The physician at the center of the Las Vegas endoscopy center hepatitis outbreak has been ruled unfit to stand trial and ordered to enter a state mental hospital. Dipak Desai's trial on 28 felony charges related to the hepatitis outbreak discovered in 2008 has been postponed until it's determined whether his competency can be restored.

The former gastroenterologist and owner of 2 Las Vegas-area endoscopy centers had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers argued that several strokes had rendered him incapable of assisting them on the case. Prosecutors and victims of the hepatitis outbreak that stemmed from unsafe injection practices at the endoscopy centers alleged that he was faking his impaired mental state in order to avoid a potential life sentence.

Yesterday, 2 court-appointed medical experts declared that Dr. Desai, 60, was not competent to stand trial. He's been ordered to surrender himself March 17 in Clark County District Court. He'll then be admitted to the state-run Lake's Crossing Center for the Mentally Disabled in Sparks, Nev., to undergo treatment to recover his competency.

State law requires the charges against Dr. Desai to be dismissed if doctors later determine that his competency can't be restored, a process that could take more than a year, AP reports.

Two CRNAs who worked at the endoscopy centers have also been indicted on the case and are pleading not guilty. Dr. Desai is also facing a number of civil suits from the victims of the outbreak.

Irene Tsikitas