Olympus Scope Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over ERCP Infection

Wife underwent seven surgeries in the few months before her death due to infections caused by the Olympus scope.

A Kentucky man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming his wife died of septic shock and multiorgan failure due to an Olympus endoscope infection caused by the medical camera’s design.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Raymond Nichols, Sr. on behalf of himself and his late wife, Peggy Sue Nichols in May in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. The lawsuit names Olympus Medical Systems Corporation and its U.S. subsidiaries as defendants, who removed the lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on August 28.

Nichols says his wife died because of the design of the Olympus endoscope, which he alleges passed on infectious material from a previous patient because the device was not sterilized properly. He argues the failure to sterilize the device properly was due to its design, which has deep grooves and moving parts where infectious material can stay hidden during the sterilization process.

Olympus Endoscope Infections

Endoscopes are devices that allow doctors to see inside of the body during certain medical procedures, such as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), colonoscopy, upper endoscopy and bronchoscopy. Manufactured by Olympus, FujiFilm and other traditionally optics-focused manufacturers, endoscopes contain small cameras, lights, long narrow channels and moving parts that allow doctors to examine internal organs, diagnose medical conditions and perform certain treatments without open surgery.

More than 22 million gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures are performed in the United States every year, including roughly 15 to 19 million colonoscopies and more than 650,000 ERCP procedures. An estimated 50 million colonoscopies are performed annually around the world. Since these devices are often used on multiple patients, the scopes must be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and reprocessed after each procedure.

However, Nichols joins a growing number of individuals who have filed Olympus endoscope lawsuits, indicating that bacteria, biofilm, tissue and other debris may remain trapped inside the scopes, especially in narrow channels or damaged areas that are difficult to inspect, allowing infections to pass from one patient to another. Plaintiffs claim these design and warning failures exposed patients to serious bacterial infections, sepsis, organ failure and in some cases, even death.

Olympus Scope Wrongful Death Allegations

According to the complaint, Peggy Sue Nichols underwent an ERCP in May 2025. The procedure was performed with an Olympus TJF-Q190V, a duodenovideoscope used for ERCP procedure.

Later that same evening, she began experiencing severe abdominal pain and was diagnosed with sepsis.

“Within 36 hours of her ERCP, Decedent was in septic shock and multisystem organ failure due to the infection. Decedent was flown via helicopter to Ohio State University Hospital, where her septic shock and multisystem organ failure were treated and stabilized.”

– Raymond Nichols, Sr. et al. v. Olympus Medical Corporation et al.

The lawsuit indicates that cultures revealed the source of the sepsis was Klebsiella pneumoniae, “the same bacteria which was transmitted by the endoscope was linked to an endoscope in the Netherlands that caused an outbreak in 2015.”

Nichols endured seven major abdominal surgeries from July 2025 until her death on November 15, 2025. Her husband’s lawsuit presents claims of negligence, negligent failure to warn, negligent design and manufacturing defect, negligent misrepresentation and omissions, fraud, failure to warn, design defect, manufacturing defect, breach of warranty, loss of consortium and wrongful death. He seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Olympus Endoscope Lawsuits

Olympus endoscope lawyers are reviewing potential Olympus endoscope lawsuits for individuals nationwide who suffered serious infections or lost loved ones after an ERCP or other endoscopic procedure involving a potentially contaminated reusable scope.

You may be eligible to file a claim if you or a loved one suffered any of the following after a colonoscopy, endoscopy, ERCP or bronchoscopy:

All contaminated scope infection product liability lawsuits are handled on a contingency fee basis. This means there are no upfront costs to have a lawyer investigate your potential claim, and no legal fees or expenses are paid unless a settlement or recovery is obtained.

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