Medline Industries resumed sterilization operations at its Waukegan, Ill., plant on Friday, following state certification of the company’s $10 million in emission-control upgrades, the company announced. The Waukegan plant reopening follows the decision this week by officials in Cobb County, Ga., to allow an Atlanta Sterigenics EtO plant to reopen for 21 days to sterilize devices and products […]
ethylene oxide
Pressure mounts to reopen Sterigenics Ga. plant to address coronavirus pandemic
Under pressure from the FDA, officials in Cobb County, Ga., may allow Sterigenics to reopen a medical device sterilization plant sooner than expected to address the coronavirus pandemic. Oak Park, Ill.-based Sterigenics temporarily shut the Atlanta plant on August 26 to voluntarily upgrade emission controls for ethylene oxide (EtO), the carcinogenic gas it used to […]
Sterigenics asks to reopen Georgia EtO plant to fight coronavirus
Sterigenics has asked Cobb County, Ga. officials for permission to reopen its medical device sterilization plant to aid in the fight against the coronavirus. Oak Park, Ill.-based Sterigenics temporarily shut the Atlanta plant on August 26 to voluntarily upgrade emission controls for ethylene oxide (EtO), the carcinogenic gas it used to sterilize medical devices. In September, […]
B. Braun sued in Pa. over ethylene oxide exposure
A Pennsylvania man has filed a lawsuit against B. Braun Medical over emissions of the sterilant gas ethylene oxide (EtO). The man, Adam Akarsoy, lives and works near a B. Braun sterilization plant in Hanover, Pa., and filed the federal lawsuit seeking certification as a class action. Akarsoy claims that B. Braun “has consistently emitted, on average, nearly […]
11 states ask EPA to crack down on ethylene oxide emissions
Eleven state attorneys general are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose stricter regulations over commercial operations that emit ethylene oxide (EtO), a widely used medical device sterilant gas. The EPA, which considers EtO a carcinogen, has been fielding comments on it in light of public outcry over emissions from medtech sterilization plants during […]
Sterigenics accused of moving $1.3 billion to avoid ethylene oxide payouts
Attorneys for Illinois plaintiffs suing Sterigenics claim the company deliberately shuffled $1.3 billion in assets to investors to avoid compensating people sickened by exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO). The attorneys representing 75 people who lived or worked near the company’s now-shuttered Willowbrook, Ill., medtech sterilization plant filed an amended complaint in Cook County, Ill. on […]
Medline Industries temporarily halts EtO sterilization at Illinois plant
This article has been updated with a comment from Medela. Medline Industries has temporarily closed its Waukegan, Ill., medical device sterilization operation to install nearly $10 million in emissions upgrades. The privately owned company uses the carcinogenic gas ethylene oxide (EtO) to sterilize its own and other companies’ devices at the plant. Medline did not […]
FDA to EPA: Leave us out of your ethylene oxide rule
This article has been updated with comments from the FDA. The FDA has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to leave the FDA out of its proposal for stricter regulation of ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions, and the EPA complied. In an interagency comment on the EPA’s proposed rule governing commercial EtO users — which includes medical device sterilization plants — […]
10 medical device industry stories you need to know
From leadership changes to tax repeal to robots — lots of robots — this was a busy year for the medical device industry. Here are 10 stories in the medtech space that especially caught the eye of MassDevice and Medical Design & Outsourcing editors and readers in 2019. Next>>
BD acknowledges second EtO warehouse in Georgia
Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) failed to disclose to Georgia environmental officials a warehouse that it has leased since May to store medical devices sterilized with ethylene oxide (EtO), the company said on Friday. BD notified the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of its use of the 40,000-square-foot warehouse in Covington, Ga., on Friday after the agency cited […]
Georgia cites BD for warehouse ethylene oxide emissions
Georgia state officials claim that Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) has been operating a medical device warehouse without an air quality permit. The Covington, Ga. warehouse stores devices that have been sterilized using ethylene oxide (EtO), a carcinogenic gas. BD signed a consent order with the Georgia Environmental Protection Divisoin (EPD) in October, agreeing to aerate EtO-sterilized devices for 24 hours […]