The city of Las Vegas shut down an the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada Friday just days after it was found that 40,000 patients might have been exposed to Hepatitis C and Aids because of the center’s medical practices.

In a news conference Friday, Mayor Oscar Goodman said that the clinic’s business license is suspended until further notice. After the last 6 patients for the day completed their treatment, the doors were locked.

“The city now has the business license in hand,” Goodman said. “They don’t have a license to do business in the city of Las Vegas.”

On Wednesday, health officials said 40,000 people who were treated at the clinic from March 2004 to Jan. 11 of this year should be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

State and federal investigators told the city that members of the clinic’s nursing staff knew of the poor techniques, which included reusing syringes when drawing medicine from vials, and sharing vials among patients, resulting in cross contamination.

The nurses said they were told to cut those corners by their bosses, even though they knew they “risked contaminating patients with life communicable diseases.”

One investigator told Jim DiFiore, the business services manager, “It’s very hard to believe that they won’t do it again.”

The city offered a post-suspension hearing on Monday at City Hall.

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Features, Malpractice