Hospital joins lawsuit against scope-maker

SEATTLE (AP) — Virginia Mason Medical Center has joined the widow of a man who contracted a “superbug” infection at the Seattle hospital in a lawsuit against a medical scope maker.

The scope has been tied to outbreaks that have sickened dozens with multidrug-resistant infections in the Seattle area and more across the country. Health officials say patients were sickened by the dangerous bacterial that remained on specialized duodenoscopes even after they
were cleaned according to manufacturers’ directions.

The Seattle Times reports the hospital announced on Monday it would join Theresa Bigler of Woodway in seeking damages from Olympus America in connection with the August 2013 death of her 57-year-old husband, Richard Bigler.

At least 18 Virginia Mason patients affected by the outbreak have died, although the role the infections played in their deaths, if any, isn’t clear.