La. Woman Blames da Vinci Surgical System for Injuries

Louisiana plaintiff Deborah Lopez is suing Intuitive Surgical Inc. for the injuries she allegedly sustained from a surgery performed with the da Vinci Surgical System. Lopez alleges that she suffered severe physical, emotional and financial distress from the use of the robotic surgery system.

According to her robot surgery lawsuit, Lopez chose to use the da Vinci robotic surgical system for her laparoscopic surgery. Lopez says she was led to believe that it was safer and more efficient than traditional surgery because it was the latest in surgical technology. She was also pointed to the number of laparoscopic surgeries that had been conducted by this device over the years, and that it was being used for other procedures as well.

However, soon after her surgery was conducted, Lopez says she started feeling uncomfortable side effects, which forced her to go in for a medical evaluation. It was then she discovered that she had severe muscle and tissue damage in her lower pelvic organs, which required surgical intervention. As a result, Lopez says she had to undergo an additional surgery to correct the mistakes the device allegedly caused, resulting in impaired ability for sexual intercourse and expensive medical bills.

Allegedly, the surgeons were not given sufficient training before her procedure, nor had any kind of warning or indication been given of the possibility of such injuries. Additionally, the defendant company reportedly made no effort to notify the plaintiff or her physicians about the possible occurrences of surgical errors, nor had they disclosed how often similar surgical errors happened. Lopez states that if she had known about such a possible error occurring, she would have opted for traditional surgery.

Lopez is suing Intuitive Surgical Inc. for designing, manufacturing, marketing and distributing a defective product. The charges against the company include negligence, concealing information, false advertising and misrepresenting a product.

Overview of da Vinci Complications

Laparoscopic surgeries, also known as keyhole surgeries, are modern surgical procedures that are performed in the abdomen and lower pelvic region, and are known for requiring very small incisions to perform the procedure. Due to the fact that these surgeries are fairly difficult to perform for surgeons, many patients opt for robotic surgical systems, such as the da Vinci System, because of the promise of laser-point precision, and advertised accuracy rate. Essentially, many advertisements for these surgical systems lead patients to believe they are safer than traditional surgery, and lead surgeons to believe they can competently operate the device without sufficient training.

However, as Lopez discovered, these devices may deliver less than what the advertisements promised, leading her and other patients across the country to file robot surgery lawsuits against the manufacturers. According to U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) injury reports, patients indicated that they suffered from cuts or nicks to internal organs and blood vessels, excessive bleeding, loss of bodily functions and death. The number of complaints reportedly grew so high that the FDA launched an investigation into whether or not the device is truly responsible for the injuries, or if they were caused by simple human error.

According to medical experts who have used the device, several theories and explanations have been mentioned to explain the unfortunate mishaps. The most common deduction medical experts have made is that when the device is used, electric currents naturally pass through the patient’s tissue due to weak wiring. Often, this scenario occurs without the patients or the physician knowing. Additionally, many experts agree that the device did not go through adequate pre-clinical trials before its release to the market.

This da Vinci robot surgery lawsuit is Deborah Lopez v. Intuitive Surgical Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-00241-SRD-JCW, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

File a da Vinci Robot System Lawsuit Today

If you or a loved one were injured following robotic surgery performed by the da Vinci Surgical System, visit the Da Vinci Robot Surgery Class Action Lawsuit & Robotic Surgery Lawsuit Investigation. Fill out the short form to receive a free review of your potential da Vinci robot lawsuit. If you qualify, a robotic surgery lawsuit lawyer will contact you about the next steps to take, at no cost to you.