Surgeons Urge FDA to Ban Morcellators

A series of open letters to the FDA have condemned the organization for its refusal to institute a mandatory recall of power morcellators after overwhelming evidence shows that the device has led to the spread of cancer in thousands of women. An associated petition with over 85,000 supporters, calls for the complete ban of power morcellators in gynecological procedures. According to a letter written by a doctor whose wife was diagnosed with advanced rare cancer after a hysterectomy, “The industry resistance to ensuring patient safety is why you [the FDA] must use your regulatory power to guarantee that no other women and families are harmed using FDA authorized power morcellators.” The FDA recently reacted to increased concern over morcellators by establishing a patient registry to better determine safety levels of the device. Opposing this decision, the doctor goes on to write that, “By not banning power morcellators from the U.S. marketplace with immediacy, you have made your office party to a very grave injustice and a major systemic lapse in medical ethics…”