Las Vegas doctor found guilty of reusing medical equipment

A federal jury Thursday convicted a longtime Las Vegas urologist in a scheme to reuse needle guides meant for single use during prostate procedures.

Following two days of deliberations, the jury found Dr. Michael S. Kaplan guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit adulteration and acquitted him on one count of making a false statement to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Senior U.S. District Judge Philip Pro set a Jan. 30 sentencing date for Kaplan, 59, who is free on his own recognizance. He had been on trial since Sept. 15.

His lead defense lawyer, Dominic Gentile, told the jury before it left to deliberate on Wednesday that the physician’s conduct did not rise to the level of a crime and no one’s health was threatened. Gentile also argued that Kaplan did not wilfully lie to an FDA agent.

After the verdict, Gentile ripped into the government for pursuing the case against Kaplan.

“This case should have never been brought in the first place,” Gentile said. “This is a case based on lies.”

Gentile said he would file a motion for a new trial on the conspiracy charge.

Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden hailed the verdict.

“This case underscores our commitment to holding accountable those medical professionals who would endanger patients for their own personal profit,” he said in a statement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Crane Pomerantz, the lead prosecutor in the case, argued during the trial that Kaplan engaged in the scheme out of greed and arrogance and lied to cover it up.

“Michael Kaplan lit a fuse and is darn lucky that bomb didn’t go off in someone’s face,” Pomerantz told the jury Wednesday.

Prosecutors contended that Kaplan, who has been practicing medicine in Nevada since 1991, ignored warning labels on needle guide packages prohibiting the reuse of the disposable guides. Patients were not told about the reuse.

The guides, plastic-covered sheaths through which needles are directed to obtain biopsy material, were alleged to have been reused and not cleaned properly between December 2010 and March 2011. Biopsies help determine if someone has prostate cancer.

Prosecutors described in graphic detail during the eight-day trial how blood, feces, bacteria and even viruses were pulled from the rectum of patients by needles through the guides during a 20-minute procedure.

Medical assistants testified that they saw traces of a “reddish” liquid in one plastic guide before it was reused and “brown stuff” on scratches of another one.

Kaplan’s medical license was suspended briefly in March 2011 after a joint investigation by the FDA and Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners.

The Southern Nevada Health District sent letters to 101 of his patients, advising them to get tested for HIV and hepatitis B and C. The district did not report a positive case among the patients.

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