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Dr. Henri Wetselaar, MD, 93, and David A. Litwin, 58, were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute and distribution of oxycodone and other controlled substances, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada…Wetselaar was a Nevada physician practicing as a specialist in pain management. Litwin was...his medical assistant...(they) conspired with each other and local drug dealers to distribute the prescription drugs in and around Las Vegas. Wetselaar prescribed large amounts of...oxycodone, hydrocodone, Xanax and Soma, to persons for no legitimate medical purpose...Wetselaar and Litwin were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances,...distribution of controlled substances,...money laundering and structuring of money transactions.

The state medical board has launched a new website designed to help Nevadans understand the impacts of using opioid-based medications...The knowyourpainmeds.com website created by the state Board of Medical Examiners will also serve as a portal for consumers to file a complaint if they feel their medical provider is not acting appropriately related to the prescribing of medications...We feel that the launch of this new informational tool clearly demonstrates the board’s commitment to creating awareness and our efforts to address this problem...Opioid abuse is expected to be a significant issue for the Nevada Legislature this session...

University Medical Center officials plan to open a new urgent care facility in Enterprise, which could become the hospital’s busiest clinic...Beginning in July, UMC will lease a 6,067-square-foot suite in the Blue Diamond Ranch Shopping Center, located at the intersection of Blue Diamond Road and Decatur Boulevard. The clinic will open the same month...“We found this specific community to be under resourced for health care and heard from the community that they would like a UMC Quick Care in their neighborhood,” UMC CEO Mason VanHouweling wrote…The new facility will offer walk-in treatment, X-ray imaging and a handful of lab tests including rapid strep tests, rapid pregnancy tests and urine dipstick analysis. Two doctors will work there when it opens...

University, health and city officials gathered… at Las Vegas City Hall offered an in-depth review of the UNLV School of Medicine’s progress in establishing the...medical school…city officials believe the school is integral to...develop a...medical district in the central valley...The district, established in 1997 to create an area of concentrated medical activity...covers 684 acres with a core 214-acre area between Charleston Boulevard and Alta Drive, from Rancho Drive to Martin Luther King Boulevard...They have invested more than $36 million in infrastructure in four years and expect to pump in another $97 million in 2018 and beyond...The investment…is expected to pay off...By 2030, the medical school is projected to have an economic impact of $1.2 billion...the growth...provides opportunities for collaboration with local physicians and allows the homegrown medical community to grow alongside the needs of the area...

A multi-agency effort to improve community health in Southern Nevada is making progress…Officials involved in the Community Health Improvement Plan detailed several areas of progress for the initiative…

• A program that will switch 911 emergency callers with low-priority health issues to a hotline manned by an on-call nurse is expected to start in July…
• The district’s mobile health clinics are on course to expand their presence in areas with a dearth of health care facilities and services starting in June.
• An effort to target obesity and tobacco usage by promoting active lifestyles and healthy eating has gained momentum...an app called Neon to Nature, which promotes using walking and biking trails, have exceeded goals, and officials have success in enrolling students in smoking prevention programs and getting schools to participate in fitness programs...

The first Southern Nevada case of Zika virus disease not related to travel was confirmed this week in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District...A woman was tested Dec. 28, and results released Wednesday confirm that she tested positive for Zika virus disease. The health district’s website indicates the virus was transmitted to the woman by sexual contact...No local mosquitoes have tested positive for the presence of Zika virus, and the woman did not have a travel history that would indicate she was infected in another region…

A fellowship program being developed at Touro University Nevada aims to put a dent in the doctor shortage locally while also providing more skillful care to Southern Nevada’s senior population...The school’s geriatrics fellowship program will fill a critical gap as the only such program in Southern Nevada when it launches in July, said Dr. John J. Dougherty, dean of Touro’s College of Osteopathic Medicine...The one-year-program, which is recruiting two fellows this year but will grow to four positions in 2018, was approved about two years ago through a national governing medical board... funding was a portion of the $10 million in graduate medical education funding set aside in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget for “attracting, educating and retaining” qualified new doctors in Nevada...Statistics suggest that people who complete their graduate medical education in Nevada are more likely to stay and practice here, which is one of the key reasons for the push to increase local residencies and fellowships...A fellowship program being developed at Touro University Nevada aims to put a dent in the doctor shortage locally while also providing more skillful care to Southern Nevada’s senior population...

Medicine on the Move...The unusual clinic on wheels is a partnership between Health Plan of Nevada and Southwest Medical Associates. It has been operating since April, as many as six days a week. Drivers Ernie Drown and Chris Philips take the 45-foot truck to locations across the state, but primarily in Southern Nevada...The clinic can handle immunizations, X-rays, ultrasounds, and physical and laboratory exams. It has been to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, FamilyConnect, St. Patrick’s Church food pantry, the Volunteers of America shelter for the homeless and more...The idea behind the mobile clinic was that we really need to reach our patients out in the community and make it easy for them to access health care,"’ said Toni Corbin, senior vice president of operations at Southwest Medical Associates. "We’re taking health care on the road to where it’s needed."

A nip here, a tuck there — Las Vegas Valley’s medical industry has been evolving for years...And as the region continues to advertise to tourists as a destination for medical services, one sector in particular has blossomed: plastic surgery…Las Vegas has become an international hot spot for plastic surgery, with people traveling to find the doctor who best suits them. That means local doctors are working to keep up with international trends and the latest innovations...For procedures that don’t require hospitalization, patients often book vacations and consider surgery just one of the many activities they’ll do while in town...Another potential benefit of a Las Vegas procedure for tourists is privacy. Clients who don’t want friends or family to know about their procedures or see them with bandages and bruises can enjoy the city, stay for follow-ups and take in the sights without running into someone they know...

...Dr. Henri Wetselaar...his medical assistant (David Litwin) and a pharmacist (Jason Smith)...are accused of funneling large quantities of pills onto the streets of Las Vegas through an illegal prescription drug ring...the trial...has provided a window into the scope of the federal government’s crackdown on prescription drug abuse in Southern Nevada...One of the government’s star witnesses is a drug dealer who testified this week about an arrangement she had with Wetselaar and Litwin, who saw clients out of her home twice a week. Carolyn Allen said she would refer clients to Wetselaar, instruct them to complain about back pain, and provide them with the cash to pay for the prescription. Clients would return to her with the prescriptions...she would take the prescriptions to Lam’s Pharmacy, where Smith was the manager. She said Lam’s Pharmacy maintained an entire book dedicated only to her clients. Allen said her clients were prescribed — among other drugs — oxycodone, hydrocodone, Soma and Xanax.