The company that manufactured the endoscope linked to UCLA’s deadly superbug infections never obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the device, an agency official told CNN. Doctors use these scopes in more than 500,000 procedures annually, and a patient infected by the superbug scope is now suing the device maker.
The scope in question, Olympus’ TJF-Q180V duodenoscope, is used routinely in a procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to diagnose or treat diseases of the liver, bile ducts and the pancreas, including types of cancer. Doctors insert the flexible snake-like device into the body through the throat or anus.
