Lawmaker Calls Olympus Action on Contaminated Scopes ‘Despicable’

A U.S. lawmaker is renewing his push for Congress to toughen requirements on medical-device warnings, calling Olympus Corp.’s 2013 decision against issuing a broad alert to U.S. hospitals about scope-related superbug outbreaks “despicable.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) said internal Olympus emails about that decision, detailed for the first time in a Los Angeles Times/Kaiser Health News-produced article this week, were “incredibly disturbing” and the company officials involved should face questions at a congressional hearing. At least 35 patients in American hospitals have died since 2013 after developing infections tied to tainted duodenoscopes.

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