2. Legal Articles
  3. Accident & Injury
  4. Infections are linked to hard-to-clean medical devices

REFINE BY AREAS

Search Legal Articles

Infections are linked to hard-to-clean medical devices

by Julie A. Rice on Nov. 30, 2016

Accident & Injury Medical Malpractice Accident & Injury  Products Liability Health Care  Pharmaceutical Product 

Summary: This article illustrates how hard to clean medical devices can cause infections, and that this problem is more prevalent than we once originally thought.

Infections are linked to hard-to-clean medical devices

A year ago, two patients died and several more suf- fered serious complications as a result of drug-resistant bacterial infections at a Los Angeles hospital. It turned out that an endoscope used at the hospital – a device to look inside a patient’s digestive system – was designed in a way that made it difficult to clean properly before reus- ing. As a result, bacteria cells from one patient were being transferred to others.

It now appears that this is not an isolated problem. Both the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration have issued warnings that patients

may be vulnerable to outbreaks from contaminated medi- cal instruments. And this is true not only for hospital patients, but also for outpatients at doctors’ offices and clinics.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, a recent inspection of clinics in Washington state showed “incon- sistencies and potential inadequacies” in the disinfection of reusable devices. And a community health center in Arizona recently had to warn patients to get tested for possible infections after discovering that some equipment hadn’t been properly sterilized. 

Legal Articles Additional Disclaimer

Lawyer.com is not a law firm and does not offer legal advice. Content posted on Lawyer.com is the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated and is not reviewed or commented on by Lawyer.com. The application of law to any set of facts is a highly specialized skill, practiced by lawyers and often dependent on jurisdiction. Content on the site of a legal nature may or may not be accurate for a particular state or jurisdiction and may largely depend on specific circumstances surrounding individual cases, which may or may not be consistent with your circumstances or may no longer be up-to-date to the extent that laws have changed since posting. Legal articles therefore are for review as general research and for use in helping to gauge a lawyer's expertise on a matter. If you are seeking specific legal advice, Lawyer.com recommends that you contact a lawyer to review your specific issues. See Lawyer.com's full Terms of Use for more information.