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As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts
Reuters ^ | February 9, 2026 5:30 AM CST | Jaimi Dowdell, Steve Stecklow, Chad Terhune and Rachael Levy

Posted on 02/09/2026 3:03:35 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

In 2021, a unit of healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson announced “a leap forward”: It had added artificial intelligence to a medical device used to treat chronic sinusitis, an inflammation of the sinuses. Acclarent said the software for its TruDi Navigation System would now use a machine-learning algorithm to assist ear, nose and throat specialists in surgeries.

The device had already been on the market for about three years. Until then, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had received unconfirmed reports of seven instances in which the device malfunctioned and another report of a patient injury. Since AI was added to the device, the FDA has received unconfirmed reports of at least 100 malfunctions and adverse events.


Medical device company Acclarent added artificial intelligence to its TruDi Navigation System to assist doctors with sinus surgery. A Twitter post by the company in October 2021 introduced the new AI features.

At least 10 people were injured between late 2021 and November 2025, according to the reports. Most allegedly involved errors in which the TruDi Navigation System misinformed surgeons about the location of their instruments while they were using them inside patients’ heads during operations.

Cerebrospinal fluid reportedly leaked from one patient’s nose. In another reported case, a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients each allegedly suffered strokes after a major artery was accidentally injured.

FDA device reports may be incomplete and aren’t intended to determine causes of medical mishaps, so it’s not clear what role AI may have played in these events. The two stroke victims each filed a lawsuit in Texas alleging that the TruDi system’s AI contributed to their injuries. “The product was arguably safer before integrating changes in the software to...

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS:
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Cerebrospinal fluid reportedly leaked from one patient’s nose.

That doesn't sound good.

1 posted on 02/09/2026 3:03:35 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Cerebrospinal fluid reportedly leaked from one patient’s nose.
That doesn’t sound good.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am not a doctor, but yeah that is way not good.


2 posted on 02/09/2026 3:06:58 PM PST by sonova (No money? You're free to go.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Everyone should refuse J&J’s AI surgeon until the CEO allows it to perform a vasectomy on him ...


3 posted on 02/09/2026 3:13:54 PM PST by SecondAmendment (Political insight on loan from Rush Limbaugh)
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To: SecondAmendment

Would that would be micro surgery ?


4 posted on 02/09/2026 3:20:04 PM PST by al baby (I miss that ol windbag )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

GenAI hallucinates.

Isn’t that special?


5 posted on 02/09/2026 3:29:42 PM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: al baby

How does this compare with human surgeons records?


6 posted on 02/09/2026 3:34:38 PM PST by oldasrocks
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To: sonova

7 posted on 02/09/2026 3:35:05 PM PST by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
It's just a glitch.
or
It has already been fixed in the next version.

They can, and will, use those excuses for many decades to come.

8 posted on 02/09/2026 3:55:24 PM PST by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

9 posted on 02/09/2026 3:57:01 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Tell It Right

Dam right


10 posted on 02/09/2026 3:57:10 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Dr. AI: This patient has five fingers. He needs one added.


11 posted on 02/09/2026 4:02:49 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Dept. of Education should teach about Nietzsche: DOGE didn't kill it and now it's stronger than ever)
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To: KarlInOhio

Savana Guthrie has 6 finners


12 posted on 02/09/2026 4:04:52 PM PST by al baby (I miss that ol windbag )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

There are always problems in the beginning but I bet in five years there won’t be a difference and in ten you will be asking yourself why you would want a human surgeon when a robot doesn’t make mistakes.


13 posted on 02/09/2026 4:05:21 PM PST by Sawdring
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To: Sawdring
There are always problems in the beginning but I bet in five years there won’t be a difference and in ten you will be asking yourself why you would want a human surgeon when a robot doesn’t make mistakes.

Do you have proof that "a robot doesn’t make mistakes?"

14 posted on 02/09/2026 4:07:49 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Democracy dies with Democrats.)
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To: oldasrocks

Yeah...that seems a reasonable question...

“FDA device reports may be incomplete and aren’t intended to determine causes of medical mishaps, so it’s not clear what role AI may have played in these events.”


15 posted on 02/09/2026 4:10:50 PM PST by goodnesswins (Make educ institutions return to the Mission...reading, writing, math...not Opinions & propaganda)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

In ten years, E.


16 posted on 02/09/2026 4:29:16 PM PST by bdfromlv (Leavenworth hard time)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I wont allow Muslim doctors work on me because of the taqiyah and silent Jihad issues,


17 posted on 02/09/2026 4:31:59 PM PST by bdfromlv (Leavenworth hard time)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
TruDi is not a good name for a surgical navigation system.

Just sayin'.

18 posted on 02/09/2026 4:32:36 PM PST by caddie (Going forward we all need to become Trump, and also Captain Obvious, and Charlie Kirk too. )
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To: bdfromlv
In ten years, E.

In ten years AI will be omniscient, b?

When should we hold our weekly worship services?

19 posted on 02/09/2026 4:32:55 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Democracy dies with Democrats.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

5 years ago in AI was nearly eternity.

That’s when the device got AI.

This article is not relevant any longer.


20 posted on 02/09/2026 4:34:50 PM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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