Robotic surgery isn’t what you think it is
Urgent: Why you must say “No” to this common surgery
It looks and sounds like one of those miracles of modern medicine.
A robot that does surgery.
What could be wrong with that? After all, robots are perfect, right? Mistakes can’t happen.
We won’t have to worry about a slip of the scalpel or a shake in your doctor’s hand.
But things have gone terribly wrong.
People, many who thought they were just getting routine procedures, have ended up with torn organs, ripped blood vessels and damaged muscles. Some will even need colostomy bags for the rest of their lives.
So if you’re planning on having any surgical procedures and your doctor says he wants to use the da Vinci robot, here are some important things you need to know now.
Before it’s too late.
Dr. Richard Ablin, a professor of immunobiology and pathology at the University of Arizona Medical School, calls robotic surgery “a train that is ready to come off the tracks.”
Actually, it looks like it already has been derailed.
Dr. Ablin says that when the da Vinci robot was approved by the FDA for prostate surgery, there were no real studies to back up its safety or effectiveness. All the FDA required is that a pig’s bladder be removed with the device.
But the da Vinci robot is putting more than just men who need prostate surgery at risk.
It has been used for all kinds of operations, including hysterectomies, gallbladder and kidney surgery.
Now, just because it’s called a “robot” doesn’t mean that a real doctor isn’t needed. The surgeon looks into a camera that shows a three-dimensional image of where he’s operating. He then manipulates tiny instruments and the computer in the robot translates that into “hand” movements.
So you can see that this not only requires a skilled surgeon, but one who knows how to make the robot do precisely what he wants.
And that’s a big part of the problem.
When the FDA approved the device in 2000, it said that doctors needed to have “extensive” training in how to use it. So Intuitive, the company behind the da Vinci, put together an “exam,” and a three-day “hands on” training session.
But by 2002, that magically got replaced by a 10-question online quiz and just one day of practice.
It looks like that “extensive” training idea was a little too extensive to get these robots into hospitals.
And documents are showing that often it was the da Vinci sales team doing the “training.” An email from an Intuitive sales manager in 2011 asked other salesmen to get surgeons going using the robot, and not to let “proctoring or credentialing get in our way.”
And…wait ’til you hear this.
Salesmen were often right in the operation room giving advice to doctors!
To think that your doctor, someone who spent years and years learning his profession, could be given advice – during actual surgery — by da Vinci sales reps is unbelievable.
But this only came to light because of the tragedy the Taylor family suffered.
Fred Taylor was told that his prostate surgery would be less painful, safer, and that he would have a faster recovery because of the da Vinci robot.
Instead, Fred, who was 67, and a very active man, ended up incontinent, wearing a colostomy bag, and suffering from sepsis. He later had a stroke.
After Fred passed away, his wife sued Intuitive.
And she’s not the only one. There’s a whole list of cases, some settled confidentially, against this company and its robot.
And now there are thousands of these robots doing thousands of surgeries all around the country with doctors operating them who may be trying to figure out how they really work while you or a loved one is “on the table.”
Simply put, if you wouldn’t agree to letting a member of the da Vinci sales staff operate on you, just say “No!” when your doctor suggests robotic surgery.
Sources:
“New concerns on robotic surgeries” Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, well.blogs.nytimes.com
