The attorney general of New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Sterigenics and associated companies claiming a company medtech sterilization plant in Santa Teresa, N.M. has harmed air quality and “materially contributed” to nearby residents’ health risks. In the claim filed Dec. 22, 2020, attorney general Hector Balderas alleges that Sterigenics has caused “substantial unreported, uncontrolled releases” […]
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Federal rule on ethylene oxide now delayed until 2021
The final federal rule limiting ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions from commercial medtech sterilization plants is now set to come out in 2021, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the EPA had expected to issue the rule in May 2020. The agency considers ethylene oxide a carcinogen, and EtO emissions have attracted national […]
6 Georgia residents suing Sterigenics, BD over ethylene oxide exposure
The first six of what attorneys said could be more than 100 lawsuits were filed recently in Georgia against Sterigenics and Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) by people who have lived, worked or attended school near those companies’ medical device sterilization plants. The plants use ethylene oxide (EtO) to sterilize millions of devices per year and reportedly have emitted thousands pounds of the […]
600 new ethylene oxide lawsuits filed against Sterigenics in Illinois
More than 600 lawsuits were filed last week against Sterigenics, claiming that emissions from the company’s now-shuttered Willowbrook, Ill., ethylene oxide (EtO) plant caused health problems in people who lived or worked nearby. The filings bring the total of personal-injury lawsuits against the Oak Park, Ill.-based company to more than 700, according to one of more […]
Sterigenics sues Ga. county officials over EtO-related property tax devaluations
Sterigenics has filed a lawsuit against the members of a Georgia county tax board, claiming that the board’s decision to lower valuations on properties near the company’s medical device sterilization plant has harmed its reputation. The federal lawsuit, filed in Atlanta, also claims that the members of the Cobb County Board of Tax Assessors unfairly and […]
Dems seek to force EPA action on ethylene oxide monitoring
Democrats in both houses of Congress have introduced legislation that would force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to better monitor emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) from plants that manufacture the toxic gas or use it to sterilize medical devices. The Public Health Air Quality Act of 2020, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester […]
Ga. warehouse workers sue Sterigenics, ConMed over EtO exposure
Fifty-three people who worked in an Atlanta-area warehouse that stored medical devices sterilized by ethylene oxide (EtO) filed suit this week against Sterigenics and its parent company over exposure to the gas. The plaintiffs or their families claim that long-term EtO exposure to the sterilized devices, which they unloaded, handled, warehoused and distributed, caused multiple deaths, cancer, […]
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, […]
Medtech sterilization business faces battles on many fronts
As the EPA prepares to issue new regulations for the carcinogenic sterilant gas ethylene oxide, the industry must decide whether to invest in expensive emissions-control upgrades, switch sterilization processes or — in the case of some small sterilization companies — exit the business. Nancy Crotti, Managing Editor In the next few months, the U.S. Environmental […]
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 […]
