A Connecticut-based hospital says medical device manufacturer Novo Nordisk should be on the hook for a $1 million settlement the hospital paid to end claims that patients were exposed to blood-borne infections because of the medical staff’s use of Novo Nordisk’s product.
The Griffin Hospital, formally known as Griffin Health Services, filed suit against Novo Nordisk Inc. and a number of its related entities in state court on Monday, seeking damages for negligence, breach of warranty, and violations of the Connecticut Product Liability Act.
The complaint says hospital staff used Novo Nordisk’s multi-dose insulin reusable pens under the assumption that the devices could be used multiple times on different patients provided that a new single-use needle was used each time.
But the pens could become contaminated due to blood or skin “backflow,” the suit said. The hospital used the pens from 2008 to 2014 on about 3,100 patients, according to the suit.
There were multiple times when Novo Nordisk should have become aware of the defect, the suit claims. In March 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that the multi-dose pens should only be used for a single patient.
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