NEWS March 17, 2008

In a new development in the story of a south Nevada Endoscopy Center has entered the picture.

Lawyers representing the victims are trying to unravel the liability insurance now, they’ve uncovered a mere $3 million in malpractice-insurance coverage at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, where as many as 40,000 locals were at risk of exposure to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

This amount comes to about $75 per affected patient — not even enough to cover the cost of hepatitis and HIV tests which can run $275.00 per test.

More controversy is seen, is that Dr. Dipak Desai, the majority owner of the endoscopy clinic, served on the board of directors of the doctor-owned insurance company that covered his center.

“It’s interesting that (Desai) is on both sides of this controversy,” said Richard Harris, managing partner of the Richard Harris Law Firm in Las Vegas. “He’s the target of the action, yet he’s a director of the insurance company that will determine who’s going to get paid.”

Eglet included the company, Nevada Mutual Insurance Co., in a class-action lawsuit he filed Monday. He’s alleging that Desai, as a board member, was regulating himself and other defendants in the Endoscopy Center case.

For more information on this story please visit: http://www.pacificlawcenter.com/html/hepatitis-c.html