There is disturbing new information about a closed clinic that reused syringes and vials of medicine, all while health inspectors were watching.
The allegations are shocking and devastating, according to one of the managers. The inspectors' 23 page report shows problems with everything from fire codes to the reuse of vials and syringes, and they did it all while inspectors were in the office.
Read the entire report
Inspector Sonya Hill and her team went into the Gastrointestinal Diagnostic Clinic on Maryland Parkway near Desert Inn a few weeks ago, and never expected what they saw with their own eyes.
Early on, their report shows problems with paperwork -- often it wasn't finished or even done at all.
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A few pages later, the report tells how nurses walked away from recovering patients and that biopsy equipment was reused over and over again.
But toward the end of the report, the real bombshell; inspectors watched as an anesthesiologist drew medication from the same vial time after time, never throwing them away. He also reused needles, never opening new ones.
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Then, right in front of inspectors, he used the same syringe on two different patients.
When asked about it, the anesthesiologist told them it was okay to reuse syringes and vials because there wasn't enough time for bacteria to grow as he moved from patient to patient.
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Health District supervisor Brain Labus said that didn't matter. HIV and hepatitis could still get through.
"We have the issue where one patient's blood could make it to another patient and expose them to diseases," he said.
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Labus says these are basic health safety warnings, but only isolated problems.
"We're really talking about a few individuals who are doing things incorrectly. But it's important that nobody does them and that we find those individuals and make sure that practice is stopped," he said.
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For now, procedures at the clinic have been stopped, the anesthesiologist has been fired and Labus will try to connect the dots back inside, waiting to pass judgment until the truth comes to light.
While the anesthesiologist has been fired, the Osteopathic Board must receive a formal complaint before they can investigate.
Just like other medical boards, they will hold hearings. But with the facts from the inspection spelled out in black and white, it may only be a matter of time before further action is taken.
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A few pages later, the report tells how nurses walked away from recovering patients and that biopsy equipment was reused over and over again.
Inspectors watched as an anesthesiologist drew medication from the same vial time after time, never throwing them away.
