Hepatitis C trial begins

The first civil trial stemming from the Las Vegas hepatitis C outbreak began Monday with the initial round of jury selection.

The jury pool started at 500 but was cut down to about 230 after lawyers on both sides reviewed juror questionnaires.

Many of those dismissals were based on the economic hardship of serving on a jury for a month. Other dismissed people were among the 50,000 patients who were notified of possible exposure to blood-borne diseases at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and its sister clinic, Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center.

Henry Chanin, 61, was infected with hepatitis C during a June 2006 colonoscopy at the Desert Shadow clinic, a public health investigation found.

He and his wife, Lorraine, are suing Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corp., the maker and distributor of propofol, the anesthetic linked to Southern Nevada's hepatitis C outbreak.

Lawyer Robert Eglet, who represents Henry Chanin, spent Monday asking prospective jurors a variety of questions, including what made them good at their jobs and which public figure they admired most.

He also asked about financial hardships for some people, which led to five dismissals of prospective jurors.

Two nurses were excused after saying they would be biased for the drug manufacturer, including one who said the drugmakers had "deeper pockets" than those who misused the propofol.