Boston surgeon and physician wife push to stop common procedure

A Boston surgeon and his wife, an anesthesiologist, are pushing to stop a widespread surgical technique used on thousands of women during hysterectomies, which they say caused her undetected cancer to dangerously spread. Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, has started an online petition and written dozens of letters to medical journals and media organizations charging that the technique, called "morcellation," is endangering women and creating a public health crisis. He has adamantly demanded that his own hospital—where his wife's operation was performed—stop using the procedure, and called on other hospitals and doctors nationwide to do likewise.