Three Reasons to Sell Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG)

But my investment in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) is bigger than that. The da Vinci is the only widely accepted robot for soft-tissue operations in the medical community. Currently, doctors are experimenting with the da Vinci in cardiothoracic, as well as head and neck procedures. I believe that the continued success of Intuitive’s stock — though not necessarily the company itself — hinges on the ability to further implement daVinci in other procedures. But that is no sure thing, and a failure to continue that expansion would lead me to consider selling.

3. Legal issues
Finally, with any company, but especially medical companies, legal issues can arise. As Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)states in its annual report: “Product liability and negligence claims…could be expensive, divert management’s attention and harm our business.”

This risk was front and center last month: A jury had to decide if the company was liable for a patient’s eventual death after having a prostatectomy. The claim was that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) had done a poor job training the doctor who performed the operation.

In the end, the jury sided with Intuitive, as the doctor had been warned by Intuitive not to attempt the particular operation he was doing before gaining more experience. But there’s no guarantee that the company will win future cases. And once a defendant wins a claim, there’s no telling if that will just be the start of opening the floodgates.

What’s a Fool to do?
As I said, I’ve already decided to hold my shares. To be honest, at this point, I’m not considering buying new shares. I’m no doctor, and I’m curious to see what the effect of the JAMA article may have on hysterectomies in coming quarters.

The article 3 Reasons to Sell Intuitive Surgical originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Stoffel owns shares of Intuitive Surgical. The Motley Fool recommends Intuitive Surgical. The Motley Fool owns shares of Intuitive Surgical.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.