Surgery procedures assisted by the Da Vinci robot: benefits, risks and civil liability

Abstract

Objectives: to verify benefits, risks and adverse events in the use of Da Vinci robot in surgical procedures in order to establish a means to attribute the responsibility between the many agents involved, whomever they may be doctors, the hospital, nursing team and manufacturer. Methods: the present study is based on the collection and interpretation of legal doctrinal and case law material related to the topic. This is initially achieved through the investigation of the benefits, risks and litigations that revolve around adverse events in surgery assisted by the Da Vinci robot, in the context of the North American legal order. In a second instance, a comparative study of these demands is drawn from the perspective of the Brazilian law system. Results and discussion: the great complexity of the analysis of civil liability in robotic surgery is mainly to determine the efficient cause of damage- and to whom should the duty to indemnify be attributed. In the United States of America, these indemnifying claims are known as finger-pointing cases, as there is always the dilemma of who should respond when there is a damage to the patient who is submitted to robotic surgery, the doctor (and/or the hospital) or the equipment's manufacturer. Conclusion: in order to establish the civil liability due to adverse events in robotic surgery it is imperative to determine the source of the damage, whether it was from an essentially medical, paramedical or extra medical service. Furthermore, in the eventuality of a malfunction of the Da Vinci robot itself, the manufacturer must answer regardless of the existence of guilt to repair the damages caused to the patient.