Two drug makers failed to adequately warn consumers of the contamination risk associated with reusing 50 ml vials of propofol on multiple patients, a jury has found in the first civil trial associated with the 2008 hepatitis C outbreak linked to 2 Las Vegas endoscopy centers.

The jury has ordered Teva Parenteral Medicines and Baxter Healthcare Corp., makers of the propofol products used at the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, where plaintiff Henry Chanin was infected with hepatitis C during a routine procedure, to pay Mr. Chanin and his wife more than $5 million in damages. The Chanins' attorneys had argued that labels on the propofol vials and package inserts failed to adequately warn of the dangers of reusing vials.

The jury agreed with that charge, but did not find the companies liable for defective design. Attorney Robert Eglet had argued during the trial that the 50 ml vials were "weapons of mass infection" that encouraged reuse because of their large size.

In addition to the $5.1 million in compensatory damages awarded to the Chanins, the jury also found that punitive damages were warranted. Deliberations to determine the amount of those damages resumed today.

A government investigation into the 2008 outbreak found the infections could have been prevented if staff at 2 Las Vegas endoscopy centers had not reused syringes and vials of propofol for multiple patients. The case has cast a national spotlight on infection prevention practices at ambulatory surgery centers and inspired the One & Only Campaign to discourage the reuse of syringes and medication vials for more than 1 patient.

The FDA has also been cautioning healthcare facilities to resist the urge to reuse propofol vials in the wake of a nationwide shortage of the drug, which has left providers looking for ways to make due with limited supplies.

Irene Tsikitas

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