday has concluded that the risk of spreading cancer in women undergoing a minimally invasive hysterectomy is in fact higher than was previously anticipated. This issue has become an increasingly greater public concern following the FDA’s warnings against use of the procedure and the FDA’s recent panel discussing the procedure. We previously blogged about this topic on two other occasions. You can read these blog posts by clicking here and here.

Power morcellation is a procedure that breaks uterine tissue or fibroids into small pieces that can then be removed through a small incision. The procedure, which is minimally invasive, is used on approximately 50,000 women each year.

The problem with the power morcellation procedure is that it can spread undetected cancer throughout the woman’s abdomen during surgery. The recent study examined a large insurance database that contained records of procedures done from 2006-2012. The study identified 232,882 cases of women undergoing minimally invasive hysterectomies, 36,470 of which underwent a power morcellation procedure. The study found that a total of 99 women had cancer that was detected after surgery, making the rate of women at risk for cancer-spreading during a hysterectomy 1 in every 368. The risk was also found to increase with age, especially in women between the ages of 50 and 65. More importantly, many of the women who were at risk had precancerous conditions that could have easily been detected by various screenings before undergoing surgery.

If you or a loved one has undergone a minimally invasive hysterectomy using power morcellation, which could have spread preexisting and undetected cancer, you may have a medical malpractice claim. The experienced attorneys at Snyder & Sarno, LLC can help you get compensation for your injuries. Call us today at (973) 274-5200.