A specific medical instrument, the duodenoscope, has been implicated in the death of eleven people and hundreds of serious superbug infections. A recent Senate report shows that germ-infested scopes have caused death and destruction for the past three years at least. And the problem may be in the instrument's design.
Hospital patients deserve the best, most careful and conscientious treatment. Surely sterile equipment is part of that equation. Please join me in demanding that the FDA evaluate whether design modifications in the Olympus duodenoscope are needed and, if so, require the manufacturer to recall and repair the instruments.
To the United States Food and Drug Administration:
We the undersigned are alarmed to learn how many people have been infected by bacteria-infested medical scopes. Not only have many patients been sickened with antibiotic-resistant infections, eleven people so far have died. And the problem appears to be the design of the Olympus duodenoscope. People go into the hospital hoping to be saved, not made worse. Please evaluate whether design modifications in the Olympus duodenoscope are needed and, if so, require the manufacturer to recall and repair the instruments.
