A US lawmaker has reportedly asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate Olympus Corporation, the Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products, for possible fraud and violations of US security laws, it was announced this week. The request made by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) comes after Olympus allegedly continued to sell its contaminated endoscopes to US hospitals, and failed to inform them of the conclusions of a 2012 Dutch investigator’s report, which called on Olympus to conduct a worldwide investigation and recall their scopes, after they caused a dangerous infection outbreak at a Netherlands hospital. Lieu suggested that Olympus can be held liable for making misleading statements or omitting material facts under securities laws, and also recommended that Japan scrutinise their activities further. In an interview with Reuters, Lieu, who is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he had written to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro asking her to look into whether there were any criminal laws In the meantime, US hospitals are enhancing their cleaning procedures, with some holding the scopes in quarantine for 48 hours after disinfecting them to check for bacterial growth and others sterilising them with toxic gas.
A US lawmaker has reportedly asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate Olympus Corporation, the Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products, for possible fraud and violations of US security laws, it was announced this week. The request made by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) comes after Olympus allegedly continued to sell its contaminated endoscopes to US hospitals, and failed to inform them of the conclusions of a 2012 Dutch investigator’s report, which called on Olympus to conduct a worldwide investigation and recall their scopes, after they caused a dangerous infection outbreak at a Netherlands hospital. Lieu suggested that Olympus can be held liable for making misleading statements or omitting material facts under securities laws, and also recommended that Japan scrutinise their activities further. The US Food and Drug Administration has identified ten outbreaks of drug-resistant infections; seven are linked to Olympus scopes, including one in UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center, which caused three fatalities. In the meantime, US hospitals are enhancing their cleaning procedures, with some holding the scopes in quarantine for 48 hours after disinfecting them to check for bacterial growth and others sterilising them with toxic gas.