Federal hepatitis C-linked trial for Desai delayed again
A federal judge Tuesday once more put off the health care fraud trial of Dr. Dipak Desai stemming from the hepatitis C outbreak to make room for final plea agreement negotiations.
In a two-page order, Senior U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks said Desai has agreed to the terms of the plea agreement, but defense lawyer Richard Wright needs more time to discuss the deal with his client.
Though a federal mental evaluation found Desai competent to stand trial, the process of reaching a formal plea agreement has been slowed by his “diminished capacity,” Hicks wrote.
The trial, which was to start Jan. 27, was continued until at least April.
Desai, 65, is serving prison time in Northern Nevada for his state conviction in the hepatitis outbreak.
A District Court jury convicted him in July 2013 of all 27 criminal counts related to the 2007 outbreak, including second-degree murder in the death of infected patient Rodolfo Meana, 77.
District Judge Valerie Adair later sentenced Desai to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 18 years.
Both Desai and his former clinic manager, Tonya Rushing, were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2011 on one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of health care fraud.
The case has been delayed more than a half-dozen times.
Rushing, who testified against Desai at the state trial, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in July and is still waiting to be sentenced.
Desai and Rushing were accused of carrying out a scheme from January 2005 to February 2008 to inflate the length of medical procedures and overbill health insurance companies.
The state charges, which included criminal neglect of patients and insurance fraud, involved the hepatitis C infections of Meana and six other patients at Desai’s now-closed endoscopy center.
Health officials genetically linked the blood-borne virus in those patients to the clinic.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.
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