LAS VEGAS -- Large numbers of former patients are testing positive for hepatitis B, C and HIV according to one Valley physician. This comes as some attorneys express concern that a state law could cap the amount of money patients could be awarded.

"I imagine the people who have been tested and came back positive -- what they are going through right now," former patient Ross Rossman said. "These people need to be held accountable for what they did."

During an investigation last month, officials from the Southern Nevada Health District said the doctors and nurses at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada reused syringes and vials, exposing 40,000 patients to hepatitis C. Now many of those patients are joining class-action lawsuits against the company.

"You can't put a price tag on it," Rossman said. "Your health is at risk."

Lawyers fear there may be a limit on money awarded to victims in this case thanks to a state law passed a few years ago -- under the "Keep Our Doctors In Nevada" initiative -- that caps malpractice judgments at $350,000 per patient.

The center may also have been underinsured for the number of patients they were treating. According to the Review-Journal, Dr. Dipak Desai only had $3 million in malpractice insurance for the Endoscopy Center. Officials said that the lack of insurance could have been, in part because Desai was a board member of the insurance company at the time it was insured.

Since the judgment cap information just came to light, it is not known how the judicial system will process the growing class-action lawsuits against the center.

Many of the people who were patients at the Endoscopy Center during the exposure period -- which was from March 2004 to January 2008 -- are still seeking answers to ongoing health and compensation questions.

About 100 people turned out to Inside the Law, Inside the Mall with FOX5 legal and medical analysts Bob Massi and Dr. Mike Karagiozis Saturday to try and get some questions answered.

During the event, Valley residents were able to ask Massi and Karagiozis questions about testing and potential compensation.

Karagiozis was responsible for a testing drive for the Culinary Union shortly after the Southern Nevada Health District sent notices to the 40,000 former patients about the potential exposure to hepatitis. The union paid for Karagiozis to test their workers who were patients at the facility. Of the 400 people his office has tested during that session, Karagiozis said 71 have come back positive for either hepatitis B or C, or HIV.

"It means we have a much higher incident of hepatitis B, C running around our community than we ever thought we did," he said after the announcement.

Massi encouraged people to contact their lawmakers and ask them to become more active in this case.

"We haven't heard as much as people would like to hear from the government on this," he said. "The other thing, too, is how much testing do they need to have? Should it be every three months, six months, 1 year? And what about the apprehension? Those are very re-current issues."