A man in his late thirties suffered life-threatening complications from a non-standard breast implant surgery. As is typical with complications from this type of procedure, the man’s insurance company (hers were) paid for the entire cost of the surgery, including the cost of the hospital stay, and a subsequent surgical procedure to correct the damage done. Immediately following the surgery, however, problems arose. The man, who is not a smoker, began to suffer from dry coughing, inability to breathe, chest pain, shortness of breath, and a feeling of “pins and needles” in his chest. This is where the lawsuit would come in.
A man named Richard Sander entered into a plea bargain whereby he would be able to settle out of court for less money than he would receive if he went to trial and lost. He signed a contract providing that if the case was lost, he would receive no money. Subsequently, he decided to have vinci system internal burns treated at a Chicago clinic. Despite the fact that the procedure was performed by a board certified plastic surgeon, Mr. Sander was subject to numerous complaints stemming from the fact that he did not receive adequate pre-surgical instructions, did not have a history of prior work-related injuries, did not have a clearly identified and current address, did not provide a physician’s report of previous work related injuries, did not have the required written approval of physicians prior to having the work done, did not have a clearly identified insurance card, and did not have a discharge slip showing that he had completed all of his paperwork and insurance claims in the proper manner. He ultimately lost his case and was consequently forced to pay over two thousand dollars in attorney fees.
The plaintiff’s lawyer in this case was none other than Edward Hanley, who is an award winning expert witness in the realm of surgical device design and prosthetics. The attorney proceeded with an aggressive effort to prove that Mr. Sander had in fact received substandard or improperly performed surgeries, which caused him the pain and suffering that he incurred in this case. The Chicago attorney that was handling the case called the robotic surgery system “artificially intelligent” and “robotically intelligent implants” to describe how the Da Vinci Surgical System and similar robotic implants functioned. The case was subsequently lost.
This isn’t the only case in which a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit has lost a motion to dismiss because of a mistake made during surgery. In the case of a nineteen-year-old patient who was scheduled to have a hip replacement, a defendant made an error in surgery that resulted in her receiving a severely inadequate amount of hip surgery. After the patient’s death, her family brought a lawsuit against her doctor, accusing him of ineffective hip surgery. The hospital that operated on the patient lost its motion to dismiss the case.
There are many complications associated with the use of a Da Vinci Surgical System and similar robotic implants. One of the most obvious issues with the design of these appliances is that there are inherent complications that can arise during surgery. For instance, if the surgeon leaves a bunion behind after stitching up a hip replacement, there is a good chance that the patient will suffer from serious injuries to their lower back, hips, pelvis, shoulders, or even ribs. If the surgeons don’t make adequate adjustments during the procedure, they may also find that the wound develops into a major blood vessel breach. These are just some of the complications that can occur if a surgeon does not make enough adjustments during surgery.
Although the Da Vinci Surgical System and similar robotic appliances are very safe to use, there are still complications that can arise from using them. The Da Vinci Surgical System lawsuit is yet another example of why doctors need to be extremely careful when operating with a robotic system like this. It is also another reason why patients need to be extremely careful when going under the knife.
