The Da Vinci System: A Feat in Medicine, a Newfound Dilemma in the Legal Field

By L. Michelle Ugalde

The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System is said to be catalytic in the advancement of modern medicine since its inception by Silicon Valley’s Intuitive Surgical. [1] While the machine itself is exceedingly complex, a major design component of the da Vinci system is that the system is used and overall conducted by a human surgeon.[2] As it turns out, this is exactly where a vast amount of the recent litigation surrounding the system stems from.[3] This litigation poses some crucial concerns.[4] As errors with using the system increase, so does the amount of litigation discussing whether those mistakes should be attributed to the system, or to the surgeon leading the system.[5] As a result, it appears that many are beginning to question if this new abundance of legal troubles, along with other issues revolving the system, are detrimental to the point where the da Vinci system is exceeding its worth.[6]

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