Doctors Must Answer Claims for Cancer Spread by Robotic Surgery

The family of a woman who died of cancer spread by a robotic surgical procedure will get a second chance at a lawsuit against her health-care providers.

Medical malpractice claims based on a “new” injury Erika Hayes suffered should have gone to trial, the Georgia Court of Appeals said Oct. 26. The spread of cancer beyond Hayes’s uterus after doctors used a technique called “morcellation” during her hysterectomy restarted the clock for filing the claims, it said.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against morcellator makers and doctors who used the devices. Morcellators cut up the uterus, so it can ...