Hepatitis researcher testifies that two clusters came from Desai’s patients

A federal hepatitis C researcher testified Thursday that he is “absolutely certain” two clusters of the deadly virus detected in 2007 sprung from infected patients who had procedures at Dr. Dipak Desai’s clinic.

Yury Khudyakov, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, provided a crucial scientific explanation for prosecutors of how the two strains of the virus match those of the source patients.

Health officials concluded that unsafe injection practices at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada led to six patients contracting hepatitis C from a source patient on Sept. 21, 2007.

Another patient was infected the same way from a different source patient on July 25, 2007.

Khudyakov, who tracks outbreaks of hepatitis C around the country, testified that the strains on the two dates are not the same, but the strains of the infected patients and the source patients on each date are nearly identical.

Both source patients testified Wednesday in the trial of Desai and nurse anesthetist Ronald Lakeman stemming from the hepatitis outbreak.

Khudyakov’s testimony is important to the prosecution’s theory that Desai, 63, and Lakeman, 65, were responsible for the seven infections, which so far have led to the death of one of the victims, Rodolfo Meana.

Desai gave up his Nevada medical license after health officials disclosed the outbreak in 2008.

Desai and Lakeman face a total of 29 criminal charges, including second-degree murder, criminal neglect of patients, theft and insurance fraud.

The hepatitis outbreak was blamed on nurse anesthetists who were reusing vials of the anesthetic propofol between patients after the vials had become contaminated with hepatitis C by the source patients.

After Khudyakov’s testimony, prosecutors called veteran anesthesiologist Thomas Yee to the witness stand to discuss his knowledge of billing and injection practices.

Yee once negotiated with Desai to oversee nurse anesthetists at the endoscopy center.

The anesthesiologist testified that he would never allow the reuse of syringes and opened bottles of propofol on multiple patients.

“That would put a patient in danger,” he said.

Yee also testified that if a surgeon or supervising physician ordered him to do that, he would refuse and shut down the procedure.

Earlier Thursday, one of the seven victims, Stacy Hutchison, testified that she had gotten a $4.1 million civil settlement from a drug manufacturer and the endoscopy center as a result of her infection and still has an outstanding lawsuit against her health provider.

Hutchison, who had a colonoscopy on Sept. 21, 2007, at the endoscopy center, said most of the money is earmarked for future medical bills.

She testified that her hepatitis is in remission because of rough medical treatment that left her with agonizing side effects, including “excruciating pain,” on a daily basis for a year.

On Wednesday, a tearful Hutchison told the jury that she was “devastated” when she learned about her hepatitis infection.

Hutchison said Southern Nevada Health District officials broke the news to her while she was undergoing tests in the hospital for a series of medical issues that turned out to be linked to hepatitis C.

The wife of Michael Washington, another hepatitis outbreak victim, wept on the witness stand earlier in the week, telling the jury Desai “destroyed” her husband’s life.

Michael Washington, 72, testified in a weakened voice how he developed yellowing in his eyes, abdominal pain and dark urine a few weeks after Desai performed a July 25, 2007, colonoscopy on him at the endoscopy center.

Today , prosecutors hope to call nurse anesthetist Keith Mathahs to testify, as the expected two-month trial concludes its first week.

Mathahs, 76, pleaded guilty in the case late last year and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.