Report: Olympus may have known about duodenoscope problem
Hospital Safety Insider, April 23, 2015
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
Olympus Corp., recently under pressure about improperly disinfected GI scopes that may have transmitted deadly infections, may have known about potential problems with cleaning its duodenoscopes nearly two years ago, according to a report in Outpatient Surgery Magazine.
According to the report, The Los Angeles Times claimed that Olympus sent two letters to hospitals in Europe, warning them of potential risks related to the scopes. Both letters sent by the company warned of the risks associated with improper reprocessing of the scopes. The first letter was sent in January 2013, when Olympus sent a safety alert to European hospitals with recommended cleaning practices to prevent contamination in their TJF-Q180V duodenoscopes.
The second letter came in August 2014 after Olympus received complaints that the scopes were still dirty despite cleaning efforts. The alert addressed the difficult elevator section of the scope, which the FDA has warned is a high-risk area for bacterial contamination, the report said.
Despite this, Olympus did not issue an alert in the U.S. until February, after an outbreak at the University of California’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, which is highly resistant to antibiotics and can kill up to 50% of infected patients. In that outbreak, two patients died nearly 180 more people may have been exposed to deadly bacteria.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Created exclusively for healthcare facility managers, plant operations professionals, and directors of engineering, this...
-
Hospital Safety Insider
Stay on top of hospital safety requirements and best practices with our free, fast-paced weekly update.
-
Basic OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your outpatient...
-
Basic Dental OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your dental...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Know guidelines and subtle differences in code descriptions for laceration repairs
- Don’t forget the three checks in medication administration
- New CMS guidance on ligature risk says Joint Commission recommendations set the bar
- Reimbursement for Facility and Professional Services in a Provider-Based Department by Gina M. Reese, Esq., RN
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- What to include on the incident report
- Maryland health system locked out of network by ransomware
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- E-mailed
-
- What to include on the incident report
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Understand diagnosis coding to protect against auditor scrutiny
- Tip: Using modifier -59 with an EKG
- Q/A: Correct use of modifier -PT
- Q&A: Why are we getting edits for PET scans?
- New CMS guidance on ligature risk says Joint Commission recommendations set the bar
- CMS replaces clinic E/M visit levels with single G-code
- Clear up confusion surrounding observation services
- Searched