I was considering this surgical team as my uroligist is
Dr Mark Swierzewski, this surgeon's partner. Swierzewski
did my biop. I asked him about robotic and he mentioned that
his partner did it but did not elaborate.. he kind of poopooed the
lathroscopic saying several small incisions or one big one .. what is
the difference... I thinkj one must consider the surgeon and his
experience carefully !  Not sure where to go now... Krongrad Miami?
Some insurance questions no doubt now!  I have Humana.

Here is the newpaper article:

Tampa hospital sued over robotic surgery that killed teacher

TAMPA, Fla. - A woman whose husband died after a doctor using a surgical robot
accidentally cut two of his main blood vessels is suing the hospital.

Al Greenway's widow is suing St. Joseph's Hospital, saying it's at fault for
her husband's October 2002 death. Brenda Greenway says hospital administrators
allowed doctors inexperienced with the $1 million robot to perform her
husband's surgery, which was to remove a cancerous kidney.

Greenway, a 53-year-old Desert Storm veteran and Plant High School science
teacher, died when the surgeon cut his abdominal aorta, which provides blood
to the abdominal organs and legs, and the inferior vena cava, the neighboring
vein that returns that blood to the heart.

"It was a totally unnecessary and avoidable death," said attorney Steven
Yerrid, who represents Brenda Greenway in the state Circuit Court lawsuit,
which was filed Tuesday. "The conventional surgery was basically jettisoned
and this robotic surgery was not only suggested but really pushed."

St. Joseph's spokeswoman Lisa Patterson said today that hospital officials had
not had time to review the lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of
money. She provided an Oct. 29, 2002, statement from the hospital's president,
Isaac Mallah, which called what happened to Greenway a "tragic, isolated
accident."

Mallah had said all the doctors were required to be certified to perform
advanced laparoscopic surgery to use the robot. Still, he said, surgeons would
get additional training because of Greenway's death.

During Greenway's surgery, Dr. Tod Fusia sat at a console about 10 feet from
the operating table using sophisticated control sticks to manipulate the da
Vinci Surgical Systems robot, a machine with three arms that look like they
belong to a 6-foot-tall insect.

Robots including the da Vinci are considered a major surgical breakthrough
over traditional methods as they can perform very fine movements in tight
spaces without damaging surrounding tissue as much.

The lawsuit alleges that Fusia's experience with the device was limited to a
pig, a cadaver, three kidney removals and a complicated prostate surgery that
left a man incontinent.

Fusia and the assistant surgeon are not being sued. Yerrid said the doctors'
conduct "has been addressed" and would not comment further.

According to Florida Department of Health records, Fusia and the other surgeon
paid $1 million in September to settle a claim for an unspecified incident
that occurred Oct. 11, 2002, the day of Greenway's surgery.