The CDC quarantined gowns stockpiled for use in future outbreaks following a "60 Minutes" investigation over the protective equipment's efficacy, reports CBS News.
The "60 Minutes" story originally aired in May 2016, but CBS rebroadcast it on Aug. 6 with some updated information.
The investigative piece focused on whether Haylard Health's MicroCool gowns, used during the response to the 2014 Ebola outbreaks, were defective and put responders at risk. The report quoted former CDC employees and cited internal agency documents obtained by "60 Minutes" via the Freedom of Information Act.
In a statement to "60 Minutes," the CDC said the MicroCool gowns "are being quarantined within the SNS [Strategic National Stockpile] inventory and there are no current plans to use them."
In April, a Los Angeles jury returned a $454 million verdict in a class-action lawsuit filed by more than 400 hospitals against Halyard Health and Kimberly-Clark Corp., its former parent company. The suit claimed Kimberly-Clark and Halyard Health fraudulently marketed medical gowns, which the companies said provided protection from HIV and Ebola when they knew the gowns to be defective.
To learn more and watch the "60 Minutes" report, click here.
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