Cancer Patient In US Dies After Surgical Robot Burns Holes In Organs

A man in the United States has sued a medical manufacturer after claiming that its surgical robot burned a hole in his wife's organs while conducting a procedure to treat her colon cancer, which led to her death, according to a report in the New York Post. The lawsuit stated that the robot burned a hole in her small intestine, which required additional medical interventions.

Sandra Sultzer's husband, Harvey Sultzer, filed a complaint against Intuitive Surgical on February 6, 2024, stating that his wife experienced health issues as a result of a surgery that was performed by their surgical robot. According to the lawsuit, the woman had surgery at Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital in September 2021 to treat her colon cancer with the multi-armed, remote-controlled da Vinci robot.

As per the company, the device is advertised "to enable precision beyond the limits of the human hand," being "designed to provide surgeons with natural dexterity while operating through small incisions," allowing for minimally invasive procedures. 

According to the lawsuit, Ms Sultzer died in February 2022 as "a direct and proximate result of the injuries she suffered" after undergoing the surgeries. 

The lawsuit stated that the company knew the robot had insulation issues which could cause the internal organs, however, it was not informed to the family. It added that the company has received thousands of reports about injuries and defects linked to the robot. However, they have "underreported" these to the Food and Drug Administration. 

The lawsuit also claims that the firm fails to adequately train doctors on the use of the da Vinci system and sells its robots to hospitals that are inexperienced in robotic surgery. Mr Sultzer is suing IS for over "$75,000 for negligence, product liability, including design defect and failure to warn, loss of consortium and punitive damages".

One of the earliest surgical robots, the da Vinci system was introduced by IS in 1999. After receiving FDA approval a year later, the device has been accused of numerous flaws.