More women are taking legal action against the Sunnyvale, California, company that manufactures the assisted surgery system known as the da Vinci. Intuitive Surgical has been named in numerous personal injury lawsuits by patients claiming that their hysterectomies were botched due to use of the robotic device.
Legal briefs filed in one southern state accuse the company of marketing practices that are too aggressive and causing doctors and hospital administrators to feel intimidated if they pass up this new surgical technology out of fears that they will no longer remain competitive.
The 43-year-old woman who filed the lawsuit had complications following her da Vinci system hysterectomy. She alleges that her doctor presented her with documents and brochures “propounding the benefit of da Vinci robotic hysterectomy over all other methods of hysterectomy.”
Yet within the same week she had the surgery, the patient suffered “shaking chills” and fever from an abscess on the vaginal cuff. She had to undergo a second surgery to treat the abscess and even years after the initial surgery, still suffers discomfort and pain.
Court documents allege that Intuitive suppressed patient complaints and concealed complication rates from both the consumers and the Food and Drug Administration. Plaintiff further alleges that her doctor lacked proper training in the surgical system, that it was over-promoted and the post-marketing surveillance was insufficient.
In another case a few years ago out West, a parent of a 24-year-old woman who died of complications two weeks after her da Vinci hysterectomy blamed the surgical device for his daughter’s death.
Still another legal suit asks for almost $500 million in damages to a patient after the device was used for her hysterectomy. The woman’s bladder and left ureter were allegedly damaged during the surgery.
Were you injured during your hysterectomy by the use of the da Vinci device? If so, it is possible that you have a legitimate basis for filing a claim for damages.
Source: Mass Device, “Botched hysterectomy lawsuit claims Intuitive Surgical markets through “intimidation”,” accessed April 01, 2016