Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Federal judge boots Sterigenics suit to state court

May 9, 2019 By Nancy Crotti

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that Sterigenics brought against the state of Illinois for ordering it to shut down a medical device sterilization plant, saying the matter belongs in state court.

The Broadview Heights, Ohio-based company abruptly closed the plant in Willowbrook, Ill. Feb. 15 after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency ordered the plant’s ethylene oxide (EO) storage containers sealed. The Illinois EPA acted after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry concluded that “an elevated cancer risk exists for residents and off-site workers in the Willowbrook community surrounding the Sterigenics facility,” referencing a “30-fold increase in cancer potency.”

The plant sterilized thousands of devices daily, including ones used in heart surgery, knee implants, catheters, syringes, diabetes monitoring and care kits, surgical kits and other devices, according to the order by Judge Ruben Castillo. The closure forced medtech manufacturers large and small to seek sterilization services elsewhere and caused some short-term device shortages. The plant had been in operation since 1984.

Sterigenics argued that the plant’s EO emissions fell below state and federal EPA limits and that it wasn’t in violation of regulations when the state EPA ordered its EO containers sealed. It also claimed that the state violated its federal due process rights by ordering the containers sealed rather than pursuing a claim in state or federal court.

The state EPA argued that it had the right to deprive Sterigenics of its property without holding a hearing first because the plant’s emissions required swift action to protect public health. The state also said its seal order spelled out what Sterigenics could do to have the order lifted.

Castillo’s order said that although the remedies available to Sterigenics in state court aren’t ideal, the company can still pursue relief there.

“As the court noted, Sterigenics can file in state court and as the state is aware Sterigenics has filed that lawsuit this week,” the company said in an email to Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Related Articles Read More >

FDA logo
FDA proposes pilot program for alternative medical device sterilization methods
Steris
Steris rises on Street-beating Q4, sets fiscal 2023 guidance
Sterifre Medical prepares to launch its Aura desktop disinfection device
Sotera Health launches educational series covering sterilization, lab testing and more

DeviceTalks Weekly.

June 24, 2022
How innovative design, commercial strategy is building Cala Trio’s bioelectronic medicine market
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech