New da Vinci Surgical Robot to Hit Market in 2015

 Posted on January 22, 2015 in Defective Drugs & Treatments

Though the manufacturer has come under fire for defective devices in the past, this year the da Vinci Sp Intuitive single port robot system used in surgical procedures is expected to hit the consumer market, according to MedGadget.com. The system is designed to allow for single-incision surgeries, and is a competitor to manufacturing giant Titan. The system was first introduced as a prototype more than five years ago, but only received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year.

The first da Vinci Intuitive surgical robot was introduced more than a decade ago. When the company first went public, 15 years ago, it posted $10 million in annual sales, though the robot had only been used on 600 patients worldwide. The machine was thought by the medical professional community to be a great symbol of technological surgical advance, and, according to ModernHealthcare.com, “one of the most coveted status symbols of 21st-century medicine.” Yet the $2.3 million machine caused serious side effects and even injury in several patients, due to a disregard for patient safety on the part of the manufacturer and aggressive marketing tactics that often preceded patient testing.

As of 2013, according to ModernHealthcare.com, da Vinci was facing 25 product liability lawsuits. Many of the lawsuits allege that the manufacturer failed to properly train surgeons on how to use the innovative machine, and instead pushed through patents and marketing efforts before hospitals were equipped enough to handle the new technology.

The new da Vinci Intuitive robotic surgical device that will hit markets in 2015 is meant to help physicians control movements during urologic surgical procedures using EndoWrist Sp instruments. It has two more degrees of movement freedom, according to the Surgical Robotics blog, and will require hospitals to make refinements to products already in use and retrain surgeons with the new technology.

If you or someone you know has been injured or experienced negative side effects due to a surgery that went wrong using da Vinci Intuitive robotics, you may be eligible for compensation. Do not go through it alone. Contact an experienced Arlington Heights defective device attorney today.