Washington state jurors ordered Olympus Corp. to pay Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center $6.6 million after a patient contracted an infection because of an improperly cleaned Olympus duodenoscope, Kaiser Health News reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. Although ordering monetary compensation, state jurors rejected claims that Olympus' duodenoscope was "unsafe as designed."
2. A Virginia Mason Medical Center patient contracted an infection in 2013 after the Olympus scope was improperly reprocessed. The patient died because of said infection. The victim's family filed the suit and was later joined by the hospital. The jury did claim the hospital was partially at fault for the death, and ordered the hospital to pay the patient's family $1 million.
3. Despite finding the scopes safe, jurors did found, "Olympus failed to provide adequate warnings about the scope or instructions for it use after it was manufactured," which directly affected Virginia Mason.
4. Several patients and families have filed similar suits against Olympus. The government is investigating Olympus and two other manufacturers over the patient infections.
5. Thirty-nine infections were linked to Olympus' scopes and Virginia Mason, in what is one of the largest superbug infections to date. There were other related cases at centers across the U.S.
6. An Olympus official issued a statement to Kaiser Health News praising the jury's decision over the scopes safety, and offering the patient's family condolences.