LOOKING IN ON: CARSON CITY

Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007 | 1:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY - The state's mental health programs in Las Vegas have escaped losing millions of dollars in federal money.

A federal inspection initially found problems in the record keeping of the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, which runs a hospital program and clinics in Clark County.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations conducted the inspection and the state programs were put on "provisional" approval. That allowed the state to continue to receive about $4 million a year for treatment of Medicare and Medicaid patients at the hospital and clinics, money that was in jeopardy unless corrections were made.

The joint commission conducted a surprise inspection and found the record keeping and other minor problems had been corrected, said Mike Willden, director of the state Health and Human Services Department.

That means the federal money will be available next year to pay for treatment of children and senior citizens in the mental health programs.

The state has 238 inpatient beds and operates four clinics in Clark County.

Searching for a fountain of youth drug seldom if ever pays off.

Ask Gregory Bryan, a Las Vegas physician, who injected an unlicensed anti-aging drug into himself, his assistant and five patients for about five months in 2004.

There is little or no evidence that they did not show signs of aging.

And now Bryan and his assistant, Michael Sullivan, have been called before the state Board of Medical Examiners for disciplinary action.

The FDA has authorized only a company called Allergan to manufacture the drug botulinum toxin Type A, known by the brand name Botox. Bryan, however, obtained the drug through a different company co-owned by his wife, a nurse.

The board's investigating committee said Bryan "failed to exercise reasonable care, skill and knowledge" in administering the unlicensed drug. It also noted that the drug had little or no effect on those injected.

The case of Bryan and Sullivan will come before the examiners board Nov. 30 in Las Vegas. Under a proposed settlement, both are to be placed on probation for a year.