Da Vinci Robot Ad Stirs ControversyDa Vinci Robot Ad Stirs Controversy

The University of Illinois Department of Surgery has created a furor over the appearance of some of its surgeons and support staff in an advertisement for Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system. The ad, which ran in the New York Times Magazine, is headlined "We Believe in da Vinci Surgery Because Our Patients Benefit."

Prominent at the top of the ad is the identifier, "Division of General, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System." The bottom displays a large da Vinci Surgery logo, and the copyright line of Intuitive Surgical.

The individuals pictured in the ad include Enrico Benedetti, MD, head of the Department of Surgery, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System (UIHHSS); and Bernard Pygon, MD, acting chief medical officer of the UIHHSS, Chicago. Four other MDs also appear in the photo.

Leading the hue-and-cry and fanning the flames of outrage is blogger Paul Levy (no relation). Levy is former president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston). In his blog, "Not Running a Hospital," Levy identified four points on which he says the hospital has violated its own Code of Conduct by allowing its name to appear on the ad.

"Whose ad is this?" Levy asked. "If it is an ad paid for by the University of Illinois, why doesn't the University hold the copyright? If the ad is paid for by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., how can the University allow its name to be used for commercial purposes?" After describing the alleged violations, he concluded the column saying, "So, who should be fired for these violations?   Simple: I would choose the highest-rank administrator and clinician who gave permission for this advertisement to be published."

The University of Illinois responded to Levy's accusations in an email from Thomas Hardy, Executive Director of University Relations. Levy posted this response on his blog on February 6.

In part, Hardy said, "The ad was paid for by the device manufacturer, Intuitive Surgical. Neither UI Health nor any individual was compensated for appearing in the ad. We asked Intuitive to suspend the ad, and the company agreed, immediately upon learning of concerns expressed about it."

Hardy's email included an attached scan of a letter from Robert A. Easter, president, University of Illinois, which was addressed to Larry Schook, vice president for research. The letter said, in part, "...you should review the circumstances of participation by the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System and some of it (sic) employees in an advertisement..."

So maybe some heads will roll.

However, in the midst of all the uproar, one amusing point was brought up by an anonymous commenter to Levy's first post. It seems that one of those in the photo, posed in a white lab coat along with the real medical staff, is a woman whose job title is actually Media and Administrative Contact. "Must have needed more balance in the photo," wrote the anonymous commenter.