Two legislators said they are disappointed that Gov. Jim Gibbons is denying their request to appoint a special independent investigator who would look into the endoscopy center crisis that exposed thousands of Nevadans to unsafe medical practices.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie and Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, who are members of the Legislative Committee on Health Care, asked the governor on April 25 for an independent investigation into doctors and medical practices involved in the health care crisis.

Gibbons had not responded to the legislators request until Friday, when Horsford and Leslie sent a follow-up letter to renew their request (letter attached).

The legislators are concerned about a potential conflict of interest at the Board of Medical Examiners - the Executive Director of the Board also serves as the Board's general counsel - and about reports that the Board has not fully and immediately complied with requests for information made by law enforcement.

In Gibbons' response, he claimed that because he has appointed three temporary members of the Board without conflicts in the case, the Board would pursue any necessary investigations into these doctors.

Horsford and Leslie said that's not enough to restore the public's confidence in the health care system.  Also, Gibbons made the appointments on April 2, yet the Board has made little progress in proving to the public that they are aggressively following up on this case.

"Twelve weeks after news of this health crisis broke, the doctors who ran the endoscopy center have not been fully investigated, and some of them retain their medical licenses," Horsford said.

"We need to reassure Nevadans that the state is fully investigating this crisis and preventing it from happening again. An independent special counsel appointed by the governor would help ease some of that concern," Horsford said.

Leslie said she and Horsford have written a letter to Board of Medical Examiners President Javaid Anwar (letter attached) asking him to instruct his staff to aggressively pursue state law in fully investigating this matter.

"We are frustrated with reports that law enforcement is not receiving timely responses from the Board of Medical Examiners when they request information on the doctors involved in this case," Leslie said.

"Again, this shows the need for an independent counsel to investigate this matter and hold those who participated in unsafe medical practices accountable," Leslie said. "Since the governor has refused to appoint one, we are asking the Board of Medical Examiner's president to ensure his staff complies with state law in the face of this tragic health crisis."