Las Vegas Sun

December 6, 2009

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Hepatitis scare

Dr. Dipak Desai, majority owner of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, leaves Las Vegas City Hall on March 3. Desai has surrendered his medical license pending the outcome of a state investigation.

Photo by Steve Marcus / Las Vegas Sun

Dr. Dipak Desai, majority owner of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, leaves Las Vegas City Hall on March 3. Desai has surrendered his medical license pending the outcome of a state investigation.

The largest hepatitis outbreak scare in the nation is playing out in Las Vegas, where 50,000 patients at an endoscopy center may have been exposed to infectious diseases because of unhygienic practices.

Share Your Experience

Patients and current or former employees of Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada who wish to share their experiences at the clinic are invited to e-mail Las Vegas Sun health reporter Marshall Allen.

So far, 114 patients have been identified by health authorities as having been potentially infected with hepatitis C at the clinic, which has been shut down — along with five sister clinics in the valley.

Criminal investigations are underway and the state’s medical and nursing boards are investigating the situation, which some nurses say was triggered by the clinic owner’s drive for profit at the expense of patient safety.

Frequently asked questions about the incident

Archive highlights

Voices of reason for health care crisis

Sun, Mar 16, 2008

In the midst of the largest hepatitis C scare in the nation’s history, many Nevadans have lost confidence in their health care providers. About 40,000 people have been told they ...

Assembly-line colonoscopies at clinic described

Sun, Mar 9, 2008

If you want to get a sense of the rushed medical procedures that patients encountered inside the clinic that triggered the unprecedented hepatitis scare, consider Duke Breuer’s experience. After undergoing ...

How hepatitis probe led to clinic

Sun, Mar 2, 2008

There was no cause for alarm when, on Dec. 4, health investigators learned of a case of acute hepatitis C.

All stories

Police ask DA to seek criminal neglect charges against Desai

Thu, Nov 19, 2009

Metro detectives late Tuesday handed the district attorney’s office the brunt of their criminal investigation into last year’s hepatitis C outbreak, for what is expected to be a groundbreaking prosecution.

Police probe of clinic cases in hepatitis outbreak nears end

Mon, Nov 16, 2009

At long last, Metro Police are winding down one of the Las Vegas Valley’s most complicated and anticipated criminal investigations in recent years.

Bankruptcy trustee: Leave the hepatitis claims to us

Fri, Nov 13, 2009

The massive assortment of lawsuits over last year’s hepatitis outbreak could be taking another detour.

Regulation in need of a checkup

Sun, Oct 25, 2009

The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners is required by law to protect patients. But critics — doctors and lawmakers among them — say the board is hampered by conflicts ...

Judge orders release of hepatitis case records

Sat, Oct 24, 2009

The public could soon learn a lot more about how last year’s hepatitis C outbreak occurred and health authorities’ role in it. After a hearing this week, District Judge Allan ...

Hepatitis case has escalating side battle

Thu, Oct 22, 2009

In court battles over huge amounts of money, all sides go to the mat. That’s what’s taking place behind the scenes in the massive litigation over last year’s hepatitis C ...

New attorney takes on booze defense

Wed, Oct 21, 2009

Las Vegas attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld are the architects of an unusual defense being mounted by high roller Terrance Watanabe in a $14.7 million Strip gambling debt case. ...

Endoscopy plaintiffs target drug suppliers

Tue, Oct 13, 2009

Lawyers suing Dr. Dipak Desai and his clinics say it would take $300 million on the table to negotiate a settlement for thousands of former patients whose lives were disrupted ...

Desai says he didn’t see or approve settlement

Fri, Oct 2, 2009

Dr. Dipak Desai has his personal lawyer opposing a settlement the physician’s chief trial lawyer struck last week with a former patient suing over last year’s hepatitis outbreak. Attorney Dennis ...

Desai, ex-patient settle but other defendants remain in lawsuit

Sat, Sep 26, 2009

Dr. Dipak Desai has settled with the first of thousands of former patients suing over last year’s hepatitis outbreak springing from his clinics. Lawyers for Desai filed court papers this ...

Lawyers: More cases of hepatitis discovered

Tue, Sep 22, 2009

Lawyers suing the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada say they have discovered a new cluster of hepatitis C cases that originated at the clinic and predict the discovery will have ...

Court to allow endoscopy lawsuits to proceed

Wed, Sep 9, 2009

The judge in the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada LLC bankruptcy case is allowing three of the first malpractice cases against the Las Vegas clinic to go to trial -- ...

Judge considers letting hepatitis trials go forward

Wed, Aug 26, 2009

Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Mike Nakagawa said Wednesday that he would consider a request to lift a stay against three beleaguered endoscopy centers to allow trials to move forward. Nakagawa ...

Court to rule on whether hepatitis cases can proceed

Mon, Aug 24, 2009

Unless cooler heads prevail, this week’s hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on whether the massive litigation over the valley’s 2008 hepatitis C outbreak can proceed is shaping up as a ...

Attorneys: Bankruptcies could delay hepatitis trials

Wed, Aug 12, 2009

The bankruptcies of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and related companies are threatening to delay trials for patients who say they were infected with hepatitis because of unsafe medical ...

Videos

IBTV: Jon Ralston:  Now That's Juice
IBTV: Jon Ralston: Now That's Juice
The owners of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada must forfeit their business license and ...
Face to Face: Done Deal
Face to Face: Done Deal
The City of Las Vegas hearing into the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada was a ...
Endoscopy Public Comment
Endoscopy Public Comment
The massive hepatitis C scare is a defining moment in Nevada health care, for doctors, ...
Endoscopy Patient Reacts
Endoscopy Patient Reacts
Arnold “Duke” Breuer of Las Vegas went to a Quest laboratory Monday to have a ...
Hepatitis Scare Roundtable
Hepatitis Scare Roundtable
The Sun invited four experts to sit around a table and hold a conversation about ...
A Professional Approach
A Professional Approach
Senior epidemiologist Brian Labus shares his professional approach to the largest hepatitis C scare in ...

Slideshows

Endoscopy Center hearing
At a City Hall hearing Monday, attorneys representing the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada appealed ...

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