News-At-A-Glance: Health Plan to Pay $500 Million for Role in Hepatitis C Outbreak

Health Plan of Nevada and Sierra Health Services, both part of the UnitedHealth group, will pay $500 million in punitive damages for their role in a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak. Depak Desai, M.D., a doctor with the health maintenance organization, infected two patients with hepatitis C by not sterilizing equipment and reusing anesthetic vials. The award is the largest verdict this year so far and comes on the heels of an award of $24 million in compensatory damages paid to the two patients, who were contaminated during a colonoscopy procedure performed by Desai. The trial involving the two patients is the first of what could be many related to a 2007 hepatitis outbreak that required Nevada officials to notify 50,000 patients that they may have contracted the disease as a result of Desai’s mistakes. “The number announced today has no grounding whatsoever in reality,” said Tyler Mason, a UnitedHealth spokesman, in an e-mailed statement. “It represents fantasy damages, not punitive damages.” Attorneys for Brunson and Meyer originally asked for $2.5 billion, which they allege is 15 percent of UnitedHealth’s profits over a 10-year period. The insurer will appeal the jury’s findings in the case.