Looks like you've confimed that there's an issue with the scanner (which might be up to 17 years old) so it may be time to let go. I see from the specs that the scanner also supports Windows, so maybe before you send it to that great recycle bin in the sky, you give it one more shot at life, by connectiong it to a Windows machine.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/media/i3d/01/A/man-migrate/MANUAL000034806.pdf
Formatting generally does that. Check to see if there is some software that can restore them. If the area where the photos were has been overwritten by other files then the answer is definitely no.
hej, go to driverguide.com select driver for above in mac algorithm take some time to find it,its all mix,but it is there, dawnload, unpack, install. ( remember to install the software,before you pluck the scanner in ),