Cancer Patient Died From Intestinal Tear Caused By Surgical Robot: Lawsuit

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 alawsuit 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.

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.

In the months after the surgery, Sultzer experienced abdominal pain and fever. According to the lawsuit, Sultzer underwent a number of medical procedures due to her injuries.

“The injury suffered by Mrs. Sultzer caused her pain and emotional distress,” the lawsuit says. “Mrs. Sultzer incurred expense of medical care, hospitalization, treatment, nursing care and treatment, and the expense of rehabilitative care and treatment.”

Sultzer died in February 2022, and the lawsuit claimed it was a “direct and proximate result of the injuries she suffered” from the da Vinci device.

“Had ISI safely designed its product so that stray