According to a report which was just released, at least three patients died at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California last year from infections believed to have been spread by contaminated duodenoscopes.
The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the deaths occurred in August and that the patients were likely infected with hospital-acquired pathogens the month before that, but that hospital officials believed it would violate patient privacy laws to publicly report the deaths. They did, however, tell the company that made the scopes, Olympus Corp. about the deaths, and the company passed the report on to federal regulators.
Earlier this year, Olympus Corp. announced that they had recalled the duodenoscopes which were implicated in these deaths. In February 2015, at least two patients also died after being infected by the contaminated scopes, this time at Ronald Regan Medical Center at UCLA. Upon investigation, the FDA determined in August that Olympus and two other scope manufacturers were guilty of several safety violations noted in the design and manufacture of the devices, and despite taking steps to make their scopes safer Olympus finally felt forced to issue a recall.
Duodenoscopes are long tubes which are passed down patients’ throats and are equipped with tiny cameras and surgical tools which allow doctors to diagnose and treat some conditions of the pancreas and bile duct. Due to the miniscule size of these scopes and their intricate design, it has been discovered that they are very difficult to clean and may remain contaminated between procedures. This has led to several outbreaks of hospital-acquired infections in recent years, including at least five patient deaths.
In February, a Senate minority staff report released after a year-long investigation into duodenoscope infections concluded that Olympus and other manufacturers had failed to adequately protect patients, especially after receiving multiple warnings about the risk of duodenoscope infections and failing to report these issues to the FDA. At this time, Senator Patty Murray said in a press release, “Following the tragic impacts outbreaks have had on patients and families in my home state and across the nation, I made it my priority to ensure we fully understood how this could have happened in the first place, and what could be done to protect patients going forward. Patients should be able to trust that the devices they need for treatment are safe and effective. Unfortunately this investigation makes clear that current policies for monitoring medical device safety put patients at risk, and, in this case, allowed tragedies to occur that could have, and should have, been prevented.”
As the leading provider of duodenoscopes in the United States, Olympus has taken heavy fire for the epidemic of hospital infections and patient deaths related to their instruments. Now, Huntington Hospital is also drawing sharp criticism for their alleged attempts to keep three duodenoscope deaths quiet. Lawrence Muscarella, a medical safety expert who found the records of the Pasadena deaths in an FDA database, says, “What were those three families told? The new norm for hospitals appears to be silence.”
Even with the news of the three deaths at Huntington Hospital, many wonder whether more patients died and just how many were infected. Additionally, the scope tied to these deaths is a different model from the one recalled earlier this year by Olympus, which means that patients could still be in danger.
Representatives of Olympus have commented that they will conduct further investigations into the outbreak and take all necessary steps to ensure patient safety, but for some families these actions are far too late. If you or someone you love has suffered a hospital-acquired infection after a duodenoscope procedure, you may be entitled to compensation. Please contact our personal injury law firm to learn more in a free legal consultation.
