Widow of infection victim testifies in civil suit against Olympus over contaminated scopes

The family of a Seattle man who died of an infection received from a contaminated scope testified this week in a civil suit against Tokyo-based Olympus Corp., the manufacturer of the device, according to Kaiser Health News.

The suit, brought by the widow of Richard Bigler and later joined by Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center, was filed in 2015.

At least 35 patients at Virginia Mason, including Mr. Bigler, were infected by Olympus-made scopes between 2012 and 2014. Eighteen of them died. Several other hospitals have also reported infections linked to the difficult-to-clean scopes.

Teresa Bigler's attorneys in this civil case argue the scopes had a design flaw that made them difficult to properly clean. They also say that Olympus executives were aware of the infection risk yet made no effort to notify hospitals.

Officials from Olympus say the devices were possible to clean if hospital personnel followed the instructions properly. Three top Olympus executives have declined to testify in Ms. Bigler's civil case.

More than 25 families across the country have filed suits against Olympus, though Ms. Bigler's is the first to go to trial. According to Kaiser Health News, Ms. Bigler's case "may serve as a bellweather for future litigation" and "offers a preview of the evidence federal prosecutors … could use against Olympus in a possible criminal case."

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