Duke Settles Hydraulic Fluid Case

As reported on6/24/2008 in MDSI daily updates.

Duke settles hydraulic fluid case; New lawsuits filed against Cardinal, Steris, and Duke University Health System (Durham, NC) settled claims by patients who in 2004 were operated on at Durham Regional Hospital (Durham, NC) and Duke Health Raleigh Hospital (Raleigh, NC) using surgical instruments mistakenly cleaned with used hydraulic fluid. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. Following the settlement, an additional lawsuit with 67 plaintiffs was filed in Durham County Superior Court against distributor Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH) and Steris Corp (Mentor, OH), which made the sterilization washers used in the hospitals to clean surgical equipment, as well as the detergent and other products used in the process. Cardinal Health employees, several of whom were also named as defendents, allegedly should have been able to tell that the barrels that originally held detergent had been used for another purpose, and should not have returned them to the company for resale.