Nevada Medical Facility Hepatitis C Outbreak

Hepatitis C Linked to Endoscopy Center of Nevada

Hepatitis C NEWS UPDATE March 19, 2008.

State health officials in Nevada have found evidence of another hepatitis C case related to the first outbreak at the Shadow Lane facility that was closed down last week.

Many weeks after a procedure was performed at the Desert Shadow clinic, the patient's doctor made a diagnosis of the infection, the health district said. This was not reported to the district, as is required by state law, officials said.

"Had the doctor reported this to us, maybe we would have been able to find it back in 2006 and eliminated any potential for disease transmission," said Brian Labus, chief epidemiologist for the health district.

After health officials revealed that the six Endoscopy Center patients were infected after medication vials -- infected by reused syringes -- were used on multiple patients, notices were sent to 40,000 patients urging them to be tested for hepatitis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Over the next few days, disease investigators will review Desert Shadow's patient records to identify individuals who might have been exposed.

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The Southern Nevada Health District is advising patients who received injected anesthesia medication at the Endoscopy Center of Nevada, located at 700 Shadow Lane, of a risk for possible exposure to hepatitis C and other bloodborne pathogens.

The health district is recommending patients who had procedures requiring injected anesthesia at the clinic between March 2004 and January 11, 2008, contact their primary care physicians or health care providers to get tested for hepatitis C as well as hepatitis B and HIV.

The Endoscopy Center of Nevada injected anesthesia into an estimated 40,000 people between March of 2004 and January 11, 2008.  Now comes word that the state and federal government have identified six people who have been diagnosed with hepatitis C, potentially due to unsafe injection practices of this anesthesia. 

The investigation was handled by the Nevada State Bureau of Licensure and Certification (BLC) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and further investigation showed that five of the six confirmed hepatitis C cases stem from the same day of operation by the Endoscopy Center of Nevada.

The specific problem is that these unsafe injection practices exposed patients to the blood of others, and officials are strenuously encouraging anyone who visited the center between these dates to schedule an immediate test with their doctors to screen for hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV.