A Florida woman’s death is being blamed on injuries caused when a hospital’s surgical robot burned a hole in her small intestines during cancer surgery, according to lawsuit filed by her husband on Tuesday.
Sandra Sultzer, who had colon cancer, was admitted in 2021 to Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton, Florida, for surgery a doctor performed with the use of a da Vinci robotic system, according to a lawsuit obtained by HuffPost.
The lawsuit did not name the hospital as a defendant in the civil case, but it did name Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISI), which makes the robotic device, accusing it of negligence and product liability.
Neither Intuitive Surgical nor Baptist Health Boca Raton responded to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
Surgeons carry out an operation using a da Vinci robotic surgical system.
According to the lawsuit, Sultzer suffered a burn that caused a tear in her small intestines during surgery and needed additional surgeries to close it.
The lawsuit alleged that Intuitive Surgical was aware of the da Vinci system’s insulation issues, which can cause electricity leakage into patients body, but failed to inform the hospital and staff.