DENVER — The Colorado medical board has accused a surgeon of unprofessional conduct after a series of botched procedures with Porter Adventist Hospital’s robotic surgery arm left some patients with severe injuries.

The state alleges that from 2008 to 2010, Dr. Warren Kortz cut and tore blood vessels, left sponges and instruments inside patients and injured patients because of improper positioning. The board says he also subjected some patients to overly long surgeries, and had to abort kidney donations because of mistakes.

Lisanne Leasure, an attorney for Kortz in a negligence suit over one of the kidney patients, said in a statement that Kortz’s care was reasonable and appropriate.

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A surgical team prepares the da Vinci robotic system prior to an operation in August 2010. Hospitals spend more than $1 million on each of the da Vinci-brand surgical units and are under pressure to keep them busy. Photo by Denver Post file

LEAH MILLIS