Re: Vegas clinic may have sickened thousands

[Guest guest]

Utterly vile isn't it? How much do you want to bet they only get a slap on the wrist for it because it is technically a "white collar" crime?

In a message dated 3/6/2008 1:03:24 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/ap_on_re_us/hepatitis_exposureVegas clinic may have sickened thousands By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 42 minutes agoLAS VEGAS - Nearly 40,000 people learned this week that a trip to the doctor may have made them sick. In a type of scandal more often associated with Third World countries, a Las Vegas clinic was found to be reusing syringes and vials of medication for nearly four years. The shoddy practices may have led to an outbreak of the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus and exposed patients to HIV, too. The discovery led to the biggest public health notification operation in U.S. history, brought demands for investigations and caused scores of lawyers to seek out patients at risk for infections.Thousands of patients are being urged to be tested for the viruses. Six acute cases of hepatitis C have been confirmed. The surgical center and five affiliated clinics have been closed."I find it baffling, frankly, that in this day and age anyone would think it was safe to reuse a syringe," said Bell, associate director for infection control at the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.One of the infected patients is retired airplane mechanic Washington, 67, who was the first to report his infection. On the advice of his doctor, he received a routine colon exam in July at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.In September, he started to get sick. He was losing weight fast. His urine turned dark. His stomach hurt. By January, it was clear what had happened.Washington describes his virus as a "creeping death sentence" and worries that others will hear his story and think twice before getting preventive care they need.In letters that began arriving this week, patients who received injected anesthesia at the endoscopy center from March 2004 to mid-January were urged to get tested for hepatitis B and C, and HIV.Because all three viruses are transmitted by blood, they could have been passed from one patient to the next by the unsafe practices at the clinic.The mass notification is the result of a health district investigation that began in January when officials linked an uptick of unusual hepatitis C cases to the clinic.Health officials say they are most worried about the spread of hepatitis C, which targets the liver but shows no symptoms in as many as 80 percent of infections.Hepatitis C results in the swelling of the liver and can cause stomach pain, fatigue and jaundice. It may eventually result in liver failure. Even when no symptoms occur, the virus can slowly cause damage to the liver.Officials estimate that 4 percent of the patients already had the virus when they entered the clinic, compared with 0.5 percent for hepatitis B and less than 0.5 percent for HIV. Hepatitis C also is easier to transmit than HIV, they said."You put the two together and hepatitis C is really our big concern," said Labus, senior epidemiologist at the Southern Nevada Health District.Health inspectors say they observed clinic staff using the same syringe twice to extract anesthesia from a single vial, which was then inappropriately used to treat more than one patient. The practice allows contaminated blood in a used syringe to taint the vial and infect the next patient.Of the six patients so far diagnosed with acute hepatitis C, five received treatment at the clinic on the same day in late September.Since 1999, the CDC counts 14 hepatitis outbreaks in the U.S. linked to bad injection practices.The largest outbreak occurred in Fremont, Neb., where 99 cancer patients were infected at an oncology center from 2001 to 2002. At least one died. The doctor involved in the case acknowledged reusing syringes and settled scores of lawsuit. But he never explained why the syringes were reused. Bell said such improper procedures appear to be more common in outpatient surgical centers like the endoscopy center. Unlike hospitals, such centers often do not have employees whose sole responsibility is to monitor and educate staff on best practices. In Las Vegas, clinic staff told inspectors they had been ordered by management to reuse the vials and syringes. Labus described the practice as an unwritten, but long-practiced policy. Investigators were told the practice was an attempt to cut costs, according to a letter of complaint from the city, which revoked the facility's business license Friday. Five other facilities affiliated with the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada also had their licenses revoked. The clinic's majority owner, Dipak Desai, a political contributor and member of the governor's commission on health care, has refused to comment on the allegations. He released a statement expressing concern for the patients and assuring the public the problems had been corrected. He later took out a full-page ad in Sunday's edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal insisting that needles had not been reused and that the chances of contracting an infection at the center in most of the last four years were "extremely low." Of the thousands of people who have rushed to be tested, many will get positive results, Labus said. More than 15,000 people already have called the health district for information. But it takes a more sophisticated test, a complete evaluation of risk factors and a clear pattern of infection to determine whether the virus was caught at the facility. Plenty of lawyers are wading into the mess. Television ads called "health alerts" are soliciting clients. At least a handful of class-action lawsuits have been filed. On Tuesday, the office of Las Vegas attorney Ed Bernstein was buzzing with phone calls — nearly 1,000 a day, he said. Bernstein said he represents about 1,200 patients at the facility, eight who have tested positive for hepatitis C. Washington, the infected airplane mechanic, is one of Bernstein's clients. His wife, phine, a registered nurse, wonders how any health care professional could be so reckless: "To maximize profit? For what? What are you going to save?" It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money Finance.

[Guest guest]

There is also this.

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=7966180

Humbert, ReporterSixth Medical Center Closed, DA Looks At Criminal Charges

Updated: March 5, 2008 11:02 AM EST

A sixth gastroenterology center in the valley has shut down. The latest one is in North Las Vegas and was closed late Tuesday afternoon.

The City of North Las Vegas sent out a cease and desist letter to one of the clinics, shutting it down until the at least March 19, 2008.

UMC Offering Help to Medical Center Patients

The city said the clinic demonstrated a willful failure to be sanitary and called it a public nuisance.

The following centers are now closed:

Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, 700 Shadow Lane

Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, 4275 S. Burnham

Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 4275 S. Burnham

Spanish Hills Surgical Center, 5915 S. Rainbow Blvd.

Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 2610 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway

Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 1815 E. Lake Mead Blvd. #207

It now has to stop all operations or face arrest. Management must go before the North Las Vegas City Council on the 19th to appeal.

Read the Health District letter sent to patients

Tuesday at the fifth clinic, a city inspector met with staff and went out to his car for contact information and paperwork. When he came back, the doors were locked and management told everyone to leave before the inspection even began.

The City of then pulled the license.

Add your comments to the LasVegasNOW Blog

City employees used the clinic, so now they must also be tested. City Manager Kay Peck says the City of will pay for those tests, but she is furious the clinic and that its doctors could be so bold.

"It's ill advised. It's difficult to understand why they would do that, why they would not cooperate, why they would lock our inspector out. It's very difficult to understand," she said.

Questions to ask your doctor

District Attorney also updated us on the criminal investigation. He says his lawyers, Metro, the county and state health districts are all working together to see if any charges need to be filed.

If charges of criminal neglect go forward, believes it could be one to six years for each infected patient -- meaning a potential of thousands of years in prison for the doctors.

He hopes workers from the clinics cooperate with the investigation, "Those people should step forward and contact detectives. It's a lot better to be a witness as opposed to a defendant."

Doctors must go before the City Council in two weeks to see if they will be able to reopen. If they try to open up between now and then, it is a misdemeanor with possible fines and jail time. It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money Finance.

[Guest guest]

There is also this.

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=7966180

Humbert, ReporterSixth Medical Center Closed, DA Looks At Criminal Charges

Updated: March 5, 2008 11:02 AM EST

A sixth gastroenterology center in the valley has shut down. The latest one is in North Las Vegas and was closed late Tuesday afternoon.

The City of North Las Vegas sent out a cease and desist letter to one of the clinics, shutting it down until the at least March 19, 2008.

UMC Offering Help to Medical Center Patients

The city said the clinic demonstrated a willful failure to be sanitary and called it a public nuisance.

The following centers are now closed:

Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, 700 Shadow Lane

Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, 4275 S. Burnham

Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 4275 S. Burnham

Spanish Hills Surgical Center, 5915 S. Rainbow Blvd.

Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 2610 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway

Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 1815 E. Lake Mead Blvd. #207

It now has to stop all operations or face arrest. Management must go before the North Las Vegas City Council on the 19th to appeal.

Read the Health District letter sent to patients

Tuesday at the fifth clinic, a city inspector met with staff and went out to his car for contact information and paperwork. When he came back, the doors were locked and management told everyone to leave before the inspection even began.

The City of then pulled the license.

Add your comments to the LasVegasNOW Blog

City employees used the clinic, so now they must also be tested. City Manager Kay Peck says the City of will pay for those tests, but she is furious the clinic and that its doctors could be so bold.

"It's ill advised. It's difficult to understand why they would do that, why they would not cooperate, why they would lock our inspector out. It's very difficult to understand," she said.

Questions to ask your doctor

District Attorney also updated us on the criminal investigation. He says his lawyers, Metro, the county and state health districts are all working together to see if any charges need to be filed.

If charges of criminal neglect go forward, believes it could be one to six years for each infected patient -- meaning a potential of thousands of years in prison for the doctors.

He hopes workers from the clinics cooperate with the investigation, "Those people should step forward and contact detectives. It's a lot better to be a witness as opposed to a defendant."

Doctors must go before the City Council in two weeks to see if they will be able to reopen. If they try to open up between now and then, it is a misdemeanor with possible fines and jail time. It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money Finance.

[Guest guest]

" Utterly vile isn't it? How much do you want to bet they only get a

slap on the wrist for it because it is technically a " white collar "

crime? "

It may have been on this very message board that one of the trolls in

the past said that in this day and age, hospitals and clinics no longer

spread HIV through negligence like this.

Administrator