Las Vegas Clinic’s Unsafe Practices Lead to Hepatitis C Infection

Feb. 28, 2008 -- Six people who were treated at a Las Vegas clinic have been infected with Hepatitis C, a chronic potentially lethal virus that can cause liver ailments, including cancer and liver failure. Another 40,000 people who were treated at the clinic over the past four years still need to tested to see if they were infected with the blood-borne virus as well as HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

According to the Southern Nevada Health District, five of the patients who are infected with Hepatitis C received treatment at Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada on the same day in late September. The other is believed to have been infected in July.

An investigation of the clinic revealed that practitioners at the Endoscopy Center were using the same syringe on more than one patient -- exposing those patients to the blood of other patients. These unsafe injection practices were related to the administration of anesthesia medication.

Officials said the unsafe practices had been in place for several years and may have put others at risk. About 40,000 patients who received injections of anesthesia at the clinic are being notified of the potential exposure in letters arriving next week.

It is recommended that anyone who received anesthesia at the clinic from March 2004 to Jan. 11 2008 should be tested for the hepatitis C virus, along with hepatitis B and HIV.