Clinic sues doctor over alleged misconduct

By Steve Green (contact)

Monday, June 1, 2009 | 12:11 p.m.

A clinic that was shut down during the 2008 endoscopy scare in Las Vegas is now suing an anesthesiologist, claiming his alleged misconduct is responsible for the closure of the business.

The Gastrointestinal Diagnostic Clinic last week sued Dr. Scott Young in Clark County District Court. The business was owned by Drs. Luis Tupac, Uday Saraiya and Enrique Lacayo.

Young's attorney in a state disciplinary proceeding against him could not immediately be reached for comment on the allegations Monday.

The clinic was among about 50 Nevada ambulatory surgery centers that were inspected in early 2008 in a hurried response to a hepatitis outbreak that was linked to unsafe practices at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.

The Gastrointestinal Diagnostic Clinic was found to have major infection control deficiencies, the state Health and Human Services Department reported in March 2008.

The gastrointestinal clinic, at 3196 South Maryland Parkway, was described in the lawsuit as being profitable and having an excellent reputation in the medical community prior to state inspectors showing up on Feb, 14, 2008, and finding several problems.

As state inspectors watched, Young reused syringes on a single patient and used single-dose vials of the drug Propofol on more than one patient, the lawsuit charged.

The suit said Young, at the time of the inspection, was an employee of PBS Anesthesia LLC.

His actions, the suit claims, fell below the accepted standard of medical care in the Las Vegas area and caused Clark County to suspend the clinic's business license on March 7, 2008, forcing it to close. On April 15, 2009, the clinic surrendered its county business license because of Young's actions, putting it out of business, the suit charged.

Young, the suit alleges, breached his agreement with the clinic to comply with state and federal regulations. The suit seeks unspecified damages and compensation for the clinic's lost income.

State regulators also had moved to discipline the clinic after the inspection. Young, in a settlement with the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine, admitted no wrongdoing in the case.