Intuitive Surgical drops after identifying defect in robot tool

Share of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), which makes surgical robots, is falling after CNBC reported that the company warned hospitals that a tool on its robots can cause internal burns in patients. WHAT'S NEW: Cracks in some of the scissors used by Intuitive's robots can enable "electrosurgical energy" to leak to patients' tissue and "cause thermal injury," Intuitive stated in a note to hospitals, according to CNBC. The company confirmed that it had sent the notification, but added that it had seen "no evidence of patient injury" caused by the defect, CNBC added. WHAT'S NOTABLE: On March 14, the president of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. James Breeden, stated that, "Robotic surgery is not the only or the best minimally invasive approach for hysterectomy." The following day, the state of Massachusetts reported that it had been receiving more complaints about patient complications associated with robot-assisted surgery. The state issued an advisory to health care providers about the issue. Intuitive Surgical's stock dropped under $460 per share following those reports, but has since rebounded to around $500. PRICE ACTION: In early afternoon trading, Intuitive Surgical dropped $11.80. or 2.3%, to $494.