Olympus Endoscopes Lawsuits Beginning to Take Shape

Last year, we wrote about a “superbug” infection caused by Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which was linked to use of the Tokyo-based Olympus Corp.’s duodenoscopes. At that time, only two lawsuits had been filed. In January of this year, however, Olympus voluntarily recalled thousands of those scopes “two days after a U.S. Senate report concluded that 25 outbreaks — including two in Los Angeles in which three people died — were linked to dirty scopes made by Olympus and two other manufacturers,” according to the LA Times. The paper reports that at least 141 people have been infected by the superbug after having had procedures that required the use of a duodenoscope. Since then, patients around the country have begun filing lawsuits against Olympus and other companies manufacturing the scopes.

The problem with the scopes

The duodenoscope is used in more than half a million procedures each year throughout the country. Unlike endoscopes, which are used for routine procedures, duodenoscopes are designed to “drain fluids from pancreatic and biliary ducts blocked by tumors, gallstones or other conditions” in a procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

These scopes are crucial to the prevention of certain life-threatening diseases, but because of their design, they can be very difficult to properly clean and sterilize. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered that even when the correct sterilization procedures were followed, certain bacteria were able to survive the process. These bacteria were then passed from patient to patient. The CDC passed this information along to the Food & Drug Administration, which then issued an alert.

What are CRE?

CRE are actually a family of germs, as opposed to one specific strain, with an unusually high resistance to antibiotics. E. coli is, perhaps, the most well-known of these bacteria, but there are more. Not all CRE will cause an infection; in fact, according to the CDC, “Many people with CRE will have the germ in or on their body without it producing an infection. These people are said to be colonized with CRE, and they do not need antibiotics for the CRE.”

People who are most likely to be affected by CRE include:

• Nursing home residents
• Hospital patients
• Long-term care facility patients
• Patients on ventilators
• Patients with catheters
• Patients on a long-term antibiotic regimen
• Patients with compromised immune systems

For those who do develop an infection from CRE, there is hope. Few CRE are entirely resistant to all forms of antibiotics, and there are other therapies available. CRE infections can be fatal, so it is crucial that you seek medical attention if you or your loved one has become ill after being treated with a duodenoscope.

Plaxen Adler Muncy, P.A. is a premier personal injury firm serving all of Maryland. To schedule a free consultation with an experienced Maryland defective medical device lawyer, please call 410-730-7737 or fill out our contact form.