Board chief fires back, backs off

By Marshall Allen

Thursday, May 8, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The executive director of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners unleashed a tirade against a county prosecutor Wednesday before saying the board would comply with a request to turn over to investigators any complaints in its files about Dr. Dipak Desai, whose clinic was the source of the largest hepatitis C scare in the nation.

The medical board’s Tony Clark called the Las Vegas Sun on Wednesday incensed about a story in the newspaper. The story reported that Scott Mitchell, Clark County chief deputy district attorney, said the medical board had refused to turn over any of the confidential complaints it has received about Desai. The board had apparently lost sight of protecting patients in its efforts to run interference for doctors, Mitchell said.

In Clark’s call to the Sun, he said in a raised voice: “My reaction is that Scott Mitchell is a liar, and he’s unethical and unprofessional.”

Mitchell’s allegation that the medical board has not cooperated with police is “a (expletive) lie!” Clark said, adding, “Quote me.”

Clark said he was going to file a complaint against Mitchell with the State Bar of Nevada for leaking a grand jury subpoena to the media to “put pressure on the board and aggrandize himself.”

Mitchell, however, had told the Sun only that Metro detectives were stonewalled when they asked the board to turn over any complaints against Desai. Told by a reporter Wednesday that Mitchell had never mentioned a grand jury subpoena, Clark said of the Sun’s story, “Maybe I didn’t read close enough.”

Later Wednesday, Mitchell responded to Clark’s comments by saying that the police investigation of Desai is well-known and no law prohibits a prosecutor from divulging that Metro detectives had requested records from the board.

The Sun’s story said Lyn Beggs, the medical board’s deputy general counsel, had declined to comment about the specific police request. But Beggs said such requests are routinely denied because state law requires that information about doctors remain confidential unless it has resulted in formal discipline.

The Nevada attorney general’s office, however, believes the law makes an exception for criminal investigations to allow release of complaints, Chief Deputy Attorney General Christine Guerci-Nyhus told the Sun.

Guerci-Nyhus, whose duties include acting as an adviser to the medical board, said she was not consulted by the board on the matter until May 1 — more than a week after Metro’s initial request.

Clark had not returned the Sun’s calls Tuesday as the newspaper prepared its story. “I was busy,” said Clark, who also serves as the board’s acting general counsel. “I have other things to do than call reporters.”

Asked to explain how Mitchell lied, Clark said the medical board has until today to comply with the subpoena, and that while the board initially told investigators it would not turn over any confidential complaints, it later decided to do so as long as they remained confidential.

“The point is that we’re trying to cooperate and respond and provide everything that they want without violating the confidentiality that’s required of us,” Clark said.

Clark then reeled in his rhetoric, saying he’d “flamed up” and may have “mischaracterized” Mitchell by calling him a liar.

“I probably shot myself in the foot,” he said quietly.

Mitchell said Clark is “100 percent wrong” about the medical board’s cooperation with the police investigation.

“Three times we were told, ‘Absolutely not, you’re not going to get (the complaints), and if you want to litigate we’ll take it up to the highest court,’ ” Mitchell said. “They told us directly they’re not going to give it to us, and basically threw down the gauntlet — they would not just insist they would not divulge it, but they would fight it legally.”

Mitchell said the discussions were with Beggs, not Clark, and that the most recent denial of the request came Friday.

After learning of the board’s later decision to release the documents, Mitchell said he’s now optimistic that police will get what they need for a thorough investigation.

In a separate action, the attorney general’s office announced Wednesday that the extension of the temporary restraining orders that prevent Desai and his partner Dr. Eladio Carrera from practicing have been extended. Desai agreed not to practice until the medical board completes its disciplinary actions, and Carrera will not practice until a hearing can be held July 16, officials said.

Marshall Allen can be reached at 259-2330 or at [email protected].