The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

A Las Vegas plaintiff was awarded $500 million for punitive damages received after he contracted hepatitis C from an endoscopy center that was reusing needles and medicine vials. This amount is believed to be the largest amount a Nevada jury has awarded to a victim in the history of Nevada.

This medical malpractice lawsuit is the first in a line of 250 lawsuits where residents contracted hepatitis C from two endoscopy centers in Las Vegas. Law officials shut down the two centers in 2008 because of their unsafe medical practices. Two pharmaceutical companies have been targeted in the case because they manufactured and distributed a generic anesthesia medication that the two clinics used. The two pharmaceutical companies are Baxter Healthcare Corp. and Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd.

In this first medical malpractice lawsuit against the two companies, the jury found that both Baxter Healthcare Corp. and Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd. were responsible for the plaintiff’s infection because they manufactured single dose needles and vials that were reused on multiple patients. The jury declared that the two companies endangered patients.

If you or someone you love has been injured due to the negligence of a medical professional in Las Vegas, please contact the Cochran Firm today to discuss your medical malpractice case with our Las Vegas medical malpractice attorneys.

Labels: Las Vegas