Olympus Corp. of the Americas, the largest distributor of endoscopes in the United States, is now stuck with a $646 million settlement of criminal and civil complaints over kickbacks to doctors—the largest ever for a medical device company.
It has engaged in a recall of a type of scope called a duodenoscope that is involved in 500,000 procedures a year in the U.S., and has been linked to deadly superbug outbreaks across the country.
The storyline for the scope debacle has had many twists and turns. Recently, it came to light that Olympus had warned European regulators about the potential of its duodenoscopes to spread infection but didn’t do so in the United States.
It has engaged in a recall of a type of scope called a duodenoscope that is involved in 500,000 procedures a year in the U.S., and has been linked to deadly superbug outbreaks across the country.
The storyline for the scope debacle has had many twists and turns. Recently, it came to light that Olympus had warned European regulators about the potential of its duodenoscopes to spread infection but didn’t do so in the United States.
