LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada’s three congressional representatives want to keep Nevada’s only kidney transplant program open, despite a report that found high death rates for transplant recipients.
Democrat Shelley Berkley, and Republicans Jon Porter and Dean Heller sent a letter to the chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calling for it not to revoke certification for the University Medical Center transplant program.
The lawmakers say the program’s important to the region, where about 200 people are currently awaiting kidney transplants.
Officials say decertification will be effective Dec. 3.
It results from surveys in March and August that found the death rate for kidney transplant recipients 50 percent higher than the federal standard.
Judge gives more time in abandoned baby case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge is giving prosecutors until Nov. 24 to decide whether to file charges against the parents of a 9-month-old boy accused of leaving the child alone in a stroller for more than an hour outside a Las Vegas casino.
A court official says 37-year-old David Luna-Cardenas and 35-year-old Maria Larios-Cortes remained free pending a status hearing Nov. 3 following their appearance Tuesday before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa.
They were held over the weekend on suspicion of child endangerment and child neglect.
Luna-Cardenas told KVBC-TV it was all a misunderstanding, and that both he and his wife assumed the other had the child.
Vegas airport sees 11th month with fewer travelers
LAS VEGAS (AP) — New figures show 13.2 percent fewer passengers used McCarran International Airport in September compared with a year ago, the 11th consecutive monthly decline.
Just under 3.4 million passengers used the Las Vegas airport during September 2008, down 500,000 from September 2007. The decrease was the largest at McCarran since the months following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
A month ago, McCarran reported a 9.9 percent decline in August passengers, compared with August 2007. It had an 8.6 percent decrease in July compared with July 2007.
About half of Las Vegas’ 40 million annual visitors arrive by air. The year-to-date passenger total is down 5.7 percent compared with the first nine months of 2007.
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