The surgical robot company is at present enmeshed in roughly 92 individual product liability lawsuits filed in various state and federal courts by plaintiffs, and suits brought by plaintiffs' attorneys covering another 55, according to its April 2016 10-Q SEC filing.

In this latest filing, the company stated that, "A substantial number of such claims relate to alleged complications from surgeries performed with certain versions of Monopolar Curved Scissor (“MCS”) instruments which included an MCS tip cover accessory that was the subject of a market withdrawal in 2012 and MCS instruments that were the subject of a recall in 2013. In an effort to avoid the expense and distraction of defending multiple lawsuits, the company entered into tolling agreements to pause the applicable statutes of limitations for these claims and engaged in confidential mediation efforts."


The filing states that the company has reserved about $100 million to cover resolving these cases.

The bottom line for the da Vinci maker is that, should the courts side with the insurers and let them out of the policies, now covering about $25 million, Intuitive would have to self-insure for a year.

Illinois Union's coverage is for $15 million with a limit of $5 million per occurrence, after the company spends $5 million. Navigators covers $10 million in excess product liability, according to Bloomberg.

Intuitive’s system has been involved in 176,000 operations in just the first quarter of 2016 — up 17 percent from the year-ago period.

Illinois Union and Navigators are set to ask U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco this week to rule in their favor on the rescission request without a trial.

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