Olympus Scope Lawsuit Massachusetts — Free Consultation for MA Patients

Super Lawyers® 2014–2024CALL 24/7(888) 348-2735

Olympus Scope — Infection Claims

Hospitalized With an Infection After a Scope Procedure?

If you were told it was “just a complication,” Olympus’s federal guilty plea — and $85 million in penalties — tell a different story. In two minutes, you can know whether your case qualifies.

ACTIVE LITIGATION. 250+ patients · most recent filing: June 2026 · deadlines vary by state — some as short as one year.

Were you hospitalized with an infection within 30 days of an endoscopy or scope procedure?

Yes — See If My Case Qualifiesfree · takes 2 minutes
I think so / not sure

Free · confidential · no fee unless there is a recovery · answering doesn’t commit you to anything. Court costs and litigation expenses are advanced by counsel and repaid from the recovery. You are not responsible for court costs or litigation expenses if there is no recovery, unless a court directs otherwise. The attorney’s fee is a percentage of the gross recovery, calculated before expenses are deducted.

Prefer to talk it through? (888) 348-2735 — free and confidential.

Stefanie A. Murphy & Matthew T. Marin

Partners

You’ll get a straight answer even if it’s “you don’t qualify.” Everything you share is confidential — even if you never hire us. No fee unless there is a recovery; costs are advanced and reimbursed only out of a recovery. If you do qualify, our Olympus scope litigation team requests the medical and hospital records — you don’t chase them.

Qualification depends on what the medical records show — the scope involved, the infection, and the timing. We’ll review them and give you a straight answer either way.

Massachusetts Patients May Have a Claim Against Olympus

Massachusetts patients who developed infections after scope procedures have legal rights against Olympus Corporation. The Olympus scope infection litigation is a product liability action involving patients across multiple states and multiple documented hospital outbreaks. Marin & Murphy Law Firm is currently accepting Olympus scope infection claims from Massachusetts patients. Call (888) 348-2735 for a free case evaluation.

Why Massachusetts Patients Must Act Immediately

Yes. Massachusetts patients who developed infections following endoscopy, colonoscopy, or bronchoscopy procedures performed with Olympus scopes have the same legal rights as patients in every other state in this national product liability litigation. Federal product liability law governs claims against Olympus Corporation regardless of which state you live in — the conduct at issue is Olympus’s national distribution of defective duodenoscopes and other flexible endoscopes with inadequate cleaning instructions, its failure to file the adverse-event reports federal law required, and its failure to warn hospitals and patients.

Massachusetts has a three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. The clock generally runs from the date of injury or, in cases where the connection to a contaminated medical device was not immediately apparent, from the date of discovery. Most Massachusetts patients who developed scope-related infections in 2023, 2024, or 2025 are within their three-year window. Patients infected in 2022 should contact an attorney immediately to confirm their deadline.

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s January 2016 report “Preventable Tragedies” — the most comprehensive federal investigation of the Olympus scope contamination crisis — documented at least 25 duodenoscope-associated outbreaks, including multiple at U.S. hospitals. UMass Memorial Medical Center (Worcester, MA) is among the hospitals identified in that report, which documented approximately 20 patients in a December 2012 outbreak associated with Olympus duodenoscopes.

Patients who underwent scope procedures at UMass Memorial Medical Center or any other Massachusetts facility where Olympus equipment is used may have potential claims if they meet the qualifying criteria. Contact Marin & Murphy today for a free case evaluation: (888) 348-2735.

What Is the Olympus Scope Lawsuit?

The Olympus scope lawsuit is a national product liability action against Olympus Corporation for manufacturing flexible endoscopes — including duodenoscopes, gastroscopes, colonoscopes, and bronchoscopes — that could not be reliably disinfected using the reprocessing instructions Olympus provided to hospitals. Olympus knew this. It failed to file the adverse-event reports federal law required. In December 2018, Olympus Medical Systems Corporation and former senior executive Hisao Yabe pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of distributing misbranded medical devices.

Olympus paid $85 million in federal criminal penalties and pleaded guilty to distributing misbranded devices by failing to file the adverse-event reports that federal law required. (Source: DOJ press release, December 10, 2018; Case No. 2:18-cr-00727-SRC, D.N.J.) This criminal conviction is significant evidence in the litigation, as Olympus admitted it failed to file the adverse-event reports that federal law required. The FDA had known for years that a problem existed. In February 2015, the FDA issued a Safety Communication acknowledging 75 Medical Device Reports involving approximately 135 patients filed between January 2013 and December 2014 — during which time no public warning had been issued to patients or hospitals.

The U.S. Senate HELP Committee documented at least 25 duodenoscope-associated outbreaks affecting approximately 250 patients worldwide — and stated explicitly that this figure was likely a significant undercount. The most recent major development is Olympus’s October 2025 Urgent Field Safety Notice, in which Olympus updated its reprocessing instructions and issued a Visual Inspection Guide recommending 10X magnification, and reported 2 deaths and 5 serious injuries from infection potentially related to these devices since 2024 — while stating it could not determine whether the devices caused the infections.

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

Why Massachusetts Patients Are at Risk

Olympus Corporation holds approximately 70–80% of the U.S. flexible endoscope market. This dominant market share means the vast majority of Massachusetts hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers that perform endoscopic procedures — ERCPs, colonoscopies, gastroscopies, bronchoscopies — almost certainly use Olympus-branded equipment at least for some procedures. UMass Memorial Medical Center (Worcester, MA) is identified in the U.S. Senate HELP Committee report “Preventable Tragedies” (January 2016) as the site of a duodenoscope-associated outbreak.

The report documented approximately 20 patients in a December 2012 outbreak associated with Olympus duodenoscopes at the facility — the largest documented Massachusetts outbreak in the report. UMass Memorial is the largest health system in central Massachusetts and performs a high volume of ERCP and GI endoscopic procedures. Patients who underwent scope procedures at UMass Memorial Medical Center may have potential claims if they meet the qualifying criteria.

Other major Massachusetts hospital systems where Olympus scopes are likely in active use include academic medical centers and large regional hospitals across the Boston, Worcester, and Springfield areas. 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 Massachusetts facility.

We are not claiming confirmed outbreaks at these facilities beyond what is documented in the Senate HELP report — we are noting that Olympus’s dominant U.S. market share means patients at virtually any Massachusetts hospital performing endoscopic procedures may have been treated with Olympus equipment. The FDA’s MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) database contains adverse event reports from Massachusetts facilities that may be relevant to your case evaluation.

Do You Qualify? Confirming Your Potential Claim

Massachusetts patients may qualify to file an Olympus scope infection claim if all of the following confirmed intake criteria are 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.

Separately, if a scope or scope component physically broke apart during your procedure and required emergency surgery to retrieve fragments, this may be a standalone product liability claim that does not require an infection. Contact us to discuss device disintegration cases separately. Contact Marin & Murphy today for a free case evaluation: (888) 348-2735.

What Should Massachusetts Patients Do Now?

Frequently Asked Questions: Olympus Scope Lawsuit Massachusetts

Can Massachusetts patients file an Olympus scope lawsuit?

Yes. Massachusetts patients have the same legal rights as patients in any other state in this national product liability litigation. The core claims are against Olympus Corporation, a national defendant, for conduct that affected hospitals across the country. If you underwent a scope procedure in Massachusetts and developed a qualifying infection within 30 days, contact Marin & Murphy Law Firm at (888) 348-2735 for a free case evaluation.

What is the filing deadline for Massachusetts Olympus scope claims?

Massachusetts has a three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, generally running from the date of injury or discovery. Filing deadlines are strictly enforced. Even if you believe your deadline may have passed, contact us before assuming you have no options — depending on the circumstances, discovery rules or the structure of a potential global resolution may provide options worth discussing with an attorney.

Was a Massachusetts hospital named in the Olympus scope investigation?

Yes. UMass Memorial Medical Center (Worcester, MA) is identified in the U.S. Senate HELP Committee report “Preventable Tragedies” (January 2016), which documented approximately 20 patients in a December 2012 outbreak associated with Olympus duodenoscopes at that facility. The report documented at least 25 duodenoscope-associated outbreaks. Patients who underwent scope procedures at UMass Memorial or any Massachusetts facility using Olympus equipment may have potential claims if they meet the qualifying criteria.

Which Massachusetts hospitals use Olympus scopes?

Olympus holds approximately 70–80% of the U.S. endoscope market, meaning the majority of Massachusetts hospitals performing endoscopic procedures likely use Olympus equipment. Major Massachusetts academic medical centers and hospital systems across the Boston, Worcester, and Springfield areas likely use Olympus scopes for some or all endoscopic procedures. The specific scope model used in your procedure can often be obtained from your procedure records.

I had an ERCP at a Massachusetts hospital and developed an infection — what should I do?

Request your complete medical records from the procedure, including the endoscopy report identifying the specific scope model used. Also obtain your infection diagnosis records, hospitalization records, blood culture results if available, and IV antibiotic administration records. Then contact Marin & Murphy Law Firm at (888) 348-2735 for a free evaluation. If you had a scope procedure at UMass Memorial Medical Center, your situation may be relevant to that facility’s identification in the Senate HELP report.

What is the Olympus scope lawsuit?

The Olympus scope lawsuit is a national product liability litigation against Olympus Corporation for manufacturing flexible endoscopes that could not be reliably disinfected under its own cleaning instructions. Olympus pleaded guilty in December 2018 to distributing misbranded medical devices and paid $85 million in federal penalties, admitting it failed to file required adverse-event reports about those infections.

(Source: DOJ press release.) Multiple CRE outbreaks at named hospitals across the United States are documented in peer-reviewed studies and the Senate HELP report.

Who qualifies to file an Olympus scope claim in Massachusetts?

Qualifying criteria include: a scope procedure on or after January 1, 2015; confirmed infection diagnosis; inpatient hospitalization requiring IV antibiotic treatment; infection onset within 30 days of the procedure; and no active chemotherapy or dialysis at the time of hospitalization procedure. Contact Marin & Murphy Law Firm at (888) 348-2735 for a free evaluation of whether your situation qualifies.

Does Marin & Murphy handle Olympus scope cases for Massachusetts patients?

Yes. Marin & Murphy Law Firm is actively investigating Olympus scope infection claims for Massachusetts patients. We handle Massachusetts cases on a contingency fee basis — no fee unless there is a recovery. Contact us at (888) 348-2735 for a free consultation. We also handle scope claims for patients in Rhode Island, South Carolina, Connecticut, and nationwide.

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.