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(USGovernment-News.Com, May 28, 2015 ) Birmingham, AL -- Southern Med Law, who is currently representing women in power morcellator lawsuits, has learned through a Wall Street Journal report that the FBI is investigating laparoscopic power morcellators and whether Johnson & Johnson, the largest manufacturer of the medical device, knew about the cancer risks associated with the surgical tool. Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit took its power morcellators off the market after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned about the cancer risks associated with the device in April 2014. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FBI has interviewed a retired pathologist who notified Johnson & Johnson about the uterine cancer risks potentially associated with power morcellation. The Wall Street Journal further reports that a California woman who purportedly developed uterin cancer after a robot assisted hysterectomy has gathered nearly 400 names of patients and their families who have been harmed by power morcellators.
[wsj.com/articles/fbi-is-investigating-surgical-device-1432746641, May 27, 2015]
“Our law firm will be monitoring the FBI’s investigation very closely,” says Dr. François Blaudeau, founder of Southern Med Law which is representing women in power morcellator lawsuits. “Because of the serious health risks that can occur due to morcellators, we hope more women will come forward with claims against these morcellator manufacturers.”
Dr. François Blaudeau, a surgeon and attorney, filed the first morcellation lawsuit in the United States against morcellator manufacturers LiNa Medical US d/b/a LiNA Medical, Blue Endo and Ethicon Inc. Dr. Blaudeau is serving as lead counsel in the case of a Pennsylvania woman who died of metastatic leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer, in February 2013. According to the complaint filed by the woman's husband, the woman had a minimally-invasive hysterectomy in March 2012, just nine days before she was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma. The lawsuit asserts that the morcellator “seeded” undetected cancer cells into her peritoneal cavity. The lawsuit further alleges that the morcellation manufacturers knew of this risk, bur concealed the danger from U.S. health regulators and the medical community. (Case No. 5:14-cv-1557, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania)
Court documents indicate that Dr. Blaudeau is also involved with Co-Counsel Andy Alonso of the Alonso Krangle Firm in New York, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Fairport, New York woman who died in October, just two years prior to being diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a Robot-assisted hysterectomy with uterine morcellation. Brenda and George Leuzzi, her husband, contend in their lawsuit that her cancer was upstaged to stage 4 allegedly due to the power morcellator that was used during her surgery. (Case No. 6:14-cv-06218, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York).
“This case highlights the dangers and consequences of disseminated leiomyosarcoma and the tragic upstaging of cancer that occurred drastically affecting the life and family of Brenda Leuzzi,” says Dr. Blaudeau.
The law firm notes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2014 strongly discouraged surgeons from using a power morcellator to perform hysterectomies or myomectomies because of the tool’s potential to spread undetected cancer cells. The FDA’s warned that uterine cancer is difficult to detect prior to surgery, and that spread of the cancer cells due to the power morcellor greatly reduces a woman’s chances for long-term survival. In November 2014, the FDA issued a stronger warning, but this time stating that power morcellators should be avoided in the vast majority of women who require a hysterectomy or myomectomy.
[fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm393576.htm, April 17, 2014]
[fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm424443.htm, November 24, 2014]
About Southern Med Law
Southern Med Law and Dr. François Blaudeau possess a unique understanding of the medical and legal questions at issue in power morcellator cancer lawsuit claims. It is this in-depth knowledge that is tantamount to a successful legal representation that protects the rights of the injured. The staff at Southern Med Law is not only trained in successfully handling your legal needs but also understand the pain and suffering and treatment from a medical point of view, and is committed to protecting the rights of all individuals.
If your life has been devastated because of uterine morcellation side effects, please contact the Southern Institute for Medical and Legal Affairs today to learn more about your legal rights. You can arrange for a free, no obligation power morcellator lawsuit review by filling out our online form, or by calling the office directly at 205-547-5525.
Southern Med Law
The Southern Institute for Medical and Legal Affairs
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