Robots in the operating room? The da Vinci Surgical Robot, manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, has been used in surgeries across the US and was designed to make surgery less invasive. Critics however, say the da Vinci Robot may not be medically necessary and may put patients at risk of serious injury and death. Among injuries linked to robotic surgeries are burns, lacerated bladders, cut ureters, additional surgeries to repair damages and death.
Over 2,500 robot systems have been sold to more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide. 450,000 people had robot-assisted surgery in 2012 alone. However, almost 4,000 adverse event reports were submitted to the FDA in 2013 involving malfunction, injury and death.
Intuitive Surgical has announced that it has taken $67 million charge against 2014 earnings to settle an unspecified number of product liability claims involving the company's da Vinci Surgical Robot. Intuitive said it estimates that the total number of claims it was negotiating to be around 3,000. The complications, it claims, arose from da Vinci's Surgical Scissors and Tip Covers that were recalled or removed by 2013.
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