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Intuitive surgical dropped 17% today due to earning coming in below estimates. I think this is a great buying opportunity. I have owned ISRG for the past 4 years and plan to own it for many more. ISRG created a surjical robot that allows doctors to do surgery using joystick in front of an lcd screen. this means better surgical results and more importantly, shorter recovery periods from operations i.e. less cost for the health insurers.
ISRG is a young company with now competition anywhere in site. The only lace this baby can go long term is up and up.. and if some dummy at Oppenheimer investments is dumb enough to sell his shares, that's more for us at a better price.
This post is more than 60 days old. Replying to it might be confusing for other members reading the discussion.
By all means, keep the ball rolling and post a new opinion.
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Neodolphino
Jun 11 at 12:34 ET
I work in an OR that actually uses the da Vinci robot from ISRG (very occasionally). Having used this product, I feel pretty sceptical about current generation robotic surgery as a whole.
It can be argued that laparoscopy (which was initially laughed at by all but the most visionary of surgeons) has become a invaulble tool and standard of care in the modern operating room, however I fail to see how the robotic element has truly revolutionized surgery.
Using the robot is expensive, time consuming, and sometimes does little to nothing to decrease post-op pain or recovery (they still have to make standard laparoscopic incisions into the patient and inflate the abdomen with CO2).
The main draw for doctors to use the da Vinci stems from the increase of control and tactile feel the 3D apparatus/hand controls provide when performing extermely delicate disection/suturing. This makes the da Vinci largely impractical in most surgical cases and only marginally practical (in my opinion) in a few select cases in which they are used at my hospital (hysterectomy and prostatectomy).
It sounds good on paper, it even is pretty neat, but ISRGs product just seems like a novelty to me.
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verushka1
Jun 13 at 5:03 ET
THe DaVinci machine is phenomenal. The hospitals in the US all want this machine. The chances of human error with the use of this machine are completely cut out. The rate of mal-practice would be drastically cut if the hospitals can use this machine.
The doctors love it. It performs marvelously. It takes the "human fraility factor" out of surgery.
It is now being used for prostate surgery with huge success.
The only problem with this machine is that it is so expensive and many of the hospitals simply can't afford it. THey are all trying to get it and when this machine goes to Europe all the doctors will want it also.
It is a fabulous invention. Real 21st century surgery.
Patients need less anesthesia, recover faster, spend less time in the hospital. All positives.
I agree with you. I also think because of the pullback, the price is still good even though it went up 11 pts. today.
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verushka1
Jun 13 at 5:06 ET
Rebutt to the doctor. Look how long it took for laparoscopy to "catch on". I was the second person in the US to have that surgery in 1970. Look how many years it took to catch on. Now it is standard.
I can't argue with you because you are a doc-but from what I hear the machine is fabulous.
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guliamo
Jun 14 at 6:00 ET
A question comes to mind here, regarding the cost of this machine.. If indeed it decreases the recovery time and chances of malpractice, why aren't more hospitals doing this simple math..
I understand the machine costs about a million dollars, you save that in just 400 hospital day beds... is the US health care system so ridiculously corrupt and unproductive that it can't see the value?
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guliamo
Jun 14 at 6:06 ET
btw, Pilgrim posted an interesting article on this that you guys might like:
http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/archive/07/11/005.html