Johnson & Johnson stopped its sales of a fibroid surgery device this week due to allegations that the device may cause undetected cancer. The device is known as a power morcellator and has been used in the last in laparoscopic surgeries to remove uterine fibroids.

Reuters reports that the morcellators are key in non-invasive surgeries. They are hollow cylinders that are tipped with cutting implements. These are inserted into a patient during a laparoscopic surgery to extract a mass of tissue while avoiding the painful and damaging repercussions of a large incision.

More than 80% of all women that are between 30 and 50 years have uterine fibroids, and this surgery can remove those fibroids with only small incisions and a tiny viewing instrument. This is a procedure that is normally performed on women that are seeking to become pregnant but are having a hard time due to the presence of the fibroids.

The FDA recently announced that power morcellators, when used in laparoscopic myomectomies or hysterectomies can present the risk of spreading cancers. The FDA belies that 1 in 350 women that undergo this serious procedure have developed a cancer known as uterine sarcoma. The FDA suggests that the morcellators can shift cancerous cell-ridden fibroids so that they spread the tissue to the abdomen and pelvis.

Johnson & Johnson removed their product from sale not as a recall, but as a precaution. They say that they may reinstate the sale of the product once more research has been done on the subject. Johnson & Johnson has been targeted numerous times with defective and dangerous medical device lawsuits. It is suspected that they are trying to avoid another onslaught of lawsuits by pulling this product early. If you have already suffered uterine sarcoma as a result of a laparoscopy performed with power morcellators, don't hesitate to contact our firm right away!