DEVICEMAKERS NEED TO ENSURE THEIR PRODUCTS AREN'T 'REUSED AGAINST THEM'
If device reprocessors had more legal responsibility for adverse events linked to reused single-use devices (SUDs), the original devicemakers would not have to worry so much about liability when problems arise with the reused devices, an expert says.
Firms that clean, repair and re-sterilize used medical equipment profit from selling those devices and should therefore be liable for any risks associated with the practice, said Peter Goss, a partner at law firm Faegre & Benson.
The Washington Legal Foundation in September published Goss' working paper, titled "Beyond the 'Yuck Factor': Product Liability Implications of Medical Device Reprocessing."
The reprocessing industry more than doubled its revenue from 2001 to 2004, expanding to a $125 million industry, said Goss.
Yet new devices are becoming increasingly ill suited to reuse, he said. Today's medical technology is "smaller, more multifaceted and less resilient to standard reprocessing techniques than in previous generations."