Las Vegas Sun

June 4, 2012

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Second man charged in hepatitis C outbreak arrested

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 5:57 p.m.

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Keith Mathahs

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One of the two employees charged with Dr. Dipak Desai in connection with crimes related to a 2008 hepatitis C outbreak was arrested Tuesday.

Keith Harry Mathahs, 74, is being held on 28 charges related to the outbreak.

A Clark County grand jury indicted Desai, Mathahs and Ronald Ernest Lakeman on Friday, and Judge Elissa Cadish set bail at $1 million for Desai and $500,000 each for Mathahs and Lakeman.

Desai was arrested and placed on house arrest Friday before posting bail Monday. Mathahs has not posted bail, and Lakeman has yet to be arrested.

The criminal indictment against the three includes charges of racketeering, performance of an act in reckless disregard of persons or property, criminal neglect of patients, insurance fraud, theft and obtaining money under false pretenses. All are felonies.

The Southern Nevada Health District has linked nine hepatitis C cases to Desai’s Las Vegas Valley endoscopy clinics but said more than 100 other patients could have been infected.

The outbreak prompted health officials to recommend testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV to about 50,000 patients.

Desai also faces a host of medical malpractice suits from patients who allege they contracted hepatitis C at his Las Vegas clinics.

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