A lawyer for Bennie Holland-one of about 3,800 patients treated with surgical tools tainted by hydraulic fluids at Duke University Health System hospitals in late 2004-said Thursday that his client will add the Duke University Hospital System to his pending lawsuit.
Holland is the first patient in the case to name DUHS as a plaintiff.
"We regret that this incident occurred, but stand by the results of independent studies and our own analyses," DUHS officials said in a statement released Friday. "These confirmed that the surgical instruments were fully sterile; in addition, the independent scientists at RTI found only a minuscule residual on the instruments."
Holland, a resident of Coats, N.C., was also the first of at least eight involved patients to file lawsuits beginning in March 2005 against Automatic Elevator Co. of Durham and Cardinal Health, an Ohio-based medical supplies company. He first sought $10,000 in compensation last year.
After a Nov. 10, 2004 back surgery at Duke Health Raleigh, Holland was diagnosed with a severe infection, which he claims was caused by chemicals from the hydraulic fluid. The lawsuit states that he suffered from chronic pain.
At the time, Holland declined to name Duke Health Raleigh to the case because he was still being treated there, The Chronicle reported April 7, 2005. Holland also said he was disappointed by DUHS' response to the fluid mix-up.
Following multiple investigations into the potential effects of the fluids used during the early processes of sterilization, officials at Duke maintained that exposure to the fluid posed no health risks, but in a statement officials declined to comment on the case in accordance with DUHS policy.
"More than 18 months have passed since this event; we are thankful that these findings and the evidence we've seen suggest this low exposure was not harmful to our patients," officials said in the statement.
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