LAS VEGAS (AP) - The three medical clinics at the center of last year's hepatitis outbreak have filed for bankruptcy, in a move that threatens to delay the first civil trial involving a patient infected with hepatitis C, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 19.
The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, and Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center all filed on Friday for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which calls for liquidation of any corporate assets.
The Southern Nevada Health District has linked nine cases of hepatitis C to unsafe injection practices at the endoscopy centers. Another 105 cases are possibly related.
All three centers are named in lawsuits from patients who say they contracted hepatitis C during treatments at the clinics. The bankruptcy automatically postpones those lawsuits, and a bankruptcy judge must lift the postponement before the civil suits can proceed.
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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com