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Jun. 28, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Indian physicians convene

Security a concern because of ethnicity of clinic owner tied to hepatitis outbreak

By PAUL HARASIM
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Physicians and their family members practice yoga Friday morning at the Venetian before the day's events during the National Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin convention. Initially, concerns were raised about the conference in the wake of the public health crisis.
Photo by Jessica Ebelhar/Review-Journal.

Five months ago, Swadeep Nigam thought security could be a major issue at the National Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin convention currently under way at the Venetian.

Nigam, an immigrant from India who also is the Clark County Republican Party treasurer, said his concern was spurred by virulent anti-Indian comments that hit the Internet in the wake of the public health crisis arising out of clinics owned by Dr. Dipak Desai, perhaps the most prominent physician of Indian origin in Las Vegas.


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    • "My mind went right to what happened in Phoenix," Nigam said. "When emotions run high, you don't know what can happen. I thought it might have to be canceled."

    Four days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, an Indian immigrant was murdered in Phoenix by a man who thought he was of Middle Eastern descent.

    Nigam wasn't the only one thinking the event at the Venetian might have to be canceled because of safety concerns. The executive committee of the Indian physician group also considered the action, according to Las Vegas physician Dr. Pramod Kumar, chairman of the AAPI convention, which has more than 2,000 registrants and ends Sunday.

    "We discussed cancellation on several occasions," Kumar said. "But we finally decided we had been planning this for two years and we had to go ahead."

    AAPI represents the interests of more than 40,000 physicians in the United States, the largest ethnic medical organization in the country.

    In a poll Nigam conducted on a Web Site he created three years ago for the South Asian community -- vegasdesi.com -- 55 percent of the 170 people surveyed favored the convention being held in Las Vegas.

    This week, AAPI members have been going to meetings, enjoying nightlife and practicing yoga in the morning before events.

    "I think people understand this unfortunate occurrence isn't caused by an ethnic group," Kumar said. "Physicians of Indian origin are some of the top doctors in the world."

    Dr. Sanjay Gupta, an Indianapolis physician who heard about the Las Vegas heptatitis C outbreak on CNN, said he has heard that some physicians named "Desai" have seen patients leave their practice because they associate the name with the hepatitis outbreak.

    "Unfortunately, prejudice is human nature," he said. "But most patients make their decisions on how their physicians treat them."

    Although Kumar downplayed the safety concerns AAPI physicians had about the Las Vegas convention, he did say some physicians had been worried that if the media spotlight were still sharply focused on Desai, the reputations of all Indian doctors could be tainted, particularly if AAPI members were asked to comment on the case.

    Kumar said the executive committee decided that committee members would not comment on the case.

    "It's a legal matter now, and all the facts aren't in," he said.

    Desai's license has been suspended as various agencies conduct investigations into the hepatitis C outbreak at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.

    Health officials in late February urged patients of the clinic to be tested for hepatitis and HIV because of unsafe injection practices documented there.

    Dr. Harry Auluck, an Oakland, Calif., psychiatrist, said he finds it hard to believe that syringes and single-dose vials of medication were reused, as public health officials allege.

    "These things happen, but they shouldn't," he said.

    Though administrators with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have urged medical organizations to talk about infection control in the wake of the hepatitis outbreak at Desai's clinics, the AAPI convention, which has seminars on everything from constipation and heart trouble to hypertension and stem cell research, is not dealing with the issue.

    "Believe me, everyone knows what and what not to do," Kumar said. "What happened in Las Vegas really made the point."

    A retired physician from New Jersey who asked that his name not be used said he thinks infection control should have been part of the convention.

    "If it helps this kind of thing from happening again, it's worth it," he said. "Infection doesn't have anything to do with Indians or non Indians. It's just something we have to prevent."

    Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.

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    syk wrote on June 30, 2008 08:13 PM: So many comments, but none of them appear to be civilised.


    dr. 'jack" wrote on June 28, 2008 07:55 PM: I wonder if these Indian doctors are behind Dr. "Jack" Surpure's bid to run for assembly in Summerlin? I find it ammusing that "Jack" doesn't use his real 'Indian' name. Coincidence?


    It'sallintheperformance wrote on June 28, 2008 02:41 PM: To: getaclue and sickofyou, right back at you.

    I'm a woman and I've never felt comfortable by the medical care and consults received by Indian physicians,I have been referred to. Call it a cultural thing, or a contempt thing on their part.

    Sickofyou, your post pretty much sums up the attitude I'm taking about.

    My grandson's pulmonary specialist is the exception.

    However, even without the catastrophic endoscopy event I had made the decision not to seek medical care from Dr's with third world medical diplomas.


    tim wrote on June 28, 2008 12:36 PM: sickofyou and getaclue are one in the same.they come to our country because they can make better money.then they try to kill us with their shoddy practice of using needles over and over,then wonder why everyone is mad.the american doctor is better trained than any indian doctor,bar none.


    hilobomacaine wrote on June 28, 2008 11:38 AM: sickofyou and getaclue the only reason these indian doctors got a foothold in this country is the fact they would work for a lot less than someone who had to pay for an american medical school education if we are all racists than go back to your own country oh wait a minute!! treating racists pays better


    Thomas J. Zabona wrote on June 28, 2008 08:36 AM: Let's as br, or the thousands of other patients involved if they agree that the so called employee's of these quacks should not be locked UP with Desai and the other quack doctors ?


    Thomas J. Zabona wrote on June 28, 2008 08:32 AM: I feel that not only Desai, but the lowest people connected, ie the one's giving the injections should be locked up! Yes, for attempted murder. This is the first thing you learn in health care. INFECTION ! lock them up, all of them so there will never be any mistakes.


    sickofyou wrote on June 28, 2008 08:24 AM: You people are unbelievably RACIST. Look at you, its sick. These are good doctors, and the truth has been convoluted and obscured by the media and no body else. And you people just exacerbate it by perpetuating it with your own prejudice and obvious intellectual insecurities. Well, it's noones fault but your own that you are unintelligent and racist. And by the way, the next president will be a minority. Better get used to the idea, that the minorities in this country will soon be the majority. Oh and it's not because they are from the "third world" taking your jobs. It is because they are smarter, harder working, and more intellectually capable then any of you people. Maybe get past 8 grade and you won't make such infantile comments that eventually cast you people as unrefined low-lifes.


    getaclue wrote on June 28, 2008 08:17 AM: Being an immigrant professional in this community it is really disheartening to see the public is so unaware and blatantly racist. Leave this guy alone. Why in every article do you have to mention him when it is not even proven as a fact that he has committed any wrong-doing? These lies have been fabricated, fueled and perpetuated by media ignorance and misinformation.

    And if you really have a problem with it, why don't you lazy people get off your as---- and go to school and graduate for once, not have kids at 10, not become alcoholics, and eat yourselves to death and then make us immigrants take care of you after your medical demise? If you have such a problem with us immigrants, why don't you people figure it out? Oh wait, that requires effort and a brain, which clearly you all could not have half the intellectual capacity that we do. Keep this going and you will understand that the majority of the immigrant community and members of ethnic descent are incensed with what is going on, and I'm not talking about the doctors, I'm talking about this media filth and the public ignoramus.


    Stand Up America wrote on June 28, 2008 08:17 AM: If they are so good, why are they not practicing in their own country where there are many more people who need their services than here. I'll tell you why. One word. GREED!!. The system in the U.S. allows doctors to fleece the bank accounts and savings of American people. It is a damn disgrace. The drug companies and the FDA make it possible.


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