Here are five key notes:
1. At least 32 patients at the medical center were infected with multidrug-resistant E. coli bacteria between 2012 and 2014 due to contaminated scopes.
2. Eleven people died, however, it was not clear if the contaminated scopes were the cause of their deaths, as all the patients were critically ill at the time.
3. The widow of one of the patients, Theresa Bigler, filed a lawsuit against Olympus America. Now, VMMC has joined the lawsuit, stating that Olympus America knew its duodenoscopes could become contaminated and harbor bacteria.
4. This isn’t the first such allegation against Olympus America. In February, a patient of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles filed a lawsuit against Olympus claiming that the patient was exposed to a contaminated endoscope.
5. Olympus America said in a statement that it was working with authorities, such as the FDA, to improve sterilization safeguards.
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