Intuitive Surgical Sued Over Instruments Used by da Vinci Robots

Intuitive Surgical Inc. was hit with a lawsuit in Florida federal court claiming it used exclusive agreements and chip technology to corner the $2.4 billion market for the EndoWrist instruments used by its da Vinci surgical robots.

“Repairs of surgical instruments nearly identical to EndoWrists have been performed routinely for decades,” but Intuitive forces hospitals “to constantly buy new, unnecessary replacement” models so it can earn nearly double on the “simple instruments” what it makes on “the complex multimillion dollar da Vinci,” the complaint says.

The suit—filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida by Rebotix ...