Ochsner officials said routine audits found that the endoscopes did not complete an automated cleaning regimen after being cleaned manually between June 25, 2010 and March 2, 2011.
The officials said the risk of infection is almost nil, but Ochsner would provide free testing to the 222 patients involved. Tulane Medical Center reported a similar cleaning incident last month, prompting a class-action lawsuit.
Read the Times-Picayune report on endoscopes.
Read more on sterilizing endoscopes:
–Patients File Lawsuit Over Tulane Medical Center’s Failure to Sterilize Endoscopes
–Selection of Disinfection or Sterilization
–STERIS Launches Device Designed to Aid Manual Reprocessing of Endoscopes
