Nationwide Olympus Scope Lawsuit Attorneys

Olympus Endoscope Infection Lawyers Fighting for Patients Who Were Harmed by a Device Designed to Fail

Hundreds of thousands of Americans undergo endoscopic procedures each year, expecting safe, routine medical care. For too many, that trust was violated, not by the physicians who treated them, but by a corporation alleged to have sold a device it knew or should have known could not be safely sterilized. If you or a loved one developed a serious infection, a superbug, sepsis, or worse following an Olympus scope procedure, you have legal options. As part of Anapol Weiss's broader mass torts practice, our Olympus scope lawsuit attorneys are fighting for patients and families harmed by a widely used and dangerously defective medical device.

Leading this practice area at our nationally recognized injury firm are partner Shayna Slater, shareholder Tracy Finken Magnotta, and shareholder Kila Baldwin, all of whom have an established record of standing up for the injured and taking on large and powerful corporations. We are here to help you pursue justice, hold Olympus accountable, and recover the compensation you deserve. Our team is actively engaged in the Olympus scope lawsuit case filings, and we’re currently investigating new potential cases.

Anapol Weiss provides free consultations and experienced legal representation for complex product injury matters at no upfront cost. To get started, contact us today for a no-cost, no-obligation case evaluation.

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Who May Be Eligible to File an Olympus Scope Lawsuit

You may qualify to file a claim if you underwent a scope procedure since 2015 and experienced one or more of the following:

• Hospitalization with an infection requiring IV antibiotics within 60 days of your procedure
• A diagnosis of sepsis, HIV, tuberculosis, or organ failure within 60 days of your procedure
• A confirmed superbug infection within 60 days of your scope procedure
• Receipt of a formal notice that you may have been exposed to dangerous pathogens during an Olympus scope procedure, followed by a subsequent superbug diagnosis

Qualifying procedures may include any of the following that were performed using Olympus devices:

• Colonoscopies
• Bronchoscopies
• Enteroscopies
• Gastroscopies

Eligibility criteria may vary depending on the specifics of your case. Speaking with our Olympus scope lawsuit attorneys is the most reliable way to understand whether your circumstances support a claim. At Anapol Weiss, that conversation is always free.

A Defective Device and Preventable Harm: How Olympus Scopes Failed Patients

Olympus is a Japanese multinational corporation that controls approximately 70 percent of the global market for gastrointestinal endoscopes.

In the United States, its duodenoscopes, used in a procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, are the most commonly used devices for examining the bile ducts and pancreas. Roughly 500,000 ERCPs are performed annually, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, with many of them using Olympus duodenoscopes. The design of these devices has been linked to serious, avoidable infections in patients.

At the center of the contamination problem is a component called the elevator channel. This component is a small, enclosed cavity with intricate crevices, seams, and moving parts located at the distal tip of the scope, the end that directly contacts a patient's internal tissue, bile, pancreatic fluid, and blood. After each procedure, this channel becomes contaminated with biological material. www

Standard sterilization relies on chemical disinfectants reaching every surface of the device. But the geometry of the elevator channel can prevent effective sterilization, even when proper cleaning protocols are followed. Microscopic gaps, O-rings, seals, and joints trap fluid and debris in ways that brushes and disinfectants simply cannot address.

The bacteria that survive cleaning do not merely sit passively on surfaces. They form biofilms, structured colonies of microorganisms that adhere to surfaces and secrete a protective matrix that is extraordinarily resistant to standard chemical disinfection. Once a biofilm establishes itself inside the elevator channel, it persists. The next patient to undergo an ERCP with that scope is exposed to whatever organisms the previous patient was carrying.

This risk has been linked in many cases to design limitations rather than hospital cleaning protocols. Investigations by the FDA and independent researchers confirmed that hospitals were following proper reprocessing procedures. The failure is a design failure, one that Olympus is alleged to have understood long before patients and the public became aware of the problem.

The infections linked to contaminated Olympus scopes are not ordinary bacterial infections. The primary organism associated with these outbreaks is carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. This is a family of bacteria that has developed resistance to carbapenems, the class of antibiotics typically reserved as a last resort when other treatments have failed.

CRE infections are extremely difficult to treat, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. They also carry a high mortality rate, the CDC noted, particularly in patients who are elderly, immunocompromised, or already managing serious underlying conditions.

Other drug-resistant organisms have also been linked to contaminated scope procedures. For patients who contract these infections, the consequences can include prolonged hospitalization, sepsis, organ failure, and death.

The antibiotic-resistant nature of these pathogens means that even patients who survive may face recurring infections, long-term complications, and medical care that extends for months or years.

The MAJ-891 Recall: A More Recent Warning Sign

The contamination concerns surrounding Olympus devices are not limited to its duodenoscopes. In January 2025, Olympus issued a voluntary advisory notice and initiated a Class 1 recall, the FDA's most serious recall classification, for the MAJ-891 Forceps/Irrigation Plug. This endoscope accessory is used across a wide range of Olympus devices, including cystoscopes, ureteroscopes, choledochoscopes, and hysteroscopes.

Because these instruments are used in procedures examining the bladder, urethra, uterus, cervix, and bile ducts, the affected patient population extends well beyond those who underwent ERCP.

The MAJ-891 was discontinued in the U.S. market in 2022, but because it is a reusable device, there is no guarantee it was removed from circulation at that time. Healthcare facilities that continued using existing inventory after its discontinuation may have exposed patients to contamination risks beyond 2022. The FDA identified the risk as potential patient exposure to a contaminated device, which could result in serious infection.

The MAJ-891 recall is significant for several reasons. It suggests that contamination concerns may extend beyond a single device or design issue. It also adds to an already extensive regulatory record that supports the legal claims currently being brought against the company.

If you underwent a procedure involving one of the scope types listed above since 2015 and subsequently developed an infection, our team can help you determine whether the MAJ-891 or another Olympus device may be relevant to your claim.

The Legal Claims Against Olympus: How the Manufacturer’s Failures Put Patients at Risk

The litigation against Olympus centers on several overlapping legal theories. Each one points to a pattern of corporate negligence and potential concealment.

Defective Design

The core claim is that Olympus designed a product incapable of being adequately sterilized. The elevator channel's geometry made it physically impossible for standard reprocessing to eliminate all contamination.

This defect exposed patients to life-threatening infections through no fault of their own or their medical providers.

Failure to Warn

Internal documents, FDA communications, and litigation discovery have established that Olympus was aware of contamination risks years before taking meaningful action. European hospitals reported safety signals as early as 2012, as recounted in court documents available from the U.S. Department of Justice. A Seattle hospital notified Olympus directly in 2013 that the elevator channel design made adequate cleaning impossible.

Olympus did not initially issue a recall, redesign the device, or broadly warn other hospitals at that time.

Fraud and Concealment

Evidence produced in litigation discovery suggests that Olympus executives and engineers understood the scope of the contamination problem but delayed action due to the financial and reputational costs of a recall or redesign.

In 2018, Olympus and a former executive entered guilty pleas in a federal criminal case for failing to file required FDA safety reports, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2022, the FDA issued a warning letter to an Olympus manufacturing subsidiary, citing systemic failures in design validation, manufacturing documentation, and adverse event reporting procedures.

Ongoing Regulatory Action

In June 2025, the FDA issued import alerts blocking 58 Olympus products from entering the United States, citing ongoing non-compliance with federal safety standards. These sweeping regulatory actions lend further weight to the claims being advanced by Olympus endoscope infection lawyers pursuing justice on behalf of injured patients nationwide.

Olympus Scope Lawsuit Attorneys With the Experience to Take On Multinational Corporations

Anapol Weiss has spent more than 45 years standing up for the injured and those harmed by the negligence of powerful corporations. As a national leader in personal injury, product liability, and mass tort litigation, our firm has successfully litigated thousands of cases in state and federal courts and obtained billions of dollars in verdicts, settlements, and judgments on behalf of clients.

The Olympus endoscope infection lawsuits involve not only a major multinational corporation and a dangerous, defective product but also a large and growing number of claimants. These cases require experience that goes well beyond individual personal injury suits. Anapol Weiss has a demonstrated history of serving in significant roles in multidistrict litigations and leading complex mass tort cases, with a track record of setting new legal precedents along the way.

Whether your claim proceeds as part of an MDL, a class action, or as a standalone individual case, our team brings comprehensive resources, cutting-edge investigative technology, and close collaboration with medical professionals to build evidence-backed cases designed to maximize recovery.

Partner Shayna Slater, a member of our firm’s Unsafe Drug & Medical Device team, has successfully secured recoveries for clients injured by defective joint implants, consumer products, and more. She focuses her practice on toxic torts, pharmaceutical injuries, and medical device defects. Whether Shayna is seeking justice and accountability for women harmed by unsafe birth control or for military families exposed to contaminated water, she has a reputation for handling these complex matters with skill and dedication.

Shareholder Tracy Finken Magnotta has spent more than two decades practicing product liability law and has secured for her clients more than $750 million in recoveries for injuries arising out of pharmaceuticals and defective products. She has held numerous leadership roles in mass tort and multidistrict litigations, including appointments to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for pharmaceutical MDL In Re: Tepezza Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation and the role of Co-Chair of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the MDL In Re: Depo-Provera Products Liability Litigation .

Shareholder Kila Baldwin has litigated high-value cases against powerful corporations. Her results include a $20 million verdict against Honda over injuries arising out of a defectively designed gas cap and, as lead counsel, numerous 8-figure verdicts in transvaginal mesh implant cases, with recoveries as high as $41 million, $57.1 million, and $80 million. Baldwin has experience meticulously preparing for and presenting plaintiff’s claims in weeks-long trials and has, when appropriate, secured punitive damages against medical device manufacturers as well as compensatory damage awards that reflect the full range of clients’ legally recognizable losses.

Our team is currently accepting Olympus scope infection cases nationwide. We offer free consultations and work on a contingency basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

Act Fast to Protect Your Rights: Why Early Involvement of Olympus Endoscope Infection Lawyers Matters

Legal deadlines, known as statutes of limitations, vary by state. Missing these deadlines can significantly impact your ability to file a claim and recover compensation.

In some cases, the clock begins running from the date of the procedure. In others, it may begin when you first received notice of exposure or were diagnosed with a related infection. Waiting too long can limit your ability to pursue legal action.

Beyond the deadline itself, acting promptly has practical advantages that can meaningfully strengthen your case. Medical records, hospital procedure logs, and device maintenance records must be identified and preserved before they can be lost, altered, or destroyed. Expert witnesses, such as microbiologists, infection control specialists, and medical device engineers, require adequate time to review evidence, conduct analysis, and prepare testimony.

The earlier your legal team can begin building your case, the more thoroughly the manufacturer’s failure can be documented and the more effectively your damages can be established.

If you or a loved one was harmed following an Olympus scope procedure, reach out to our Olympus scope lawsuit attorneys today by phone or through our online contact form for your free, confidential case evaluation.

What a Successful Lawsuit Can Mean for You and Your Family

A legal claim is not just about financial compensation, although a recovery that meaningfully addresses your losses matters enormously. It is about being seen. It is about having the legal system acknowledge that what happened to you was wrong, that it was preventable, and that the company responsible must face real consequences.

For patients who survived serious scope-related infections, the financial toll can be staggering: emergency hospitalizations, extended courses of IV antibiotics, follow-up care, lost income, and in some cases, the lifelong management of antibiotic-resistant conditions.

A successful claim can help recover past and future medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and the diminished quality of life that often accompanies a severe infection.

For families who lost a loved one to a scope-related infection, a wrongful death claim can provide not only financial relief but a measure of justice that no other avenue can offer. It holds the manufacturer directly accountable in the clearest possible way, and in doing so, contributes to a broader reckoning that may protect future patients from the same fate.

Our Olympus endoscope infection lawyers understand that no settlement can undo what was done. What we can do is fight relentlessly to hold Olympus accountable and pursue the compensation you may be entitled to.

How the Olympus Scope Lawsuit Attorneys at Anapol Weiss Can Help You, From the First Call to Final Resolution

Anapol Weiss does not simply handle cases. We champion our clients' causes. Here is what that looks like in practice:

Free Case Evaluation

Your first conversation with our team costs you nothing. We listen carefully, assess your eligibility, and give you an honest picture of your legal options, without pressure or obligation.

Evidence Gathering and Preservation

Our team works quickly to identify and secure medical records, hospital procedure logs, device records, and any formal exposure notices you may have received. Time-sensitive evidence is protected before it can be lost, altered, or destroyed.

Collaboration with Medical and Scientific Experts

We work closely with infection control specialists, microbiologists, and medical device engineers to document the connection between your procedure, the Olympus device used, and your specific injury. Our goal is to build a case grounded in science, not speculation.

Custom-Tailored Legal Strategy.

No two cases are identical. Our attorneys develop individualized strategies designed to maximize your recovery, whether your case resolves through negotiated settlement or proceeds to trial. We’re experienced litigators who are just as confident fighting for our clients in the courtroom as we are in strategically negotiating fair out-of-court resolutions.

Transparent, Compassionate Communication

You will always know where your case stands. Through our bilingual staff and client-centered approach, every client, regardless of their background, has the chance to feel heard, respected, and fully informed at every stage of the process.

Contingency Representation

You pay no attorney's fees unless we win. Our interests are fully aligned with yours from day one, and pursuing your claim won’t add to the financial burdens you’re facing.

Why Choose Anapol Weiss as Your Olympus Scope Lawsuit Attorneys?

When the stakes are this high, the firm you choose matters. Here is what sets Anapol Weiss apart.

A Nationally Recognized Record of Results

Over more than four decades of practice, Anapol Weiss has obtained billions of dollars in verdicts, settlements, and judgments for injured clients. Our award-winning attorneys have taken on some of the largest corporations in the world and achieved significant results for our clients. When you retain our firm, you are backed by a team with the resources, reputation, and relentlessness to go the distance against Olympus.

Proven Mass Tort and MDL Leadership

Scope infection cases involve complex science, multi-party litigation structures, and a rapidly evolving regulatory backdrop. Anapol Weiss has a demonstrated track record of leading significant roles in multidistrict litigations and setting legal precedents in mass tort cases. This is exactly the depth of experience that complex Olympus endoscope infection litigation requires.

A Genuinely Client-Centered Approach

We measure success by our clients' outcomes, not our caseload volume. From your free initial consultation to the final resolution of your case, our entire team is committed to maximizing your recovery while minimizing your stress. That commitment is reflected in our significant female leadership, our bilingual staff, and our enduring reputation for compassionate, uncompromising advocacy.

When you are ready to take the next step, our team is ready to stand beside you.

Contact Our Olympus Endoscope Infection Lawyers Today for Your Free Consultation

You trusted the medical system. You did nothing wrong. But the harm you suffered was preventable, and the company that caused it must be held accountable.

Anapol Weiss is currently accepting Olympus scope infection cases nationwide. Our team is ready to listen, evaluate your claim, and fight for the justice and compensation you deserve, all at no upfront cost to you.

Call 215-735-1130 or fill out our online contact form for a free, confidential consultation. Time limits apply, so do not wait to take action.

Recent Developments in Olympus Scope Lawsuits Nationwide

The legal and regulatory landscape surrounding Olympus scope litigation has evolved significantly over the past decade, and it continues to develop. Below is an overview of key developments, from the first public warnings to the most recent regulatory actions, that provide important context for patients and families considering their legal options.

• March 2026: In March 2026, Health Canada recalled certain Olympus endoscope components after determining they were no longer compatible with some automated endoscope reprocessing systems, with the incompatibility potentially increasing the risk of transmitting infection between patients.
• October 2025: Olympus issued an Urgent Field Safety Notice acknowledging that its prior reprocessing materials for three duodenoscope models (the TJF-Q190V, TJF-Q290V, and TJF-Q170V) required updates to address ongoing positive cultures and patient infections. As part of the notice, Olympus introduced an updated Visual Inspection Guide for the distal end of the device, implicitly acknowledging that existing inspection protocols had been insufficient to ensure adequate cleaning. Olympus confirmed that between 2024 and the date of the notice, it had received reports of two deaths and five serious injuries linked to infection or positive bacterial cultures involving TJF duodenoscopes.
• June 2025: The FDA issued import alerts blocking 58 Olympus products manufactured at the Aizu facility from entering the United States, citing ongoing failures to comply with federal safety and manufacturing standards. The alerts cover bronchoscopes, automated endoscope reprocessors, and other accessory devices.
• January 2025: As communicated in an FDA alert, Olympus issued a voluntary advisory and Class 1 recall for the MAJ-891 Forceps/Irrigation Plug accessory used across multiple scope types, citing contamination risks during reprocessing. New lawsuits were filed on behalf of patients harmed by the accessory.
• 2022: The FDA issued a warning letter to Olympus subsidiary Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd., citing systemic violations of quality system regulations at a Japanese manufacturing facility, including failures in design validation, manufacturing documentation, and adverse event reporting procedures.
• 2018: Olympus Medical Systems Corporation and a former senior executive entered guilty pleas in a federal criminal case for failing to file required FDA adverse event reports related to scope-linked infections, according to documents available from the U.S. Department of Justice. Olympus agreed to pay $85 million in criminal fines, one of the largest penalties in FDA enforcement history.
• 2016: The DOJ announced that Olympus agreed to pay $646 million to resolve criminal and civil charges stemming from a scheme in which the company paid illegal kickbacks, including luxury travel, consulting payments, and free equipment, to doctors and hospitals to induce purchases of its products between 2006 and 2011. According to NPR, the settlement was the largest ever paid by a medical device company for violations of the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute. As part of the agreement, Olympus entered into a corporate integrity agreement and submitted to oversight by an independent monitor.
• 2015–2016: At the FDA's request, Olympus issued new validated reprocessing instructions for the TJF-Q180V duodenoscope in March 2015, replacing those included in the device's original labeling. The following year, Olympus recalled approximately 4,400 TJF-Q180V duodenoscopes from U.S. healthcare facilities to physically replace the elevator channel sealing mechanism with a redesigned version intended to reduce the risk of fluid leakage, the same design feature at the center of patient infection claims.
• 2015: Following a high-profile CRE outbreak at UCLA Medical Center, as reported by The Guardian, the FDA issued a public safety communication acknowledging that Olympus duodenoscopes posed infection risks even when properly reprocessed. Patients and families began filing lawsuits against Olympus, with early claims focused on defective design, failure to warn, and negligence.
• 2013: Staff at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle identified a cluster of antibiotic-resistant infections linked to Olympus duodenoscopes. The hospital notified Olympus directly and explained that the elevator channel design made adequate sterilization impossible, as news sources, including the Los Angeles Times, reported at the time and after the fact. Olympus did not issue a recall, modify the device, or warn other hospitals.
• 2012: Reports from European hospitals linked Olympus duodenoscopes to patient infections occurring even when devices were cleaned according to the manufacturer's instructions. These reports reached Olympus, which, multiple news sources have reported, did not take meaningful corrective action.