Conflicts of interest on agenda
Members of the state's Board of Medical Examiners soon might have to divulge any conflicts of interests they might have while serving their terms.
The board's executive director plans to introduce this idea during the board's meeting Friday and Saturday in Reno.
The idea of starting a conflict of interest policy is in large part because of questions raised by state lawmakers and Gov. Jim Gibbons in recent months over the medical board's reaction to the hepatitis C outbreak, said Tony Clark, executive director.
"This was a subject addressed to us during (legislative committee) meetings. The nursing board has one. Our board does not,'' Clark said about conflict of interest policies. "I plan to ask the board if it wants to adopt such a policy.''
Clark said he has researched such policies in several surrounding states as well as the state's Board of Nursing's policy. He reviewed recommendations made by the Federation of State Medical Boards on conflict of interest policies.
Clark plans to submit a couple of models to the medical board for review, but he has not drafted a policy for Nevada.
"I hope to get that direction from the board first,'' he said.
Three board members, Drs. Javaid Anwar, Sohail Anjum and Daniel McBride, recused themselves from matters relating to the hepatitis C outbreak because of professional and personal relationships with Dr. Dipak Desai, majority owner of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.
Health authorities have linked seven acute hepatitis C cases to the center's facility at 700 Shadow Lane. Health officials believe there's a possibility that 77 other people might have also contracted the disease there because of unsafe injection practices.
State lawmakers have accused the medical board of protecting physicians instead of the public. Some of that criticism focused on the medical board's Web site and what critics called a lack of access to physician records.
Clark said he and his staff are working with the Department of Information and Technology on a redesign of the medical board's Web site that is more user-friendly. The new Web site would include a physician's education, license number and a link to any malpractice case brought against a physician by the medical board that is sustained. Cases that are dismissed would not be on the Web site.
In 2005, the medical board removed malpractice settlement and judgment information from doctors' online records. In March, Gibbons demanded that information be put back on the Web site.
Other matters scheduled to be heard during the meeting, which will be videoconferenced to 6010 S. Rainbow Boulevard, include:
• Adoption of the Nevada State Health Division's policy on single-use and multi-use medication vials
• Adoption of a policy on in-office surgical procedures
• Legislative initiatives for 2009.
The board is scheduled to elect new officers, Clark said.
None of the items on the medical board's agenda involves Desai or the Shadow Lane facility.
An eighth acute hepatitis C case has been linked to an affiliated facility, the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center at 4275 Burnham Ave.
The medical board, along with federal and state law enforcement, is investigating whether physicians are responsible for the transmission.
