A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday established that workers at a Las Vegas clinic were directly responsible for over 80 cases of hepatitis C, after improperly handing injection equipment and medicine vials. An investigation conducted by Nevada health officials unveiled that approximately 84 patients have been infected with hepatitis C due to the reuse of anesthesia syringes, which is unacceptable in a health clinic.

The Nevada Health Division fined the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada $500.000, after the clinic has been linked to multiple cases of hepatitis C from the beginning of this year. Furthermore, health officials suspended the medical licenses of doctors Dipak Desai and Eladio Carrera pending state Board Medical Examiners hearings.

Hepatitis C virus is spread through blood contact, and at this point, there is no vaccine against it available. The infectious disease can cause the inflammation of the liver, and has serious consequences if medical treatment is not sought immediately. Although sometimes asymptomatic, patients usually experience jaundice, nausea and fatigue.

CDC’s report unveiled a frightening fact: employees of the Las Vegas clinic reused syringes to give sedatives, and it looked like a common practice. Hepatitis C is most commonly transmitted by sharing needles and syringes; it is exactly the reason why they’re supposed to be sterile.

Following further investigations, health officials have asked thousands of former patients of the clinic to be tested. According to the report, the patients have been exposed to hepatitis B, C and even H.I.V., and more cases of infections are likely to appear over time.

The strange thing in all this is that reprehensible practices at the clinic have continued for years, without any inspections. It appears that the clinic has not received any inspection since 2001; this goes against state policies, which require an official examination every three years.