That question is currently being asked in a courtroom in Kitsap County. Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci surgical system, is defending itself from accusations that it isn’t safe when the company’s profits drive surgeons and hospitals to use it without proper training.
This current case involves a prostatectomy performed in 2008 on Fred Taylor with the aid of the da Vinci robot. The robot acts in much the same way as a typical laparoscopic procedure, insofar as small holes are made to pass tools through, eliminating the need to make a bigger cut, otherwise known as an “open” procedure.
What’s different is that, instead of the surgeon holding onto the tools him or herself, the surgeon is sitting at a console away from the patient, controlling the robotic arms and tools that are inside the patient.
Unfortunately, there were complications during Mr. Taylor’s surgery, and he suffered significant injuries. He died some time later, and the plaintiff in the case, his widow Josette, brought this lawsuit.
Much of the plaintiff’s case centers on the idea that the company’s profits – and not the safety of the people upon which robotic surgery was performed – dictated the use of the robot. Hospitals are pushed to purchase the robot lest they are left behind technologically. And doctors are pressed to use them by Intuitive salesmen who profit on each surgery performed, even when the doctors are insufficiently trained.
The trial is expected to last into next week. Bloomberg News is covering the events. Here is a link to their most recent story:
[Intuitive Salesman Says Robotic Surgeries Drove Salaries][1]
CNBC has also done an investigation on the da Vinci. Here’s a cite to the first of four videos:
[CNBC Video #1][2]
Finally, the Seattle Times published this last Friday:
[Failed robotic surgery focus of Kitsap trial][3]
[1]: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/intuitive-salesman-says-robotic-surgeries-drove-salaries.html “Intuitive Salesman Says Robotic Surgeries Drove Salaries”
[2]: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100650872 “CNBC Video #1”
[3]: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020918732_robottrialxml.html “Failed robotic surgery focus of Kitsap trial”
