Native Vegan wrote on March 01, 2008 11:33 AM: A quick call to Southwest Medical Associates to ask them how many gastroenterologists revealed that there are more than two gastroenterologists at Southwest Medical Associates. They are Dr. Zabel, Dr. Tibaldi, Dr. Fajardo, James Hoopes PA, and Lynn Marlett, APN. Before criticizing the journalists for "lack of research" perhaps you should do your own. Other insurance companies had/have contracts with Desai’s group i.e.: Humana and Culinary & other medical groups also referred to Desai’s group. The business & community leaders will need to work together to identify the best possible plan to address the myriad of needs for the impacted patients & their families. I’m betting all the other medical professionals in our community are outraged at these practices.

Native Vegan wrote on March 01, 2008 11:23 AM: Any employee (fulltime or contracted) who participated in the unacceptable practices, ordered to or not, should be ashamed of themselves. Any employee in the healthcare industry should put patient safety, ethics & integrity above all else. I would like to know if any current or past employees had logged any reports to the Health District or any other agency. If so, when & why wasn't something done at that time?

S. Culshaw wrote on March 01, 2008 03:21 AM: As a potential victim of the Endoscopy Center I appose the idea of closing the facility. If the center is closed, it will be that much harder for the center’s victims to recoup their medical cost for blood test and treatment. As long as the surgical center remains open, the owners can be forced through various means to pay these costs. Insurance companies for instance could withhold payment for services until a victim’s fund is established by the owners of the endoscopy center. Insurance carries could also refuse to refer future victims, uh, patients to the center until such a fund is set up.

The city could also suspend the business license of the center until a fund is set up. Business license are issued on a provisional basis. Just ask any establishment that sells liquor. If they violate the law or become a public nuisance, their business license can be suspended or revoked. Businesses that are notified they are in danger of loosing their license must then abide by conditions set down by the city to retain their license. Certainly a surgical center that exposed 40,000 people the HIV and Hepatitis by violating established medical protocols would fall into this category.

There has also been a lot of discussion on the health department’s inadequate inspection of these types of facilities. But, there is another agency that could also look at these centers. Under the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations an employer is required to provide a place of employment and employment that is free of recognized hazards. This regulation has been expanded in many cases to include visitors, patrons, etc. to an employer’s property. Nevada OSHA can also set conditions that need to be met for

bringoutyerdumb wrote on February 29, 2008 07:54 AM: Uh Shannon, checking their facts is definitely not the RJ's strong point. It's almost like you have to be developmentally delayed or at least have some kind of learning disability to work as a reporter there. I've lived in a few cities and in my opinion, the Review Journal has the lowest quality of any daily newspaper, hands down. The only think I can figure out is maybe they get some kind of tax benefit from hiring mentally retarded reporters.

Shannon wrote on February 29, 2008 07:35 AM: It is interesting that Southwest Medical Associates only has TWO gastroenterologists. Of course, that would mean that the majority of their clients are being sent to Endoscopy Center and Desai's group, not just a little "overflow."

The reporters need to look a little more deeper into the information they are providing and really question the people they are interviewing. I found out the above in 2 seconds on the internet.

Please continue to contact your insurance companies, especially HPN and Senior Dimensions, to let them know that this is not acceptable to continue having these doctors as providers. Unfortunately, HPN and Senior Dimension patients do not have a choice as of this moment with regard to gastroenterologists. They have to go to Desai's group.

Shannon wrote on February 29, 2008 07:07 AM: Considering that Southwest Medical Associates only has TWO gastroenterologists, they are referring the bulk of their clients to Desai and his group, not just a little "overflow." If you are insured by HPN or Senior Dimensions, please call them today and demand that they drop these doctors and provide some competent gastroenterologists for their clients. This is absolutely outrageous. It would be nice if the R.J. reporters would find out this stuff and add it to the story or question it. It took me two seconds to find the information on the internet.