LAS VEGAS -- A second trial in the hepatitis C outbreak is underway at the Regional Justice Center. A jury must decide whether drug companies are responsible for patients contracting the incurable liver disease at endoscopy clinics that used dangerous injection practices.
Two days of opening arguments wrapped up Friday afternoon, and next week dozens of witnesses will take the stand. Lawyers for three plaintiffs who are ill pointed fingers at the drug manufacturers and distributors.
But attorneys for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stood before the jury, placing blame of their own for the unprecedented outbreak.
"It was either dirty needles, dirty syringes, contaminated vials that then get used. That's the clinic staff, that's the clinic staff. Or it was failure to do the basic things -- clean and disinfect medical equipment, then use that medical equipment from one patient to another. That's the clinic staff," said attorney Mark Tully.
Tully says the doctors and medical staff at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and affiliated clinics are the culprits in spreading blood-born illnesses, including hepatitis C. The defense says the clinics, ran by Dr. Dipak Desai, misused vials of the anesthetic propofol.
In court, lawyers for the drug companies also listed a number of other questionable practices the clinics engaged in, claiming the clinics' equipment was dirty, and that could have the source of the disease.
But the plaintiffs believe Teva, and the drug distributors Baxter and McKesson, sold large vials of propofol leading to contamination because the vials were reused. Furthermore, those suing say the companies knew of the dangers.
"This was a defective product. It's an unreasonably dangerous product to have in an endoscopy center, these large and oversized vials, vent spikes that encouraged the anesthesia providers to both double-dip and go in with a syringe twice," said attorney Robert Eglet.
The drug companies maintain the anesthetic was shipped safely to the clinics, without any defects, and they say the labeling on the propofol containers clearly says it's for single use. The defense also says if instructions weren't followed and doctors and nurses double dipped in the vials for more than one patient, it's the fault of the clinics, not the pharmaceutical companies.
But in opening statements, the plaintiffs say records show the drug companies knew doctors could reuse vials of propofol more than 15 years ago.
This is the second trial of its kind after this public health crisis shook southern Nevada in 2008. Last year, Henry Chanin, who contracted hepatitis C after a colonoscopy in 2006, took the drug companies to court and the jury returned a verdict of more than $500 million against the drug makers. We'll see what this jury finds in about eight weeks.
