Some of the surgical methods employed by today’s doctors seemed to be the products of yesterday’s science fiction. And while the applications of modern technology have opened the door for new and effective ways of treating patients, it seems we still have not arrived at the point where the latest surgical devices always perform perfectly. And as such, patients are still vulnerable to injuries caused by these new machines.
A case in point is robotic surgery. Robots are now often used to help perform certain forms of minimally invasive surgery. And while the intent of these robots is to improve patient care, information released by a collection of researchers indicates that the use of robots carries potential risks. In fact, the study looked at over 10,000 incident reports recorded between 2000 and 2013 and found there were 1,391 patient injuries and 144 patient deaths involving robots.
The study cites numerous errors that led to the injuries. These errors included robots making unplanned movements, electrical sparking, and pieces of tools dropping inside patients. But the information available to the researchers did not shed much light on what exactly led to the patients’ deaths. Possible causes could be the inherent risks of the surgery, robot malfunction or human error.
If you or a loved one was harmed undergoing surgery in which a robot was being employed, you may wish to have an experienced medical malpractice attorney investigate the matter. The attorney could find out if the doctors were trained and able to operate the machine correctly. Also, the attorney could examine if the robots being used were properly serviced and calibrated. Based on the attorney’s findings, it may be possible to build a medical malpractice case against any negligent parties.