
Doctor who fought a risky medical procedure has died - MyHypatia
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/us/amy-reed-died-cancer-patient-who-fought-morcellation-procedure.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com&_r=1
======
hinkley
I remember when I first heard about that equipment, how cool it sounded that
you could remove large pieces of material through a tiny hole, effectively
with a tiny hand mixer and a hose.

The smaller the holes the simpler the recovery, but clearly the consequences
are a lot more dire than they lead on. I was under the impression that the
material was extracted at the point of removal, not through a separate
mechanism. Sounds like there's some significant contact time and loss of
material.

Which makes one wonder what kind of surgery one of these would be useful for.
Precancerous cells? Nope. Infection? Same problems.

~~~
pvaldes
Plenty of examples available in the Journal of Minimal Access Surgery:

Pavlidis TE, Pavlidis ET, Sakantamis AK. The role of laparoscopic surgery in
gastric cancer. J Min Access Surg 2012;8:35-8

Pai A, Melich G, Marecik SJ, Park JJ, Prasad LM. Current status of robotic
surgery for rectal cancer: A bird's eye view. J Min Access Surg 2015;11:29-34

'I feel that my cancer was aggravated for medical negligence and laparoscopy'
is a fair and very good question, but must be studied and answered correctly.

~~~
pvaldes
This case after the use of a morcellator is interesting

"Uterine myomas are the most common female genital tumour and occur in ~25% of
reproductive-aged women"

"Parasitic myoma after laparoscopic surgery is very rare condition, there are
almost 35 cases in the literature"

 _Temizkan O, Erenel H, Arici B, Asicioglu O. A case of parasitic myoma 4
years after laparoscopic myomectomy . J Min Access Surg 2014;10:202-3_

Here we have a first measure of what "risky medical procedure" means in this
case. Less than 0.07%. It seems that those are extremely rare cases, not
justifying returning to old procedures that involve more pain and more health
risk for 50.000 women. More invasive procedures equal to more people dying in
operating theathers or in post-operative phase by the risks of surgery. Cancer
is a drama of course, but this looks like a "lets kill thousands to save
tens". More research is needed.

------
davidgerard
Actual title:

"Amy Reed, Doctor Who Fought a Risky Medical Procedure, Dies at 44"

Why was her name removed?

~~~
teddyh
So people could be click-baited into thinking it’s about “Doctor Who”.

------
supercheetah
It surprises me that a community so reliant wouldn't have at least pushed for
some studies until the FDA stepped in, and even then, it wasn't enough.

~~~
supercheetah
So reliant in science that is.

------
azernik
An earlier article that goes into some of the institutional root causes:
[https://nyti.ms/2kQj1Yd](https://nyti.ms/2kQj1Yd)

------
godmodus
what a horrible idea, implementation and careless disregard for patient
safety.

whomever thought this was a good idea should be disqualified.

~~~
rscho
I am sorry to say that your reasoning is simplistic. The mortality risk
implied by a potentially longer excision is not that trivial. Actually, this
is exactly why the morcellator made it to widespread use. If that wasn't the
case, you would be saying things on the order of "why use such primitive
techniques when you can do it through less risky incisions? Whoever thought
this was a good idea should be disqualified" Benefit versus risk of the use of
a morcellator remains to be established. Which is why the FDA did not ban it
altogether. But in an overly legalized society such as the US, manufacturers
will often find beneficial to push the complication risk back onto the
practioner by discontinuing their product in hope of avoiding trial.

~~~
godmodus
I see your point and its valid.

But damn man, cancer cells are known to spread like hayfire. I imagine using a
blender like instrument on cancer would be an obvious disaster.

Thank you for the contra though, i will give this more thought.

------
toolslive
Am I the only one who started reading this as "Doctor Who (famous doctor who
regularly battles Daleks) fought a risky ... " ?

~~~
beobab
You are not alone. I had terrible trouble parsing the end of the title because
I've literally just finished watching yesterday's episode of Doctor Who.

------
jaimehrubiks
you just spoiled me 10 seasons

~~~
jonas123
The title is kind of misleading, you're right.

~~~
dkersten
It really. It's perfectly valid and descriptive English.

------
pvaldes
To eliminate the ambiguity, Ill suggest to change the title to "M.D. Red,
who..."

The idea is that surgery with a probe trough small holes (that allow a much
faster recovering and produce much less scars in patiens) could spread the
cancer cells and should not be used in this special cases.

I wonder if this is an idea or a confirmed fact. Some machines could suck the
remains in the same time and be safer than other, and quimiotherapy treament
following after the operation (killing the possible non vascularised remains
left behind) is often rutinary to deal with this risk.

Is a risky procedure, but the other option is opening directly the uterus with
a scalp, that should atract other problems, could lead to bleeding, and is not
lacking a fair amount of risk also, both in the present and in case of future
pregnancies for the mother.

On one hand we have some probability X of that removing a benign tumor spreads
a hidden cancer, very bad of course

But to avoid that risk, should we condemn ten thousands of women to cesarean
sections and "having a third son is too risky because your uterus wall is
weakened and could burst by the previous suture that we did to remove you a
small benign tumor"?.

> Only then were Dr. Reed and her husband told that her surgeon had used a
> power morcellator to slice up her uterus.

This is a strange aseveration. First, because normally your surgeon explains
you the procedure in detail and its risks, and give you a document that you
need to read and sign in advance. Moreover, her workplace was operating
theaters, and the absence of a big scar after the procedure should not be
passed unnoticed for this experienced woman

~~~
rscho
While you seem to have some elements of clinical medicine, you miss the point
in my opinion. Anyone working in a hospital daily know that most operations
are explained rather succinctly to the patient, and that such a detail (as it
was perceived at the time) as the use of a morcellator would be missing in 90%
of cases. This women realized the problem only after she was diagnosed with
cancer, which is why she did not complain immediately. Moreover, withholding
the use of a morcellator in my opinion does not reduce one to obligated
uterotomy.

