As lawsuits related to injuries allegedly resulting from inadequate surgeon training on the da Vinci Surgical Robot System continue to surface, Mimic Technologies, Inc., a Seattle-based company has seized the opportunity to provide surgeons with a simulator called the dV-Trainer, which allows surgeons to sharpen their robotic surgery skills in a virtual environment simulating robotic surgery. Since the FDA has yet to establish specific guidelines regarding a specific threshold of training that a surgeon must undergo prior to conducting robotic surgery... Read More

Intuitive Surgical Inc. is confronting new allegations that it failed to provide adequate training for physicians using its da Vinci surgical robot, and may have encouraged less training, thereby increasing the risks to patients undergoing robotic surgery. No strict training guidelines or requirements currently exist that govern a physician use of the robot on a live patient.  The amount and depth of training is currently left within the purview of individual doctors and/or hospitals.  Undisclosed personnel from Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover,... Read More

I am unable to contain myself for another minute. Let’s talk about robotic surgery. This is from How Stuff Works, a Discovery Company, but it could have been written by the makers of the surgical robot: “Most surgeries require nearly a dozen people in the room. As with all automation, surgical robots will eventually eliminate the need for some personnel.” This is another example of a “straw man.” Just about all operations require five people—surgeon, assistant, scrub nurse, circulating nurse, anesthesiologist. Some... Read More

In the 11 years since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first robotic surgical system for conducting abdominal and pelvic surgeries, its use has skyrocketed. The da Vinci Surgical System is now used to perform as many as 4 out of 5 radical prostatectomies in the United States. The robotic system is also increasingly being used to treat other cancers, including gynecologic and head and neck cancers. According to da Vinci's manufacturer, Intuitive Surgical, Inc., more than 1,000 of the... Read More