Nevada Hepatitis C Case

Welcome to Law Med Blog’s special Nevada Hepatitis C Case pages. Here you will find all of our coverage of the shocking events and fallout from the unsafe practices of two Nevada endoscopy clinics which led to the state recommending that ~50,000 patients be tested for Hepatitis A, B, C and HIV.

At the heart of the scare was alleged improper handling of the anesthetic agent propofol, used to sedate patients for their exams. Propofol is supplied in single dose packaging and is well known to allow the growth of bacteria and viruses in its solution due to its unique formulation which includes protein. Because of this propofol must be used within hours of being opened. Strict administration procedures are to be followed which include single patient use for each vial and single use of any syringe or needle used to administer the drug. Any bacterial or viral agent introduced to the propofol can survive and multiple, unlike in most drugs where it would not survive. Transferring a pathogen from one patient to another can readily occur when these procedures are not followed.It is alleged that two Las Vegas area endoscopy centers routinely ignored this strict protocol resulting in the exposure of upwards of 50,000 patients to contamination. However, this has yet to be proven.

In addition, the clinics are also alleged to have improperly cleaned and sterilized endoscopy equipment, which is also a potential source for the contamination and transmission of Hepatitis C.

Criminal charges have been filed and the accused await trial, and over 200 civil lawsuits have been filed. We are covering it all.

Desai Trial: Doctors Casts Doubt On Prosecution Claim Propofol Spread Hep C May 21, 2013 As the Nevada Hepatitis C outbreak murder trial of former physician Dipak Desai and nurse anesthetist Ronald Lakeman entered its second week a second physician took the stand and like the colleague before him cast doubt on the prosecutions claim that improper injection procedures led to contamination of the anesthetic drug propofol with the hepatitis ...
NV Supreme Court Denies Desai Petition, Jury Selection Resumes May 5, 2013 In a 2-1 decision on Monday, the Nevada Supreme Court denied the petition of Dipak Desai to suspend his Las Vegas murder trial. Desai sought a ruling from the court ordering a hearing to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. The court said the record does not include substantial evidence that Desai is incompetent ...
Jury Selection On Hold In Desai Hepatitis C Outbreak Trial [VIDEO] April 26, 2013 Prosecutors say former physician Dipak Desai is again faking his mental impairments and his “malingering behavior and constitutes yet another attempt to delay his day in court,” in papers filed with the Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday. This in response to an emergency defense motion filed with the court asking to have the trial stopped due ...
Desai Defense Attorney Asks NV Supreme Court To Halt Trial Begun Yesterday April 23, 2013 No sooner had jury selection begun in the criminal trial of former physician Dipak Desai’, then his defense attorney, Richard Wright, filed an emergency request with the Nevada Supreme Court asking them to halt proceedings alleging Desai is incapacitated by strokes and other physical ailments and can’t assist in his defense. Desai has previously been ...
Jury Slaps HMO With $500 M Verdict In Las Vegas Hepatitis C Case April 23, 2013 Jurors rejected plainitffs attorneys’ requests for a $2.5 billion judgment against the HMO that referred patients to the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada where more than 60,000 people were potentially exposed to Hepatitis C and other diseases over a four-year period that ended in January 2008. But $500 million apparently sounded about right to them ...
CRNA Defendant In Hepatitis C Murder Case Pleads Guilty December 17, 2012Keith Mathahs, 76, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) charged in the 2007 Las Vegas area hepatitis C outbreak, pleaded guilty December 10 in Clark County District Court to five reduced criminal counts, including criminal neglect of patients resulting in death, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The plea comes as a result of ...
CDC Investigators Do Not Have To Testify In Nevada Hepatitis C Cases October 11, 2012Nevada Hepatitis Cases Don’t Need CDC Insight From the Courthouse News Service. By Nick Divito (CN) – Employees for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention need not testify about their investigation of a hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas, a federal judge ruled. Patients claim that they contracted, or were exposed to, hepatitis C because doctors reused ...
Criminal Trial in Nevada Hepatitis C Outbreak Delayed Until April October 6, 2012Saying she felt “forced” to delay the trial, Las Vegas, NV, District Judge Valerie Adair pushed back the criminal trial of Dr. Dipak Desai, 61, and nurse anesthetists Keith Mathahs, 76, and Ronald Lakeman, 65, until April 22, 2013. The high-profile case has dragged through the court system for over 2 years. But when defense ...
Defendants In Nevada Hepatitis C Outbreak Seek 6 Month Trial Delay October 4, 2012District Judge Valerie Adair says she will decide Thursday whether the October 22nd criminal trial of Dr. Dipak Desai, 62, and nurse anesthetists Keith Mathahs, 76, and Ronald Lakeman, 65, on a series of felony charges, including racketeering and patient neglect, stemming from the 2007 outbreak of Hepatitis C in the Las Vegas area, will be ...
Family of Hep C Scandal Dr Desai Sued For $16.5M Over Alleged Hidden Funds September 7, 2012The bankruptcy trusteed for the estate of Dr. Dipak Desai, the physician charged with murder and a host of felonies related to a 2008 Nevada Hepatitis C outbreak, is alleging Desai, through his three daughters and various trusts he created in their names, has hidden from creditors money from the doctor’s former medical practice. Trustee ...
Desai, 2 CRNAs Plead Not Guilty To Murder Charges August 24, 2012Dr. Dipak Desai, 62, and two Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Keith Mathahs, 76, and Ronald Lakeman, 65, each plead not guilty to one count of second-degree murder. In Nevada, second-degree murder is a murder charge that does not require premeditation or intent. The penalty is significant: Nevada Criminal Statute Section 200.030 5. A person convicted of murder ...
Desai, 2 CRNAs Indicted For Murder In NV Hepatitis C Outbreak August 18, 2012A Clark County, Nevada, grand jury handed up second degree murder indictments on August 10th against Dr. Dipak Desai, 62, owner of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, as well as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) Ronald Lakeman and Keith Mathahs in the April 27 death of 77-year-old Rodolfo Meana. Meana contracted Hepatitis C in ...
Settlements Reached In 41 Las Vegas Hepatitis C Lawsuits February 22, 2012 Clark County District Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti has approved settlements involving Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and other companies after nine days of negotiations which were brought about by a Nevada Supreme Court order. The state high court dubbed the talks a “global settlement conference.” Terms of the settlements were not immediately made public, however Denise Bradley, ...
Prosecutor: Videotaped Deposition Of Dying Nevada Hepatitis C Victim Needed February 8, 2012 In papers asking to take his videotaped deposition filed in court Monday, Clark County NV Chief District Attorney Mike Staudaher said the hepatitis C virus has left Rodolfo Meana, 76, terminally ill, and he could die at any moment. Meana’s hepatitis C case is one of seven the Southern Nevada Health District investigation genetically linked to ...
Judge Rules Dr. Desai Competent For Trial In Nevada Hepatitis C Case February 4, 2012 Citing a report from two psychiatrists and a psychologist at a state mental facility in Sparks who found that Dipak Desai is “competent and obviously exaggerating his symptoms” from strokes in September 2007 and July 2008 to avoid trial, Clark County District Court Judge Kathleen declared him competent to stand trial. Desai received six months ...
Desai Competancy Hearing Held Friday In Nevada Hepatitis C Case January 29, 2012 The issue of the competency of Dr. Dipak Desai to stand trial was again before Clark County District Court Judge Kathleen Delaney on Friday. Back in February of 2011 two court appointed medical experts found Desai incompetent for trial and he was ordered into custody at a state mental health facility. Dr. Steven Zuchowski, a state ...
Juries Slap Propofol Companies With Over $280M Damages In Hep C Cases October 15, 2011 Two separate juries have levied a combined total of over $250 Million in punitive damages for 5 plaintiffs in two separate trials. The plaintiffs were suing after they contracted Hepatitis C from what their lawyers argued was contaminated propofol. The defendants were Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Baxter International Inc., manufacturers and distributors of the ...
Nevada Hepatitis C Outbreak Lawsuit Update [VIDEO] September 26, 2011 As one of the Hepatitis C civil trials continues in a Nevada courtroom, emotional testimony was heard from Anne Arnold, who contracted the disease during an endoscopic procedure at a clinic run by Dr. Desai in 2007. Equally heart wrenching testimony came from her husband, James Arnold, who, while clearly in physical pain testified that ...
Dr. Desai Now Competant to Stand Trial Say His Doctors September 23, 2011 On February 8, Dr. Dipak Desai was determined incompetent to stand trial on a 28 count criminal indictment for his role in owning and operating 2 Nevada endoscopy clinics where shoddy practices and disregard for vital protocols led to 250 patients allegedly contracting hepatitis C and the need for ~50,000 patients to be tested for ...
Second Hepatitis C Trial Underway Against Propofol Maker August 29, 2011 Teva and Baxter Pharmaceuticals are in a Nevada court for the second time defending against allegations that improper packaging and labeling contributed to contamination of the anesthetic drug propofol with the Hepatitis C virus. Three Las Vegas residents say they contracted the virus when they were administered the drug at a Las Vegas colonoscopy center ...
Nevada Supreme Court Issues important Evidence Rulings In Hepatitis C Cases July 30, 2011 We previously discussed the case of Henry Chanin, 62, who sued Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corp., the two companies that made and distributed, respectively, the anesthetic propofol used at Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, where Chanin was infected with hepatitis C during a routine procedure. The judge ruled, before the trail began, that ...
Teva Wins HUGE In Propofol Case Credit U.S. Supreme Court June 24, 2011 It has been over a year since we told you about a jury verdict in Nevada against Teva Pharmaceuticals a while ago that cost them $500 Million Dollars. The case involved a Nevada resident who contracted Hepatitis C allegedly from contaminated propofol, the anesthetic used to sedate him for a colonoscopy at the clinic of ...
Dr. Desai’s Office Manager Feels “Betrayed” April 29, 2011 Indicted Witness in Hepatitis C Case Upset From The Las Vegas Review Journal By Jeff German Tonya Rushing, a key witness in the district attorney’s criminal case against Dr. Dipak Desai, lashed out at federal prosecutors Thursday, a day after they indicted her and the physician on health care fraud charges. “I feel betrayed,” said Rushing, who ran ...
Dipak Desai Now Facing Federal Charges But Will He Ever Be Tried? April 29, 2011 Dr. Dipak Desai is in more trouble. As expected, a federal grand jury has now indicted him and his chief operating officer for medicare fraud. These charges are in addition to the long list of state criminal charges pending against him. Desai is currently in a court ordered mental health facility for evaluation of his ...
Broke: Dr Desai Victims Unlikely to Collect in Nevada Hepatitis C Outbreak April 9, 2011 Before his current status as a revoked licensed physician and court ordered resident in the secured Lake Crossing psychiatric facility, Dr. Dipak Desai was making money hand over fist from the endoscopy centers he owned in the Las Vegas, Nevada area. Now, faced with hundreds of lawsuits in the Nevada Hepatitis C outbreak, he says ...
Nevada Urologist’s Patients Advised Get Tested For Hepatitis March 28, 2011 There is another Hepatitis/HIV scare in Nevada. Dr. Michael Kaplan has had his license to practice suspended and his patients have been notified they need to get tested. It all stems from the doctor reusing single use needle guides during biopsy procedures. He has since claimed that the vendor told him it was OK to ...
Nevada Dr. Desai Led In Handcuffs To Mental Hospital March 21, 2011 As previously ordered by the court after being found incompetent to stand trial, Dr. Dipak Desai has been placed in custody and taken to a psychiatric facility to determine if and how he can be rehabilitated back to competency. From The Las Vegas Sun Doctor At Center Of Hepatitis C Scare Taken Into Custody Dipak Desai, the man ...
Nevada Supreme Court To Make Crucial Hepatitis Case Evidence Determination March 8, 2011 Attorney Robert Eglet argues before the Nevada Supreme Court in Carson City on Monday. Justices heard arguments over whether jurors should hear about other possible causes for the hepatitis C among patients who underwent procedures at endoscopy clinics in Southern Nevada formerly owned by Dr. Dipak Desai. High court ruling will establish ...
Judge Orders Year Long Delay In Nevada Hep C Criminal Trial March 8, 2011 LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL By Jeff German District Judge Donald Mosley on Monday ordered a yearlong delay in the trial of Dr. Dipak Desai and two nurse anesthetists charged in the 2007 hepatitis C outbreak. The trial was set to take place on March 14 for nurses Keith Mathahs and Ronald Lakeman without Desai, who has ...
Serious Questions Exist About Cause Of Nevada Hepatitis C Outbreak March 4, 2011 In what can only be described as EXPLOSIVE revelations, very serious questions are raised about the allegations made against a number of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) regarding their handling of the drug propofol and the relation of these allegations to the Nevada patients infected with Hepatitis C. Our friends at CRNAbiz.com spoke with one ...
Teva Appeals $500M Verdict In Nevada Hep C Case: Serious Issues March 4, 2011 Serious questions exist in the procedures of Clark County Judge Jessie Walsh where Henry Chanin, 62, sued Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corp., the two companies that made and distributed, respectively, the anesthetic propofol used at Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, where Chanin was infected with hepatitis C during a ...
Prosecutor Doesn’t Buy Dr. Desai’s Claimed Mental Impairment February 25, 2011 Prosecutor says Desai’s statements, evaluations don’t add up. By Paul Harasim FROM THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL After Dr. Dipak Desai was found incompetent to face criminal charges stemming from a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak, the lead prosecutor again questioned whether Desai was feigning the severity of his impairment from two strokes. Deputy District Attorney Michael Staudaher said ...
CRNA Defense Lawyer Seeks Delay In Nevada Hep C Propofol Trial February 25, 2011 The attorney for 74 y/o CRNA Keith H. Mathahs wants more time to obtain discovery before trial…which is currently scheduled for March 14th. The Judge is not amused. Lawyer presses for delay in trial of nurses connected to hepatitis C outbreak By Jeff German FROM THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL A courtroom tongue-lashing from a district judge has not ...
The Road to Incompetent to Stand Trial for Dr Desai February 10, 2011 On February 8, Dr. Dipak Desai was determined incompetent to stand trial on a 28 count criminal indictment for his role in owning and operating 2 Nevada endoscopy clinics where shoddy practices and disregard for vital protocols led to over 100 patients contracting hepatitis C and the need for ~50,000 patients to be tested for ...
Law Med Launches Nevada Hepatitis C Propofol Contamination Page February 10, 2011 With criminal trials scheduled for this spring and more than 100 civil lawsuits already filed, the Nevada endoscopy clinic propofol contamination nightmare is heating up nearly 3 years after the story broke, we are launching ourNevada Hepatitis C Case Page. The Law Med Blog will be covering the events in detail. All relevant blog posts ...
Nevada Dr Desai Found Incompetent to Stand Trial in Propofol Case February 9, 2011 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 ...
Desai, Mathahs Plead Not Guilty In Vegas Hepatitis C Case June 12, 2010 Dr. Dipak Desai, age 60, and nurse anesthetist Keith Mathahs, age 74, plead not guilty Friday in relation to the 28 count indictments against them for their roles in the GI Clinic-propofol hepatitis c exposure to ~40,000 patients. Desai is free on $1 million bail while Mathahs remains in jail on $500,000 bond which he ...
Dr. Desai, Two Nurse Anesthetists Indicted For Las Vegas Hepatitis C Outbreak June 5, 2010 Physician under sweeping indictment on 28 criminal counts related to the Nevada Hepatitis C contamination and patient infection outbreak. Two Nurse Anesthetists also charged. Includes multiple felonies. From Courthouse News Service LAS VEGAS (CN) – The doctor at the center Southern Nevada’s hepatitis C outbreak was indicted Friday on 28 criminal counts. Dipak Desai ran endoscopy clinics ...
Indictments of Dr. Desai and CRNAs Follows $500 Million Award to Hepatitis C Victim June 5, 2010 We previously reported on the record breaking $500 million jury award for Henry Chanin, who contracted Hepatitis C from improper injection of the drug after it had been used on another patient. Teva and Baxter, both pharmaceutical companies were on the hook for he whole bill as they had been sued for improperly packaging the ...
Attorney Seeks $1 Billion In Punitive Damages In Hep C Propofol Trial May 6, 2010 The attorney for the lead plaintiff in the case against two drug companies found liable for a Las Vegas man’s hepatitis C infection asked jurors Thursday to award more than $1 billion in punitive damages, saying their verdict should make a statement against putting corporate profits ahead of patient safety. Robert Eglet, who represents 62-year-old Henry ...