Friday, Feb. 29, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.
The news Wednesday that 40,000 people should undergo testing for life-threatening blood diseases because they were treated at a private Las Vegas clinic where safety procedures governing the use of syringes and vials were commonly violated was beyond shocking.
As Southern Nevada Health District officials related the news at an afternoon news conference, it became obvious what they were describing: a terrifying development for the individuals and families affected, and an outrage for the whole community.
Health District officials said the unsafe procedures occurring exclusively during the administration of anesthesia medication took place at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, at 700 Shadow Lane.
They recommended that all those who had procedures requiring injected anesthesia at the clinic between March 2004 and Jan. 11 of this year have their blood tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. All three of those illnesses have a range of severity but can eventually result in death, district officials said.
The risk to anesthesia patients occurred because the clinic’s staff commonly used the same syringe for both injecting a patient and then drawing up new medication from another vial for that same patient. This process posed a serious risk for contaminating the remaining medicine in the vial, yet it was common at the clinic for that leftover medicine to be used for a second patient, district officials reported.
Health District and state health officials zeroed in on the clinic last month after identifying a hepatitis C cluster six patients over the past few months, when two cases a year are normal. A common factor among the patients was their anesthesia procedures at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.
The unsafe practices at the clinic involving syringes and vials have been corrected, Health District officials said, which is why the clinic is being allowed to remain open.
Correcting what should never have happened, however, is not enough. The Nevada Board of Medical Examiners should thoroughly investigate why standard procedures that are understood even by laymen were not followed by doctors and other trained staff.
In our view, the Clark County district attorney’s office should open an investigation as well, to determine whether any criminal charges should be filed.
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