The inclusion of a provision to improve medical device monitoring was inspired by the controversy surrounding power morcellators and their potential to spread undiagnosed uterine cancers when used in gynecological surgeries.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/23/2015 --The controversy surrounding the use of power morcellators (http://www.morcellatorlawsuit2015.com) in gynecological surgeries was the inspiration behind a legislative effort to improve medical device monitoring, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. On July 10, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "21st Century Cures Act," which includes a provision that would require the make or model number of medical devices to be included in patients' medical records in order to improve the tracking of adverse outcomes. The amendment was one of several morcellator-inspired provisions proposed by Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, (R., Pa.), who according to The Wall Street Journal, opened a larger discussion about the way medical devices are tracked. Rep. Fitzpatrick's remaining amendments, including one that would have required the Government Accountability Office to investigate current regulations for reporting medical device safety, did not make the final version of the bill.

"Our Firm has been retained by a number of clients who allegedly experienced the spread of undiagnosed uterine cancers due to power morcellators, and we applaud Rep. Fitzpatrick for bringing this issue before Congress. The U.S. Senate has indicated that it may consider its own medical research bill later this year, and we hope that any such legislation will include a similar provision," says Sandy A. Liebhard, a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is providing free legal consultations to women who were diagnosed with advanced uterine cancer following surgery with a power morcellator.

Power Morcellator Controversy

Since April 2014, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has issued two public alerts regarding the potential for power morcellators to spread and upstage undetected uterine cancers when used to perform minimally-invasive hysterectomies and fibroid removals. In its most recent alert issued in November 2014, the agency warned against the use of uterine morcellation in the vast majority of women who require such procedures.

Court documents indicate that more than 20 morcellator lawsuits are currently pending in courts around the U.S. On June 18th, a number of plaintiffs filed a motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) seeking the consolidation of all federally-filed morcellator cancer cases in a single court for coordinated pretrial proceedings. (In Re: Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2652)

Earlier this month, it was disclosed that Lina Medical ApS had reached an undisclosed settlement in a power morcellator lawsuit that had been scheduled to go to trial later this year in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. According to court records, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a widower who lost his wife to uterine cancer in February 2013, just 11 months after she had undergone a morcellator hysterectomy. (Case 5:14-cv-01557-LS)
Women whose uterine cancers were allegedly spread via a power morcellator may be entitled to take legal action of their own. To learn more about filing a morcellator lawsuit (http://www.morcellatorlawsuit2015.com/uterine-sarcoma/), please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website, or call the Firm directly for a free, no-obligation case review at 800-511-5092.

About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993. As a national law firm, Bernstein Liebhard LLP possesses all of the legal and financial resources required to successfully challenge billion dollar pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As a result, our attorneys and legal staff have been able to recover more than $3 billion on behalf of our clients. The Firm was named by The National Law Journal to the Plaintiffs' Hot List, recognizing the top plaintiffs firms in the country, for 12 consecutive years. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is the only firm in the country to be named to this prestigious list for a dozen consecutive years.

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