Olympus Corp.

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Another Scope, Similar Infection Worries

Chad Terhune and Melody Peterson | Los Angeles Times | December 20, 2015

Long before the recent superbug outbreaks, Olympus Corp. drew national attention for a faulty device tied to patient infections. In 2001, the Japanese company recalled thousands of bronchoscopes from U.S. hospitals after reports of contamination and patient infections. The episode — and the company's response to it — mirrors its current troubles with gastrointestinal scopes. Bacteria were trapped unexpectedly inside a loose biopsy port on the bronchoscope, and potentially dangerous bugs could be passed to the next patient. More recently, a similar pattern emerged with duodenoscopes harboring life-threatening superbugs even though hospitals followed Olympus' cleaning instructions, federal regulators said...

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How a Medical Device Maker Kept U.S. Hospitals in the Dark about Deadly Infections

Chad Terhune and Melody Petersen | LA Times | December 19, 2015

The hunt for a deadly superbug that sickened 22 patients at a Dutch hospital began just before noon on a spring day in 2012. Inside a lab in the tiny hamlet of Zoeterwoude, a technician carefully peeled back the tip of a state-of-the art medical scope. Watching him intently was a small group of hospital officials and executives from Olympus Corp., the maker of the device...

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