Two insurance companies claim that the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot, Intuitive Surgical Inc., failed to disclose more than 700 reports of patient injuries when they applied for liability coverage. In light of this deception, they have petitioned a federal judge to rescind their policies with the company, which total $25 million in coverage.
Bloomberg reports that Illinois Union Insurance Co. and Navigators Specialty Insurance Co. claim that Intuitive revealed only 24 claims regarding patient injuries tied to their da Vinci surgical robot when they applied for coverage in 2013—and failed to mention an additional 734 claims. The insurers state that this was “a massive concealment of claims from an insurer, the most egregious in history.”
Had they known of the high number of claims of serious patient injuries, the insurers state that they would not have viewed covering Intuitive as a safe investment. It is now clear that the company had already entered into hundreds of tolling agreements with attorneys representing injured patients, designed to suspend litigation deadlines while settlement negotiations took place.
While the insurers claim that Intuitive deceived them into supplying coverage, the medical device maker says that they have evidence that the insurers knew about the tolling agreements but chose to take the “substantial risk” of covering them because they were interested in doing business with Intuitive. They also claim that the insurers never asked about incidents “likely to result in a claim” in their applications, and that the tolling agreements did not apply to this.
If the judge grants these two insurance companies the ability to rescind their coverage of Intuitive Surgical, the company will lose roughly $25 million in coverage. The company has countersued the insurers as a result of their refusal to cover multiple da Vinci robot claims. In this counter lawsuit, Intuitive has asked a judge to force Illinois Union to cover 860 da Vinci claims and Navigators to cover another 111.
Intuitive Surgical’s device known as the da Vinci surgical robot is comprised of four independent arms which surgeons operate through complex controls to conduct minimally-invasive, laparoscopic surgery. Many patients preferred to undergo robotic surgery rather than traditional, “open” procedures because the da Vinci offers smaller scars, shorter recovery time, and other alleged benefits. However, a high number of patients have suffered serious and sometimes fatal injuries during or following surgery where a da Vinci robot was employed and at one point Intuitive faced roughly 3,000 personal injury lawsuits filed by these injured patients and their loved ones. Though fewer than 100 of these lawsuits remain now, the scope of this litigation could make Intuitive a poor bet for insurers.
In da Vinci surgical robot lawsuits, plaintiffs have alleged that the device is improperly designed and inherently dangerous, and that Intuitive failed to provide adequate training for the doctors who use this complex and very expensive device. The company has also faced lawsuits from shareholders who claim they misrepresented the safety of the da Vinci robot.
If you or your loved one suffered serious or even fatal injuries during or as a result of surgery with a da Vinci surgical robot, you may be entitled to substantial compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages. Please contact our personal injury law firm today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced attorney.
