Wrongful Death Suit Filed against German Medtech Firm

A Boston attorney is suing a Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG and a prominent hospital in their alleged role in his wife's death.

Brian Buntz

Rick Kaitz, a prominent Boston real estate attorney, is suing endoscope maker Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG (Tuttlingen, Germany) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston), claiming the two parties each played a role in the untimely death of his wife, Erica Katz, who suffered from a rare form of uterine sarcoma. Erica Kaitz passed away in 2013 after undergoing a surgical procedure to remove fibroids with a power morcellator--a device that has become a prominent lawsuit magnet after FDA released a public warning regarding the technology last year. The warning marked the first time that FDA used what it calls "Immediately in Effect" guidance, which is designed for urgent health recommendations that would be best enacted without a public commentary period.

Kaitz alleges in the lawsuit (Case No. 15-1829) that Brigham and Women's Hospital and Karl Storz had some knowledge of the risk of power morcellation. The suit also names the surgeon involved in the procedure--Jon Einarsson, MD.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Brigham and Women'shad gathered data in 2011 that put morcellators' safety in question, yet continued using the devices for years. In December 2013, the hospital began scaling back the use of the devices and completely stopped using the devices last year.

The Kaitz case, filed by the attorney Thomas Greene, maintains that Erica Kaitz was a poor candidate for morcellation and that the surgeon deceived them, stating that the risk of a hidden cancer was only 1 in 10,000. The WSJ reports that Einarsson claims he informed Erica Kaitz that the risk of cancer was between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 10,000.

She did indeed have a hidden cancer and after the procedure she underwent at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston involving a power morcellator, she had explosive tumor growth in her abdominal and pelvis. Erica Kaitz then underwent chemotherapy with IV treatment.

Rick and Erica Kaitz had jointly raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research, much of it going to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

At least 22 morcellator lawsuits have been filed in U.S. federal courts. A WSJ report suggests that FBI is actively investigating what Johnson & Johnson, formerly the biggest maker of power morcellators, knew about the device's risk when the company's morcellator products were still on the market.