Intuitive Surgical's Robot Surgeons Encounter Human Lawyers

After Michelle Zarick complained of excessive vaginal bleeding in 2008, her doctor found growths in her uterus and suggested she undergo a hysterectomy. Her gynecologist described one option, robotic surgery, as “the latest, greatest” minimally invasive technique available. With robotic instruments doing the delicate work usually performed hands-on by doctors, there’d be less pain and bleeding, Zarick was told. “In my mind,” she recalls, “there was no alternative but to use this fabulous technology.”

Five weeks following her 2009 surgery, in which a robot made by Intuitive Surgical was used to remove her uterus, Zarick felt something pop while she was in the bathroom. She looked down and saw her intestine protruding from her vagina. Four years later, the now 41-year-old sports-medicine student from Lincoln, Calif., says she has a hip-to-hip scar from corrective surgery, constipation from damaged rectal muscles, and a diminished sex life. The robot “forever changed my life for the worse,” says Zarick, who in December filed a product liability suit against Intuitive. Damages were not specified.