By Paul Rheingold:
A new article by New York City gynecologists using the Intuitive daVinci robot is the fullest explanation to date of the risks of serious tissue burns, including three cases reports and explanations of the flaws in the device which allows stray electrical current to cause damages to arteries not being operated on. The doctors-from Memorial Sloan-Kettering and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt-present the facts of three instances when current jumped from the scissors due to insulation failures and electrical sparking. They attribute all these problems to the use of monopolar current and faulty insulation on the arms of the robot.
This article puts more of the blame on these serious yet avoidable injuries on the device than on the doctors using them. They describe ways in which the machines can be improved and also caution doctors about ways to avoid the sparking. Our firm has taken a leadership role in working with a select group of experienced trial attorneys filing suits throughout the country. Through our firm’s litigation, we have direct contacts with defense counsel for Intuitive Surgical, and our senior litigation partner, Paul Rheingold, will talk to each new client personally and give an immediate litigation evaluation, no matter what state you are from.
From- Cormier, Nezhat, Sternchos, Sonoda and Leitao, Electocautery-Associated Vascular Injury During Robotic-Assisted Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vol. 120, No. 2, Part 2, August 2012.
