Defective Product Lawsuits Filed in Connection to Superbug Outbreaks

In the medical industry, certain protocols are established to help protect the health and safety of both patients and medical staff. These protocols must be re-examined when changes are made to the way a procedure is performed or the design of a medical device.

Failure to make such adjustments is at the center of a group of defective product lawsuits that have been filed in connection to patients being infected with what are known as superbugs after undergoing a medical procedure. The suits claim the patients were exposed to the drug-resistant bacteria through the use of unsanitary medical devices.

An article from Al Jazeera America explains hundreds, if not thousands, of patients in the United States have been exposed to organisms called carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, or superbugs. These infections have led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations around the nation, and more are expected in the future.

Patients are being exposed to the superbugs during endoscopic procedures using improperly sanitized medical devices. The lack of sanitation is occurring because the cleaning steps that are used are now ineffective on certain parts of the device after design changes were made.

Lawsuits have been filed in connection to the infections, with victims claiming the makers and users of the products failed to reexamine cleaning procedures after the design of the instruments was altered.

At Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin, our team of Indiana personal injury lawyers are hopeful a decision in these suits will bring a sense of closure to the victims.