The trio of executives was deposed in the U.S. embassy in Tokyo and did not answer questions about internal company emails regarding various scope-related outbreaks. The emails reportedly told Olympus leaders not to issue a warning to U.S. hospital executives that the duodenoscopes may spread infections, despite such a warning being issued to European hospitals.
The Fifth Amendment protects against self-incrimination.
The deposition is part of a lawsuit brought against Olympus by Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center and the widow of a man who died after contacting a scope-related infection at the hospital.
At least 35 patients in the U.S. have died since 2013 after they developed infections linked to the difficult-to-clean scopes.
More articles on patient safety:
FDA bans powdered gloves: New rule effective January 18
Salmonella, strep, mumps: 5 recent & ongoing outbreaks in the US
Patients in worst hospitals 3 times more likely to die, study concludes
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