LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has thrown out the second-degree murder conviction of a former Las Vegas physician who died in April in state prison while serving sentences stemming from a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak.
Justices on Thursday cited "intervening causes" between actions by Dipak Desai and the death of a patient found to have contracted the liver disease during a procedure at Desai's endoscopy clinic.
Desai was sentenced in July 2013 to 18 years to life in state prison on charges that also included neglect of patients, reckless disregard causing substantial bodily harm and insurance fraud.
The state high court upheld those convictions.
The hepatitis outbreak became public in early 2008 when health officials notified 63,000 former Desai clinic patients to get tested for potentially fatal blood-borne diseases.