Indiana Injury Law Blog

There has been another recall of contaminated alcohol prep pads, the second one by manufacturers in the past year. Indiana medical malpractice lawyers wonder how concerned we need to be about the infection risks from pads and wipes used in hospitals.

This newest recall was announced by New York-based Pacific Disposables International Inc. after the company found that its alcohol pads may have been contaminated with Bacillus cereus. This is a potentially deadly organism that can cause serious infections. The recall was triggered after a patient who suffered from hemophilia, contracted an infection from the use of the contaminated wipes. The alcohol wipes were used before an infusion, causing the patient to contact the Bacillus cereus infection. The Food and Drug Administration had pressured the company to recall its pads in June, when the incident occurred, but the company only announced a recall in September.

This is the second recall involving contaminated alcohol prep pads and wipes that Indiana product liability lawyers have come across. The first recall involved hundreds of millions of alcohol and iodine wipes and pads manufactured by Triad Group and H&P Industries Inc. Those wipes have been blamed for several deaths and infections across the country, and these companies already face lawsuits related to those deaths.

Questions are being raised about the safety of both sterile and non-sterile pads and wipes, and whether there is a need to ban these products altogether in hospital settings. Overall, the market contains about 70% of sterile pads and 30% of non- sterile pads. Part of the problem is that when home kits come with alcohol prep pads, healthcare professionals and homeowners who are using these home kits, may erroneously assume that these prep pads are sterile when they are not. In many cases, the packaging does not mention if the wipes are sterile or not.
Many hospitals are wondering whether it's worth it to continue using these pads, in light of these infection risks.