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The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center—the two clinics involved in the recent Las Vegas hepatitis scare—are run by the Gastroenterology Center of Nevada.
Dr. Dipak Desai, the main owner of the Gastroenterology Center, and other doctors who worked at the two clinics are currently being investigated by the by authorities for possible criminal behavior, insurance fraud and medical malpractice.
Authorities say that in an effort to increase profits, the two clinics scheduled colonoscopies and other procedures as little as 15 minutes apart. In some cases, doctors performed colonoscopy procedures in as little as two minutes. Medical records show that on some occasions, doctors were performing two colonoscopies at the same time.
Authorities say that in an effort to increase profits, the two clinics scheduled colonoscopies and other procedures as little as 15 minutes apart.
Other doctors say that Dr. Desai often bragged about his “two-minute colonoscopy skills.” They say that rushing a colonoscopy exam that should take 15 to 30 minutes can cause doctors to miss a serious diagnosis, putting patients at risk.
In order to further increase profit, Dr. Desai and other doctors told staff members to reuse syringes, single-use medicine vials and bite blocks which had been placed in patients’ mouths. As a result, as many as 50,000 patients may have been exposed to hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV or other diseases. At least 850 patients have already tested positive for hepatitis C, their attorneys say.
Staff members have told investigators that the clinic sometimes inaccurately reported anesthesia times in order to increase billing totals. If these reports are confirmed, doctors could be charged with insurance fraud by the Nevada attorney general’s office and the FBI.
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