FDA Targets Risks From Reused Medical Devices

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with healthcare providers, manufacturers, organizations that set standards, and other government agencies to reduce the risk of infection from the inadequate “reprocessing” of medical devices such as clamps, forceps and endoscopes, that are reused in common surgical and diagnostic procedures.

The FDA has received reports of patients being exposed to microscopic amounts of blood, body fluids and tissue from other patients that may have occurred because the reusable devices were inadequately reprocessed and these contaminants were not removed.

Transmission of infection was extremely rare, but the potential for becoming infected by an inadequately processed device was there.

Read more at: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm284636.htm

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration