Hospital says RFK Jr. did not operate robotic arm during heart surgery

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

05/14/26 2:48 PM ET


The Cleveland Clinic is pushing back on a report that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. operated a robotic arm during a patient’s heart surgery on a recent visit to the medical center, clarifying that he was merely an observer. “He briefly observed a robotic heart surgery as part of a broader tour, which included a demonstration using a disconnected teaching console that was unable to perform any surgical functions,” a spokesperson for the clinic told The Hill in a statement on Thursday. “He played no role in the patient’s care,” they added.

The explanation came after KFF Health News reported Wednesday that Kennedy “briefly tested the teaching console” of the clinic’s robotic hands “with a live patient splayed open for heart surgery in the room.” The article has since been updated to reflect the clinic’s statement. The tidbit sparked immediate online criticism, with one doctor describing the HHS chief’s presence in the operating room as a “horrifying and grotesque violation of HIPAA,” referring to the federal health privacy law.

“I’m curious how he was ever allowed in a functioning operating room to be begin with …,” Ian Fields, M.D., M.C.R., a urogynecologist, wrote in a post on social platform X. “So, the Cleveland clinic stopped mid-heart-surgery for a photo op with Kennedy. Was the patient’s heart exposed just sitting there while they stopped the surgery and let Kennedy play with the tools? Still sounds like a lawsuit to me,” another X user wrote.

The KFF reporter who joined Kennedy on his tour, Amanda Seitz, clarified in a follow-up post on X that multiple doctors continued working on the patient while they observed. “Then, Kennedy sat at the machine that controls the robotic hands with a surgeon,” she wrote. “Cleveland Clinic did not allow anyone to take photos/videos in OR.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5878628-hhs-rfk-jr-robotic-arm-heart-surgery/

[Raven123]

1. He should not have been near a patient care area. Period.

[agingdem]

3. Exactly...

why the hell was he in the operating theater in the first place?...but then again, the Cleveland Clinic's powers-that-be are probably afraid RFK,Jr. will pull their funding if they don't acquiesce...

[dalton99a]

10. +1

[sop]

2. Patel went snorkeling at the USS Arizona site, so RFK Jr. had to play with surgical instruments during heart surgery.

[Buddyzbuddy]

4. He did however hi-five it. Which of course broke it.

Just kidding.

[reACTIONary]

9. Or a side five....

[Midnight Writer]

5. It all turned out OK. He simply collected the patient's penis and then left.

[jmowreader]

6. They should have let him do this...

[hamsterjill]

7. The patient should have been consulted prior to any observation.

If Cleveland Clinic did this without the patient's knowledge and permission, I hope they get sued. Any doctor performing that delicate of a procedure does not need to be distracted by anything, much less a photo op.

[purr-rat beauty]

13. HIPAA violation?

Or would he have to see something related to the patient, did he observe the patient?

[hamsterjill]

14. Good question. I don't know the answer.

But I would think that it would be.

[Skittles]

8. BEING IN THE ROOM IS FUBAR ENOUGH FOR ME

WTF

[no_hypocrisy]

12. And . . . . WTF do you THINK the hospital was going to say?

Last edited Fri May 15, 2026, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)

First, I can plainly imagine Jr. pestering until they let him do it, even for a minute. ("Aw, c'mon! Just let me TOUCH it . . . . " )

Then, Jr. to put his hand/wrist on top of the surgeon's as he proceeds with surgery.

Then, Jr. wants to just have his hand alone on the controls, even for a second.

- - - -

Maybe this never happened, but maybe it did. And you believe the underwriters and the counsel for the hospital and the surgeon and the staff would be ALLOWED to publicly admit that Jr. was even in the operating room at the time of surgery? That's malpractice! Do you believe that the surgery patient would let an event like that go unaddressed?

- - - - -
Then again, maybe the surgeon had self-survival if he refused this request. Very few people outside the surgery staff are allowed into the theater. Plus, a likely inebriated layman even getting near the table would be highly unorthodox.

[Bengus81]

16. RFK Jr.......

[no_hypocrisy]

17. Pithy and precise

[Bengus81]

15. He was there checking for the crime of jello squares being given to the patient