After six patients of the clinic were diagnosed with hepatitis C last year, an investigation found that the clinic was not using clean syringes for each injection.
Clean needles, yes. But clean syringes? No, apparently.The revelation has caused a stir in the medical community, already fully versed on the possibility for disaster by allowing for the potential of mixing fluids, in any fashion. And the non-medical community—the general public—is up in arms. For the 40,000 patients of the Las Vegas clinic who are currently being informed that they may have been contaminated, the news may sound like a death sentence. But for the remainder of Americans who have ever had a needle for anything, be it a blood test or a booster shot, the Nevada revelation could be a recipe for mass fear.
Brian Labus, senior epidemiologist for the Southern Nevada Health District, was quoted in the New York Times as saying "it didn't just happen one time. This is the way they did things at the clinic. It's the way they have always done things."
The clinic in question is the Endoscopy Center of Nevada. It has since ended the practice. However, not before the possibility that 40,000 patients might have become contaminated as the result of their error.
Patients of the clinic, who were injected with anesthesia from March 2004 until this past January 11th, are being notified. They will not be happy, and no surprise there.
Charles Anthony Rader is one such former patient of the clinic, who is launching a lawsuit against the Nevada-based surgical center.
"I feel like a ticking time bomb, Rader is quoted as saying in his deposition. He adds that he plans to get tested right away, but in the meantime "my wife and I face a future of uncertainty and fear."
Rader is the lead plaintiff in what is expected to be a class-action lawsuit against the Endoscopy Center. The suit, filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada, alleges gross negligence and seeks punitive damages in excess of $10,000 a patient.
The suit names as defendants the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada; the center's chief administrator, Dipak Desai; a center doctor, Eladio Carrera; as well as any employees who "directly provided and/or supervised" unsafe medical procedures.
It is alleged that the Endoscopy Center had been re-using syringes and vials of anesthesia, presenting the possibility that patients had been exposed to the blood of others.
It was reported over the weekend that five of the individuals infected received treatment at the center on the same day in September. A sixth is believed to have been infected in July, according to health officials.
The Endoscopy Center issued a statement Wednesday that said it has cleaned up its act, and was co-operating fully with health department officials.
Rader filed his lawsuit the next day—a class-action suit that could see 39,999 more participants, in the days and weeks ahead.