Jury weighs fate of doctor

For years, Dr. Harriston Bass Jr. made house calls to patients at their hotel rooms or in their homes. He would sometimes sell several hundred doses of painkillers such as Vicodin or Lortab from his mobile pharmacy -- a PT Cruiser with a portable refrigerator for storing prescription medications.

Bass described himself as a skilled doctor who helped patients get quality medical care and cheaper medications.

Authorities say Bass was more like a drug pusher and is responsible for one death.

Bass is now on trial for second-degree murder and illegally selling controlled substances. Prosecutors say Bass is responsible for the death of 38-year-old Gina Micali, who overdosed in October 2005 on pain relievers Bass illegally sold her.

Under state law, if someone dies from drugs they receive illegally from a dealer, the seller can be charged with murder.

Bass' fate is now in the hands of a Clark County jury, which is deliberating whether he killed Micali by recklessly selling her prescription drugs for a profit or whether he was merely trying to help a patient in her time of need.

The trial is taking place at a time of intense scrutiny into the medical industry locally. Last week, citing unsafe health practices at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, health officials sent letters to 40,000 residents alerting them to be tested for hepatitis and HIV. The Clark County district attorney's office, Las Vegas police and other agencies are now investigating the clinic.

Authorities first began investigating Bass, 54, in March 2006 after they found prescription drug bottles at the scene of a suicide. Investigators later discovered that Bass had prescribed drugs to the victim. Bass isn't facing charges in connection with that case.

Investigators later learned about Micali, who was found dead in her home from what officials described as an accidental overdose of the pain reliever hydrocodone in 2005. Micali was taking the drugs for a sports injury.

Investigators linked the drugs found in Micali's home to Bass, who sold drugs through his medical practice, Docs 24-7.

Bass' defense team called an expert witness to testify that -Micali died from heart failure rather than an overdose.

In December 2006 authorities booked Bass into the county jail on the murder charge. When serving a search warrant, investigators found more than 10,000 doses of prescription drugs and $150,000 in cash at Bass' home, which is located in a gated golf course community near Tropicana Avenue and Durango Drive.

He has been released on bail.

One of Bass' attorneys, defense attorney David Lee Phillips, said his client always followed the law. "He's not some street dealer," Phillips said.

During the trial, Bass testified that he believed he could legally sell prescription drugs for a profit.

He described himself as a "one-man team" who performed house calls for years. He first started seeing Micali several months before her death and supplied her with hundreds of painkillers.

During one visit with Micali, Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen said, Bass sold her 300 doses of a hydrocodone-based drug and another 90 doses of Alprazolam, a drug used to treat anxiety commonly known as Xanax. This was on top of other medications Bass prescribed to Micali.

Authorities said Bass never had a license to dispense and sell controlled substances like Vicodin. Bass did have a license to prescribe drugs.

But Bass maintained that he was merely doing his job.

"I wanted to do what I could to help that lady," he said.

Micali's family filed a civil lawsuit against Bass in 2006.

The Board of Medical Examiners previously found Bass guilty of medical malpractice in connection with the deaths of two patients in the 1990s. The board found that Bass didn't properly care for patients, both of whom died after surgery he performed.

He was given three years' probation and ordered to have another doctor assist him with surgeries. He was also ordered to take 120 hours of medical education.

Bass appealed the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court but lost.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.