Olympus Scope Lawsuit Illinois — Legal Rights for Illinois Patients

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Olympus Scope — Infection Litigation

The Olympus Scope Infection Litigation, Explained

Olympus pleaded guilty in federal court to failing to report scope infections — $85 million in penalties, 250+ patients affected. Here is what is publicly known.

ACTIVE LITIGATION. Most recent filing: June 2026 · deadlines vary by state — some as short as one year.

Marin & Murphy is not licensed in Illinois; details below.

Stefanie A. Murphy & Matthew T. Marin

Partners

Super Lawyers® honorees · members of the American Association for Justice · concentrating in personal injury and mass-tort litigation.

Whether any individual has a claim depends on their medical records and the law of their state. The information below covers the litigation itself.

Illinois Statute of Limitations Overview

The Olympus scope litigation involves claims by patients who developed serious infections after scope procedures performed with Olympus devices. The litigation concerns Olympus Corporation’s reprocessing instructions for its endoscopes — not the conduct of treating hospitals or physicians. Olympus holds approximately 70–80% of the U.S. endoscope market, and the majority of Illinois hospitals performing ERCP, colonoscopy, and bronchoscopy procedures use Olympus devices.

Illinois patients who developed a serious infection after a scope procedure may have legal rights in the national Olympus scope product liability litigation, regardless of which Illinois facility performed the procedure. Illinois has a 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, which generally runs from the date the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.

What Is the Olympus Scope Lawsuit?

The Olympus scope lawsuit is a product liability litigation against Olympus Corporation for providing hospitals with inadequate endoscope reprocessing instructions. On December 10, 2018, Olympus Medical Systems Corporation pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing misbranded medical devices and paid $85 million in penalties for failing to file FDA-required adverse-event reports about infections. (DOJ press release, December 10, 2018; Case No. 2:18-cr-00727-SRC, D.N.J.) See our Olympus criminal history page for full details on the guilty plea.

The October 2025 Urgent Field Safety Notice updated Olympus’s reprocessing instructions for current-generation TJF duodenoscopes and introduced a Visual Inspection Guide recommending 10X magnification. Olympus reported 2 deaths and 5 serious injuries from infection potentially related to these devices since 2024, while stating it could not determine from the available reports whether the devices caused the infections.

(Olympus UFSN, October 2025.) The December 2024 FDA Class I Recall of the MAJ-891 Forceps/Irrigation Plug affected 30,140 units, with 120 reported injuries and 1 reported death following procedures in which the MAJ-891 accessory was used with a cystoscope (not a duodenoscope). (FDA Recall Z-0905-2025.) As of June 2026, no MDL has been filed or is currently pending; cases are proceeding as individual lawsuits in federal and state courts.

Illinois Patient Exposure Context

Olympus holds approximately 70–80% of the U.S. endoscope market. The vast majority of Illinois hospitals performing ERCP, colonoscopy, and bronchoscopy procedures use Olympus devices, so Illinois patients who had scope procedures at major facilities in the state likely had them performed with Olympus equipment. Major Illinois facilities where scope procedures are routinely performed include academic medical centers and research hospitals across the Chicago metro area and surrounding suburbs.

Given Olympus’s 70–80% share of the U.S. flexible endoscope market, patients treated at these facilities were statistically likely to have undergone procedures using Olympus devices. No specific outbreak is being asserted as to any individual Illinois facility. No specific outbreak data for these institutions is being asserted here — Olympus’s dominant U.S. market share makes these facilities statistically likely users of Olympus devices.

The FDA’s MAUDE adverse event database may contain relevant reports from Illinois facilities.

Qualifying Olympus Scope Infection Cases

To potentially qualify for this litigation, all of the following criteria must be met:

• ☐  Procedure date on or after January 1, 2015.
• ☐  Procedure performed with an Olympus bronchoscope, upper GI endoscope, or colonoscope.
• ☐  Confirmed infection diagnosis required.
• ☐  Inpatient hospitalization for the infection required. Outpatient treatment with oral antibiotics alone does not qualify.
• ☐  IV antibiotic treatment during hospitalization required.
• ☐  Infection and hospitalization within 30 days of scope procedure. Most patients in this litigation developed symptoms within approximately five days.
• ☐  No active dialysis or chemotherapy.

Device disintegration: When a scope or component breaks apart during a procedure and requires emergency surgery to remove fragments, this may represent a separate product liability claim warranting independent evaluation.

Frequently Asked Questions: Illinois Duodenoscope Lawsuit

Can Illinois patients file an Olympus duodenoscope lawsuit?

Yes — Illinois patients who were infected after an ERCP or similar procedure involving an Olympus duodenoscope may have grounds for a legal claim. The Illinois statute of limitations is 2 years from discovery of injury. Illinois patients who developed drug-resistant infections after scope procedures at any Illinois facility may wish to consult an attorney about their options.

What is the statute of limitations for a duodenoscope lawsuit in Illinois?

Illinois has a 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, generally running from the date the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Given the often delayed diagnosis of CRE infections, the discovery rule may extend this period in some cases. Even if a filing deadline may appear to have passed, the discovery rule can affect the available options in some cases.

What is NDM-CRE and why is it so dangerous?

NDM-CRE (New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae) produces an enzyme that destroys nearly all available antibiotics, including last-resort carbapenems. NDM-CRE strains are frequently resistant to all tested antibiotics, making treatment extremely difficult and mortality rates high in affected patients — particularly those who are immunocompromised.

How do I know if I was exposed to a contaminated Olympus scope in Illinois?

You may have been exposed if you underwent ERCP, biliary stenting, or sphincterotomy at an Illinois facility that used Olympus duodenoscopes. Relevant documentation in these cases typically includes the procedure record identifying the Olympus device, infection diagnosis records, and hospitalization records.

What compensation might I recover in an Illinois duodenoscope case?

Potential damages in Illinois duodenoscope cases may include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and in wrongful death cases, loss of companionship. The specific value of any claim depends on individual facts including severity of the infection, age and condition of the patient, and degree of life disruption. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

A June 2026 Washington wrongful-death filing, Bruto Da Costa v. Olympus (W.D. Wash.), is among the most recent Olympus duodenoscope cases — see the Olympus scope lawsuit overview for details.