FDA ACTION

Power Morcellator

Laparoscopic Uterine Power Morcellation: Immediately in Effect Guidance Document: Product Labeling for Laparoscopic Power Morcellators; Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-11-25/html/2014-27857.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Laparoscopic Uterine Power Morcellation in Hysterectomy and Myomectomy: FDA Safety Communication http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm424443.htm

Paying the Price of Not Being Fully Informed… Update

Recently, the topic of laparoscopic hysterectomy or myomectomy for the treatment of fibroids and a procedure known as morcellation has become very controversial. What may seem like an everyday simple surgical procedure has become for some women the unwanted end result of invasive cancer.

The issues are quite complex. The purpose of this blog is to simply point out a few concepts to consider in the decision making process of whether a woman should undergo a full traditional surgical procedure or a laparoscopic procedure. What may seem like a simple choice could potentially become a nightmare with a life changing outcome.

Today, more than ever, noninvasive surgery has become the “protocol” for many procedures. Yet, should it? The simple answer is that it depends on many factors. The single most important factor should be the patient and obtaining a valid informed consent. A valid informed consent should be videotaped. The patient must receive a “Plain English” explanation of the risks and benefits of such procedures.

It might sound “high tech” to use such a device approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the costs in terms of insurance might be beneficial to the to the insurer and insured. According to FDA: “Laparoscopic power morcellators are medical devices used during different types of laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgeries. These can include certain procedures to treat uterine fibroids, such as removing the uterus (hysterectomy) or removing the uterine fibroids (myomectomy). Morcellation refers to the division of tissue into smaller pieces or fragments and is often used during laparoscopic surgeries to facilitate the removal of tissue through small incision sites.” MedWatch

Yet, the question remains at what cost?

An excellent example is the removal of fibroids and morcellation without the benefit of a biopsy prior to the morcellation. What this means is if the fibroids are cancerous, the “morcellation procedure” spreads the cancer throughout the patient’s body. How? Power morcellators use extended, tube-shaped blades to cut uterine tissue into little pieces. This permits the surgeon who performs a laparoscopic or minimally invasive hysterectomy, to remove the tissue through a small incision.

Does it all come down to dollars and lack of informed conformed? Apparently so, as the practice continues and is sanctioned in protocols. According to physician Amy Reed: Morcellation is done in at least 11% of the nearly 500,000 hysterectomies are performed each year. See: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/18/hysterectomy-laparoscopic-morcellation-amy-reed/5347093/

Benefit: Easier removal of the uterus and speedier recovery time rather than traditional abdominal surgery which could result in a large scar.

Major Risk: Undiagnosed cancer may be present and the morcellation process spreads the cancer.

FDA Warning, Guidance and Alerts, FDA Medical Device Advisory Committee Recommendations and Lawsuits

Laparoscopic Uterine Power Morcellation in Hysterectomy and Myomectomy: FDA Safety Communication http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm424443.htm

FDA had issued an alert in April 2014 to discourage the use of power morcellation. Specifically, FDA set forth: “laparoscopic power morcellation is performed in women with unsuspected uterine sarcoma, there is a risk that the procedure will spread the cancerous tissue within the abdomen and pelvis, significantly worsening the patient’s likelihood of long-term survival. For this reason, and because there is no reliable method for predicting whether a woman with fibroids may have a uterine sarcoma, the FDA discourages the use of laparoscopic power morcellation during hysterectomy or myomectomy for uterine fibroids.”

The Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee was convened by FDA on July 10 and 11, 2014. The committee discussed the “safety of laparoscopic power morcellator devices as it pertains to their potential to disseminate and upstage a confined, but undetected (occult) uterine malignancy during laparoscopic hysterectomy or myomectomy.” According to FDA the purpose of the committee meetings was to “seek expert scientific and clinical opinion on the risks and benefits of these types of devices when used for these procedures, based on available scientific data.” The committee will make recommendations regarding the appropriate use, premarket testing, labeling, and other risk mitigations (including the use of containment bags) for these devices.

http://www.fda.gov/newsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm393689.htm Quantitative Assessment of the Prevalence of Unsuspected Uterine Sarcoma in Women Undergoing Treatment of Uterine Fibroids Summary and Key Findings April 17, 2014 http://www.fda.gov/downloads/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/UCM393589.pdf

See also: “New Cancer Risk Seen From Surgical Tool” in the Wall St. J. (July 23, 2014).

Lawsuits: Yes, lawsuits have been instituted. Yet, are lawsuits the solution? Here are suggestions to prevent what has occurred to date.

Recommendations

Medical Device companies who manufacture the device(s) used in these types of procedures should redesign the product and until that is done conduct a field correction recall of the medical device(s) in question. Ethicon Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, suspended the sales of several of its power morcellators and in July 2014 issued a market withdrawal.
Hospitals should consider a revised protocol and some hospitals have already temporarily banned morcellation until the risk can be more fully evaluated.
Physicians should offer “informed” options to the patient.
Informed consent should be just that- a plain language explanation of the benefits and risks of consenting to this type of procedure.

Stay tuned for more on this critical health medical-legal issue as the FDA Advisory Committee will issue recommendations pertaining to appropriate use, premarket testing, labeling, and other risk mitigations such as containment bags) for these devices.

This blog was written by Roseann B. Termini, Esq. with insight and review by Desencia E. Thomas, M.D.

“Practice of Medicine” or FDA Authority to Regulate

The Food and Drug Administration and the Authority to Regulate

USA v Regenerative Sciences

Regenerative Sciences, LLC vigorously defended its position that FDA could not regulate the practice of medicine in its Regenexx™ treatment or Regenexx-C™ cultured treatment which uses Mesenchymal adult stem cells (MSCs) that originate primarily from bone marrow. The company promotes the Regenexx™ treatment as a “non-surgical” treatment option for joint or bone pain in the hip, knee, shoulder, back or ankle as well as non-union fractures. The dispute with FDA has been ongoing since at least 2008 when FDA sent correspondence to Regenerative Sciences depicting the cell treatment as a drug or biologic. FDA conducted an inspection and found violations of current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs). The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the District Court and the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) argument that Regenerative Sciences “Cultured Regenexx Procedure” was a biological drug subject to FDA approval through the biologics licensing application (BLA) process. The court of appeals upheld the permanent injunction against the use of the biological drug without FDA approval. The issue focused on the practice of medicine versus the regulation by the United States Food and Drug Administration. This distinction has far reaching ramifications.

Issue the Court of Appeals Addressed

In the civil enforcement action, the court of appeals had to decide “whether the appellants—three individuals and a related corporate entity—violated federal laws regulating the manufacture and labeling of drugs and biological products by producing, as part of their medical practice, a substance consisting of a mixture of a patient’s stem cells and the antibiotic doxycycline.” The court of appeals determined that FDA had the authority to regulate the product and affirmed the district court’s judgment and the permanent injunction it entered against appellants.

What Regenerative Sciences, LLC Argued

Regenerative Sciences, LLC (Regenerative Sciences) alleged several arguments that their product did not fall within FDA regulatory authority; however, the court rejected all of the arguments. For example, Regenerative argued that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) did not apply because the product was a procedure overseen by state “practice of medicine”. Another argument advanced by Regenerative Sciences was that the product was exempt from FDA approval because it was a compounded product and further it was a minimally manipulated product. As mentioned, the court of appeals rejected all of the arguments advanced by Regenerative Sciences.

Looking Ahead

This was a long awaited decision. The future is uncertain in terms of how a court will rule about novel therapies such as the issue in this case. However, no doubt as more technological advances occur, FDA will again be challenged as to the agency’s authority to regulate such products and or procedures.The link to the full case is as follows: