Three senior executives at scope maker Olympus Corp., which is under federal investigation for its role in superbug outbreaks, repeatedly invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned recently about internal company emails.
The Tokyo executives declined to answer questions about the correspondence during two days of depositions Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in a civil case against Olympus, according to lawyers representing a Seattle hospital and a patient’s widow.
The company emails, first reported by Kaiser Health News and the Los Angeles Times, are key evidence in several pending civil suits against Olympus and could be relevant to the ongoing federal probe.