Jury completes first day of deliberations in hepatitis C civil trial

Jurors completed their first full day of deliberations Monday in the first civil trial stemming from Southern Nevada's hepatitis C outbreak.

The jury began deliberations late Friday after hearing two weeks of testimony in the case.

Henry Chanin, 62, and his wife are suing Teva Parenteral Medicine and Baxter Healthcare Services, which made and sold the sedative propofol, on several product liability claims. Chanin was infected with hepatitis C during a 2006 colonoscopy at the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, one of two clinics linked to the outbreak.

The lawsuit claims the drug companies made and sold vials of propofol that were larger than necessary for typical endoscopic procedures, which enticed nurse anesthetists to reuse the vials between patients and spread the blood-borne disease.

The drug companies countered that different vial sizes give medical professionals the choice to decide which size is appropriate for their procedures and patients.

Deliberations continue today .