LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A patient exposed to a deadly superbug at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center is suing the maker of the duodendoscope likely to blame for the spread of the infection.
Eighteen-year-old Aaron Young is among seven patients who became infected with carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) at the hospital between October and January. Two of the patients died from the bacteria, which is deadly 40 percent to 50 percent of the time.
Young remains hospitalized due to the infection.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday in California Superior Court, Young was exposed to a contaminated duodendoscope -- a type of endoscope made by Olympus Corp. -- twice in October and January during procedures at the hospital. The scope is commonly used to examine and treat digestive problems caused by cancer and gallstones and can harbor germs even after rigorous cleaning. The scopes are flexible lighted tubes with a hollow channel to insert instruments through the throat for tissue samples and other procedures.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned the commonly used medical scope can be "extremely difficult" to effectively clean and may facilitate the spread of deadly bacteria.
Young is suing Olympus for failing to provide doctors and hospitals with adequate instructions on how to clean the medical instrument. The lawsuit says Olympus Corp. provided the hospital with instructions on how to clean an older version of the scope, not the newly redesigned one the hospital has used since 2014.
The lawsuit names Olympus and three members of its endoscopy team in Los Angeles as defendants. Young's lawyer, Pete Kaufman, said UCLA and the University of California may be added as defendants after further investigation.
