Robbins geller rudman & dowd llp files class action suit against
intuitive surgical, inc.
San diego--(business wire)--robbins geller rudman & dowd llp (“robbins geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/intuitive/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the united states district court for the northern district of california on behalf of purchasers of intuitive surgical, inc. (“intuitive”) (nasdaq:isrg) common stock during the period between october 19, 2011 and april 18, 2013 (the “class period”). if you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the court no later than 60 days from today. if you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, darren robbins of robbins geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. if you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/intuitive/. any member of the putative class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. the complaint charges intuitive and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the securities exchange act of 1934. intuitive manufactures robotic surgical systems, most notably the da vinci surgical system, which allows laparoscopic surgery to be performed remotely using robotic manipulators. the complaint alleges that throughout the class period, defendants issued a series of materially false and misleading statements highlighting the purported safety and effectiveness of the da vinci surgical system, while concomitantly announcing quarter after quarter of record financial results. as a result of defendants’ efforts to conceal significant safety and efficacy problems with the da vinci surgical system and their false statements concerning the company’s business metrics and financial prospects, intuitive stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the class period, reaching a class period high of nearly $595 per share in intraday trading by april 18, 2012. while the company’s stock was artificially inflated during the class period, the company’s senior executives sold close to 410,000 shares of their personally held intuitive stock for proceeds of more than $218.6 million. on march 5, 2013, bloomberg ran an expose disclosing that its review of pleadings in at least ten lawsuits filed against intuitive during the prior 14 months and fda adverse incident reports had uncovered that robotic surgical systems made by intuitive had been linked to at least 70 deaths in informal incident reports sent to the fda since 2009. then, on april 18, 2013, cnbc’s investigations, inc. broadcast an expose on the da vinci surgical system consisting of interviews with, among others, doctors, lawyers, and patients who have filed lawsuits against intuitive claiming they suffered injury while being operated on by surgeons using the da vinci surgical system. in response to this news, the price of intuitive stock fell $8.62 per share to close at $484.75 per share on april 19, 2013, down nearly 19% from its class period high of $595 per share. according to the complaint, the true facts, which were known or recklessly disregarded by defendants but concealed from the investing public during the class period, included that defects in the da vinci surgical system had caused a substantial number of patient injuries, not all of which were being reported to the fda, such that there was a substantial risk that the fda might limit or restrict sales and marketing of the da vinci surgical system, and that intuitive was engaging in sales practices that violated community standards and their own protocol agreed upon with the fda, exposing the company to criminal and civil sanctions plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of intuitive common stock during the class period (the “class”). the plaintiff is represented by robbins geller, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud. robbins geller represents u.s. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. with nearly 200 lawyers in nine offices, the firm represents hundreds of public and multi-employer pension funds with combined assets under management in excess of $2 trillion. the firm has obtained many of the largest recoveries in history and has been ranked number one in the number of shareholder class action recoveries in msci’s top scas 50 every year since 2003. please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.
