Just last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to doctors and all healthcare professionals that bronchoscopes may transmit infections among patients when not cleaned properly. This is just the latest in a series of alerts that the FDA has made regarding the potential dangers of reusable medical scopes. Over the past five years, there have been more than 100 infections connected to bronchoscopes, including 50 last year alone. In February of this year, the FDA warned medical workers to be extra careful when disinfecting a particularly hard-to-clean medical scope, as it had been connected to the spread of powerful ‘superbug’ outbreaks in the United States.
According to the FDA, even meticulous cleaning of medical scopes may not entirely eliminate the risk of infection or contamination. In light of these findings, the agency advised doctors and hospitals to look into adopting new, more efficient disinfection protocols. However, this still may not fix the problem. If you or a loved one became ill after a stay in the hospital, you may be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals have an obligation to provide you with the highest level of care possible. When this does not happen and certain steps or procedures are skipped, the results could be catastrophic.
The Issue with Contaminated Medical Scopes
The device that came under scrutiny in February was the duodenoscope, which is an intricately designed instrument that is used to reach tiny ducts in the small intestine. Over the last eight months, the FDA has learned that less complex scopes are also posing a risk to patients as well. Regardless of how intricate the device, it is fairly common knowledge within the medical field that medical scopes are difficult to clean. This is due in large part to the fact that these devices have so many hidden internal channels, which can be a haven for bacteria. When cleaning these scopes, it is impossible to know whether or not all the bacteria is being removed and that all other debris has been loosened. During the whole duodenoscope fiasco, the FDA notated that even high-level disinfection may not eliminate the risk of transmitting infection entirely.
However, this process is absolutely critical to patient safety and wellness. The FDA is currently working with the manufacturer of duodenoscopes, as well as other medical scopes, in order to identify the main risk factors and come up with a solution to minimize patient risk and exposure. In the meantime, it is imperative that doctors and all healthcare professionals take extreme caution when cleaning these devices. If protocol is not followed in any way, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the hospital or doctor with the help of Wormington & Bollinger.
The FDA’a latest warning is an indicator of just how serious the problem of contaminated medical scopes is. Furthermore, in August the Mayo Clinic published a report that several other types of scopes – including colonoscopes and gastroscopes – are known transmitters of bacteria and other contaminated debris. If you think you may be the victim of a contaminated medical scope, contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Wormington & Bollinger.