A report that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. briefly operated robotic hands on a live patient undergoing heart surgery is being shared on social media, but the clinic has confirmed this is not true.
Screengrabs of the report have circulated on social media and multiple people are voicing safety concerns. Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, has since explained that this never happened and the report has now been corrected.
The Claim
Healthcare outlet KFF Health News on Wednesday published a story about Kennedy Jr.’s visit to Cleveland Clinic, reporting that he briefly operated the robotic hands being used on a live patient.
The initial version of the story, seen by Newsweek, said: “Under the careful watch of a surgeon, and with the machine disconnected, Kennedy briefly tested the teaching console of the renowned Cleveland Clinic’s robotic hands with a live patient splayed open for heart surgery in the room.”
A screengrab of this report was shared by MSN reporter Brandy Zadrozny, garnering more than 194,000 views, with the caption: “The way I would sue for every dollar.”
Others commented on the post, asking about whether the patient had consented to the action while some asked whether Kennedy Jr. carried out the correct hygiene procedures.
The Facts
The KFF Health News reporter wrote the story, Amanda Seitz, later said that the clinic had called her to say the machine was disconnected from the patient when Kennedy Jr. used it.
“The Cleveland Clinic called me a few moments ago to say the robotic hands were disconnected to the patient as Kennedy sat at the console,” Seitz said in a post on X. “I asked about his use of the machine in the OR and was not told it was disconnected. We’ll update the story soon.”
Zadrozny later shared Seitz’s update alongside his original post.
The new version of the story said: “Under the careful watch of a surgeon, and with the machine disconnected, Kennedy briefly tested the teaching console of the renowned Cleveland Clinic’s robotic hands with a live patient splayed open for heart surgery in the room.”
Seitz also shared an explanation from surgeon Vamsi Aribindi who said: “You need to ‘swap’ the instruments to take control on the Da Vinci platform, so he could do whatever he wanted on a console and nothing would happen so long as he didn’t hit the swap pedal to take control of the instruments.”
The Ruling
The claim is false.
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