Robotic Surgery News: Intuitive Surgical Beats Claims of Negligent Training Practices

Intuitive Surgical has won the first legal battle regarding the training of surgeons who use it's da Vinci surgical robot to perform minimally invasive surgery.  A jury in the state of Washington ruled that Intuitive was not negligent in the case of Fred Taylor, who was 67 when he underwent a radical prostatectomy, and died four years after. His estate was seeking $8.5 million dollars.  Scott Bildsten, the surgeon, was performing his first unassisted case robotically and decided that he had to convert to open due to complications.  Taylor's estate claimed that the surgeon had not been trained properly by Intuitive, and the results of the converted procedure caused severe blood loss, kidney failure, incontinence and impaired brain function.  The company pointed out that it warns surgeons not to operate on patients who are obese like Taylor, and that they are not responsible for the actions of surgeons who use their products.  The company is pleased with the trial results.  The surgeon, according to reports, has settled with the family confidentially.  There are 25 other cases pending across the United States.  At least one firm is actively trying to recruit new clients claiming the results from this case will have little effect on other lawsuits.

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Reports from Robotic Trends, QMed, Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this story.  




Published by: RoboticTrends