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Mar. 05, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

More clinic offices closed

NLV, Henderson officials take steps against medical group in health crisis

By HENRY BREAN and LYNNETTE CURTIS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Hepatitis C Investigation

A Gastroenterology Center of Nevada office in Henderson, at 2610 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, closed its doors Tuesday after a visit from a city inspector. The city later suspended the clinic's business license.
Photo by Jeremy Lyverse/Review-Journal

Citing an ongoing public health emergency, North Las Vegas officials ordered the Gastroenterology Center of Nevada office at 1815 E. Lake Mead Blvd. to close its doors.
Photo by Craig L. Moran

The Henderson and North Las Vegas offices of a clinic at the center of a massive health alert were shut down by officials in the cities Tuesday.

Citing the public health emergency, officials in both cities ordered the Gastroenterology Center of Nevada to cease operations, effectively shuttering all but one of the group's facilities in the valley.

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A Las Vegas office of the Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, 3150 Tenaya Way, remained open as of late afternoon Tuesday.

Clark County officials on Monday shut down three clinics owned by the medical group. Three days earlier, Las Vegas officials closed an endoscopy center on Shadow Lane where investigators found that staff reused syringes, contaminating vials of medication and infecting six people with hepatitis C.

Health officials have sent 40,000 letters to that clinic's patients, urging them to get tested for hepatitis C and B and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Henderson's action came after a city inspector was locked out of the medical group's office at 2610 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, Suite 105.

City spokeswoman Cindy Herman said the inspector was allowed inside at first, but when he went out to his vehicle to get some business cards and other information, the office's front door was bolted shut behind him.

The city immediately moved to suspend the office's business license after that, Herman said.

"When they denied us access, it brings a lot of questions to the forefront that we were not able to answer. When they decided to shut the doors and deny us access ... they basically closed their doors to the public themselves."

Henderson City Councilman Steve Kirk said the inspector was there to gather information, not close the facility. But Kirk, who serves as chairman of the Southern Nevada Health District board of directors, wasn't disappointed by the outcome.

"In my opinion, they ought to never be able to open again," he said. "It's unconscionable what they've done, quite frankly. I think everyone is outraged."

Within hours of Henderson's action, North Las Vegas officials ordered a similar office at 1815 E. Lake Mead Blvd., Suite 207, to close its doors.

The cease and desist order, signed by city Business License Manager Lana Hammond, said in part, "Your demonstrated willful failure to observe long accepted and mandated medical sanitary protocols jeopardizes the health and safety of all citizens of the City of North Las Vegas."

Operation of the Gastroenterology Center of Nevada "constitutes a public nuisance," the order said.

The city tried to hand deliver the order, but the center already was closed Tuesday afternoon.

Calls to the center were met with a recording that said the office was closed, then listed its regular business hours as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The order was slipped under the center's door, said Brenda S. Fischer, a city spokeswoman.

Fischer said North Las Vegas has no evidence that patients were being exposed to deadly diseases at the Lake Mead Boulevard center. But the city issued the order as a precaution "to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of North Las Vegas," she said.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

The center can appeal the order at the March 19 North Las Vegas City Council meeting if it notifies the city of the intent to do so by noon on March 12.

The license suspension in Henderson will come up for review by the City Council on March 18. Owners of the office could face fines and misdemeanor charges if they try to reopen the facility before then.

According to city records, the medical office has been licensed by Henderson at that location since 2003.

The city has posted details about the license suspension on its Web site, with a link to information from the Southern Nevada Health District about what the public should do after the closures.

A handful of people, some of them patients, stopped by the medical office Tuesday afternoon after hearing about the license suspension on the news.

One man who did not give his name said his wife had an appointment the next day and was waiting for the results of a procedure conducted last week at one of the medical group's facilities.

As he drove away, the man said, "I'm not happy about this, as you can imagine."

Another man, who also declined to give his name, said he drove to the office in Henderson because he hoped someone would be there to tell him what to do. What he found instead was a locked door with a notice from the city taped to it.

He said the office recently referred him to its Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, 4275 Burnham Ave.

The precautionary test was not his first choice, but he had it done just to make sure his colon cancer had not returned.

"It's the scandal of all scandals," the man said. "Now I've got to go get a test for this hepatitis because of something I didn't want in the first place."

Review-Journal write Jennifer Robison contributed to this report. Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0350. Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0285.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: ANGERY isn't the word! wrote on June 30, 2008 04:27 PM: My mother, who is in her 80's trusted those doctors to perform proceedues to help save her life not endanger it. The doctor's have all their information on a web site called Gastroenterolgy Center of Nevada. The years this doctor spent to get his education was all for nothing. Board Certified, Gastroenterology and Board certfied in Internal Medicine...somehow does't make be feel better. Got his M.D in New York, big deal! Fellowship at the Presbyterian University of Pa....how nice...Well I am sure you and GOD will be having a talk about this later! In HIS name, how could you do this to all these people? Putting them at risk for what? gum? It could not saved you all that much money..trust me..THIS WILL COST YOU ALOT MORE! I bet the doctor that worked on my mother has a mother. Wonder how he would feel if it was happening to her instead of mine. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I don't know how they sleep at night, it looks like some of those doctors sleep very well and in very nice houses. I HOPE THEY LOOSE THEM! and see what it is like to be poor and old and alone and then let them go to a doctor in their 80's. With no family by their side. I am out of state, I don't think I would want to live in the rich city of L.V. Nev. Look what it costs me. Maybe my mother's life. IT DOES MATTER....MAYBE YOU NEED TO WALK IN SOMEONE ELSE'S SHOES! No doctor any where should ever endanger a soul and claim to be saving lives. AngryPostman wrote on March 11, 2008 01:35 PM: They still charged Medicaid/Medicare/Insurance companies for one vial/one syringe per patient. This is interstate fraud. Where are the Feds? doesnt matter wrote on March 07, 2008 12:50 PM: six out of 40,000, come on does that seem like a lot? Hardly, also how can you close a gastroenterology center where proceedures are not even performed? Has anyone taken into consideration all of the many patients under the gastro centers care that are in the middle of treatment, such as those waiting to be referred to ucla for liver transplants, or ultra sounds for their livers, or who are currently in the middle of peg inferon treatments, these are the patients that are seriously sick now, and that may now die because those centers were closed. Seems like the health department and city officials have jumped the gun. Michelle wrote on March 07, 2008 08:40 AM: Dr Desai has left the country. Apparently someone met Dr Desai at the airport with S10,000 cash. This is coming from a personal friend who was exposed to the HIV and Hepatitis virus at the clinic. Another shocker, they are planning to reopen the clinic's and thus far, no charges have been filed against any employee. I think they should all be charged for attempted murder and THEN injected with contaminated syringes containing both viruses. Lets play Russian Roulette with Their lives! To the women who is pregnant, you are not off the hook. It will take at least 2 years and testing every few months to determine if you have the HIV or Hepatitis B or C virus. Some are saying more like five years. pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaase wrote on March 06, 2008 05:04 PM: Wettap: online today i read where the nurse anesthesiologists licenses were suspended, 5 of them, does that answer your question? AND even tho they WERE apparently licensed, they chose the wrong way. Sounds more like GREED to me than a peed off anesthesiologist. And it was the nurse anesthesiologists that were on duty during the procedure. So it is stupit on your part to suggest a conspiracy against nurse anethesiologist, it was the doctors/owners GREED that led to this blatant disregard for people. Wettap wrote on March 06, 2008 03:42 PM: WettapCNRA said: Did Dr Desia have non-certified anesthesia nurses at his center? Don't anesthesia nurses have to be certified in Nevada? Aren't they trained not to reuse syringes and anesthesia bottles? Sounds like somebody hit a nerve. Sounds like an anesthesiologist (angry at the prospect that CRNA's are carving into his lucrative practice) can't spell and doesn't know the law. Or some a$$munch doesn't know the least bit about anything. Nurse anesthetists can't call themselves (nor employ themselves) as NURSE ANESTHETISTS unless they are both licensed by the state in which they work AND certified by the national regulatory body. How stoopit R U? Sharlene wrote on March 06, 2008 03:24 PM: After gambling with our lives, I would like to know if anyone working at these centers would have let a family member of theirs have a procedure done before making sure everything was new and sterile. bill wrote on March 06, 2008 01:33 PM: are there any vetern adm clinics involved DFN wrote on March 06, 2008 03:09 AM: Danielle Trevino: Stress can cause birth defects (like missing or deformed organs), for real (I know first hand). It's only 9 months out of your life to stay calm. Now is the time to get a clinical psychologist to talk to and be sure to take your vitamins (but not too many and check with doctor first). If your insurance does not cover it all, you can ask attorney to make the clinic pay. It's only 9 months out of your life, but next 90 years of your baby's life. Incredulous wrote on March 05, 2008 11:43 PM: To BarneyFife and the fan of the 3 named doctors, please keep writing your sarcastic comments. As we all know from the Daily Show, Colbert Report, etc. sarcasm is the best way to illustrate the emotion associated with disgust at how our state operates. But, you've missed a key point. It's so comforting to know that Dr. D D as majority owner of this clinic, which locked out Henderson's inspector, claims he is: A professor at UNLV Medical School, and head of the school's Gastroenterology teaching department The head of the Gastroenterology Department at UMC The head of the Gastroenterology Department at Valley Hospital The former head of the Gastroenterology Department at Sunrise Hospital, and still holding privileges to practice medicine at the hospital This information is from Dipak Desai's resume on the website of his medical practice. Why are the TV stations and newspapers not emphasizing this guy's "credentials"? He's not just some comedic figure, in a dirty little back street medical office, treating poor people. This guy holds positions which other doctors might say show that DD is "A leader of the local medical community". Except that his resume also says he is a FORMER member of the county medical society and FORMER member of the AMA. What's up with that? Read All Comments