biggest public-health notification operation in U.S. history

LAS VEGAS - Nearly 40,000 people learned this week that a trip to the doctor may have made them sick.

In a type of scandal more often associated with Third World countries, a Las Vegas clinic was found to be reusing syringes and vials of medication for nearly four years. The shoddy practices may have led to an outbreak of the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus and exposed patients to HIV, too.

The discovery led to the biggest public-health notification operation in U.S. history, brought demands for investigations and caused scores of lawyers to seek out patients at risk for infections.

Thousands of patients who received injected anesthesia at the endoscopy center from March 2004 to mid-January are being urged to be tested for the viruses. Six acute cases of hepatitis C have been confirmed. The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and five affiliated clinics have been closed.

"I find it baffling, frankly, that in this day and age anyone would think it was safe to reuse a syringe," said Michael Bell of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An investigation began in January when officials linked an uptick of hepatitis C cases to the facility.

The clinic's majority owner, Dipak Desai, a political contributor and member of the governor's commission on health care, has refused to comment on the allegations.

EDIT: Linky
Used syringes in Vegas put 40,000 at risk -- OrlandoSentinel.com


Wow.. I don't really know what to say about that just wow... thought I would share. Saw it on the news last night

i saw this on nancy grace. there really is no excuse for this. and at a public health department?
this is ridiculous. i wonder if they have any confirmed cases of HIV/hepatitis yet.

I'm sure this isn't the only place. Greed trumps public health.

People responsible for this should be sentenced to being poked with 40,000 used needles.