Robotic Surgery Controversies

Intuitive Surgical may be trying to cover up more adverse events involving the da Vinci System. In March 2009, a robotic surgery patient experienced injuries post-operation. Because the patient’s wounds went unreported by the hospital to a database by the Food and Drug Administration, she filed a lawsuit. During the da Vinci’s decade in operation, thousands of mishaps occurred. [1] While patients went unharmed in most cases, there were 174 injuries and 71 deaths reported due to the da Vinci according to a study by The Journal for Health Care Quality. [1] As for unreported incidents, researchers at Johns Hopkins found instances of unreported botched robot surgeries, and they believe that adverse events could be vastly underreported. [1]

The robotic da Vinci System is aggressively marketed by its creator, Intuitive Surgical, in an attempt to mask the system’s risks. Intuitive has pressured doctors and hospitals to implement the da Vinci even when the physicians are not adequately experienced in the name of new technology. [1] Perhaps this is the reason why there are so many adverse events. Even though robotic surgery is marketed as a safe and effective method, little is known about its dangers.

A tragic example of Intuitive Surgical’s aggressive tactics is the case of patient Fred E. Taylor. [2] The active 67-year-old retiree underwent robotic surgery for a prostatectomy. His five-hour surgery went on for more than 13 hours and caused him multiple complications, including a stroke, which led to his death a year later. The reasons for this? Internal company emails from Intuitive Surgical reveal that they pressured hospitals to increase the number of robot surgeries and lower the surgeon training standards to boost company credentials. [2] In 2002, Intuitive’s 70-question training exam was replaced by a 10-question online quiz. The company would also try to persuade surgeons into performing robotic surgery on patients when the traditional method was planned.

Robotic surgery tries to save lives, but at what cost?

Sources:

[1] Rabin, R. C. (2013, September). New Concerns on Robotic Surgeries. New York Times. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/new-concerns-on-robotic-surgeries/?_r=0

[2] Rabin, R. C. (2013 March). Salesmen in the Surgical Suite. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/health/salesmen-in-the-surgical-suite.html