There are numerous reasons that someone may need to have surgery. When it comes to the field of OB/GYN, the number of surgical indications are endless. For example, women may have benign masses in their uterus that could necessitate removal. Some women have cysts that grow on their ovaries or uterus that need to be drained. Regardless of the reason, some of these procedures will necessitate the removal of the uterus itself to alleviate the symptoms that the patient is experiencing.
There has been a push to perform surgical procedures in a minimally invasive way to decrease the recovery time and improve patient outcomes. One of the tools that was designed to do this within the field of OB/GYN is called the power morcellator.
Power Morcellator: For OB/GYN Minimally Invasive Surgery
In minimally invasive surgery, the surgery is entirely performed through three small incisions that measure only a few centimeters in length. These incisions are used to accommodate a camera and all of the tools that are required for the operation; however, it is impossible to fit an entire uterus through these tiny incisions.
Therefore, the power morcellator was invented to chop the uterus into small pieces and fit each piece through the incision. In theory, this would have worked beautifully; however, there was a major problem that women started noticing when the power morcellator was used.
Power Morcellator: Spreading Undiagnosed Cancer
Physicians were careful to use the power morcellator only in cases that involved the removal of a benign mass. The problems started to develop when some of the benign masses were placed under a microscope and it turned out to be cancerous tissue.
This was a concern because the power morcellator chops the uterus into small pieces for removal. If there was cancerous tissue on the surface of the uterus, this cancer tissue was spread all over the inside of the patient’s abdomen. In essence, the power morcellator was used to spread the cancer to other parts of the body. This led to women developing advanced stage cancer overnight.
Numerous Lawsuits and the Removal of the Power Morcellator
When physicians started to realize what was happening, they stopped using the power morcellator in their procedures; however, it was too late. The damage was already done. In the ensuing months, many women were diagnosed with cancer that was spread by the power morcellator. Even worse, some physicians continued to use the power morcellator despite the black box warning that the FDA placed on the equipment. The power morcellator is a perfect example of a defective medical device that severely damaged patient outcomes.
Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer after a procedure that involved a power morcellator should consider contacting an experienced defective medical device attorney for more information. Everyone who has been damaged by this tool is entitled to justice in regards to the harm they have suffered.