Unsafe Injection Practices
Due to the unsafe injection practices at two Las Vegas endoscopy clinics, more than 50,000 patients may be at risk of contracting hepatitis or HIV. An investigation has revealed that in order to cut costs, staff at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center were regularly re-using syringes, medicine vials, biopsy forceps and other equipment, placing thousands at risk of a serious and potentially deadly infection.
Investigators have also found that, in order to maximize profits, the two clinics were scheduling colonoscopies as little as 15 minutes apart from one another. Other facilities in the area say that because an endoscopy can last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, they usually schedule procedures for no less than 30 minutes to an hour apart.
Documents uncovered by investigators show that on a day in which at least five patients contracted hepatitis C at the Endoscopy Center, doctors performed one colonoscopy that lasted just two minutes and two more that lasted only three. According to some physicians who perform colonoscopies, it should take six minutes alone just to remove the endoscope from a patient’s intestines.
Nurses and other staff members say that they were told by Dr. Dipak Desai—the main owner of the two clinics—and other doctors to reuse syringes and other equipment, despite the risk that these unsafe injection practices could lead to the spread of infections. Dr. Desai, other doctors and the two clinics are all being investigated for potential criminal conduct, medical malpractice and insurance fraud.
One patient who underwent a colonoscopy at the Endoscopy Center later developed incurable colon cancer after doctors failed to notice a tumor during an examination. The patient has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the clinic and the doctor who performed the procedure, alleging that he rushed through the colonoscopy in only eight minutes, causing him to fail to notice the tumor.
This patient also alleges that he was billed for 31 minutes of anesthesia, despite the fact that the procedure lasted for only about one-quarter of that time. Several current and former clinic employees say that they regularly over-billed patients for anesthesia or ordered unnecessary biopsies in order to drive up costs.