IT鈥橲 now a federal issue. The FBI has opened an investigation into a medical device that has been found to cause cancer in women.
Surgeons use morcellators during hysterectomies to chop up tissue so that it can be removed via small incisions, reducing scarring. But the US Food and Drug Administration now suspects that this can spread undetected cancer cells to other parts of the body. In November, they ruled that morcellators shouldn鈥檛 be used in menopausal women, or in any woman suspected of having cancer.
The look into whether doctors, manufacturers and hospitals failed to report problems with the tool through the .
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The case highlights problems in the FDA鈥檚 system for spotting poor performance, says at the School of Public Health at Harvard University. He says reports can be manipulated to minimise serious problems.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淔BI goes medical鈥�
