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Nevada Dr Desai Found Incompetent to Stand Trial in Propofol Case
Dr. Dipak Desai has been ordered to surrender into custody in March for admission to a state medical facility for evaluation after two court-appointed medical experts from Las Vegas , psychologist Shera D. Bradley and psychiatrist Dr. Michael S. Krelstein, found Desai incompetent to stand trial on criminal charges in light of two strokes in the last year.
Back in June we reported on the 28 count indictment of Dr. Desai on charges related to a Nevada endoscopy clinic Hepatitis C contamination and patient infection outbreak caused by improper handling of the anesthetic propofol, which required tens of thousands of patients to be tested for the disease. When Desai plead guilty at that time his attorney informed the court that his client was cognitively impaired due to a recent stroke. Two nurse anesthetists are facing similar charges in the case and propofol manufacturer Teva suffered a $500 million judgment when a jury found that their negligent product packaging contributed the one patent’s Hepatitis infection.
As a result Teva stopped making propofol at a time when the only other U.S. manufacturer, Hospira, was recalling their product due to particulate matter contamination., resulting in a nationwide shortage of the most commonly used induction agent for general anesthesia.
District Judge Jackie Glass on Tuesday ordered Dr. Dipak Desai, the central figure in the 2007 Las Vegas hepatitis C outbreak, to surrender March 17 to be taken to a state mental facility for further evaluation.
During a brief hearing, Glass disclosed that two court-appointed medical experts from Las Vegas — psychologist Shera D. Bradley and psychiatrist Dr. Michael S. Krelstein — had found Desai incompetent to stand trial on criminal charges in light of two strokes in recent years.
Glass said state law mandates Desai be sent in custody to Lakes Crossing in Sparks, the state’s mental health hospital. His March 14 trial before District Judge Donald Mosley was postponed indefinitely.
Glass said that the next round of evaluation would take some time and that both prosecutors and defense lawyers probably would raise issues involving Desai’s competency that would end up back in her court.
“We have a ways to go with this process, and we’re going to let it go forward like we would any other case in this jurisdiction,” Glass said.
Read the rest at LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
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[...] previously ordered by the court after being found incompetent to stand trial, Dr. Dipak Desai has been placed in [...]
[...] in a court ordered mental health facility for evaluation of his mental condition since being found incompetent to stand trial due to brain damage from a stroke. If and when Desai is arraigned on these charges he will have to [...]