LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury has ordered the state's largest health management organization to pay $500 million in punitive damages to three plaintiffs in a civil negligence lawsuit stemming from a Las Vegas hepatitis outbreak.

Two companies — both subsidiaries of publicly traded UnitedHealth Group Inc. — signed a low-bid contract with the physician who ran the clinic where the outbreak started, despite warnings that he sped through procedures and pinched pennies at his clinics so much that patients were at risk of contracting blood-borne diseases, attorneys for those suing the companies argued.

They had sought almost $2.5 billion, telling the jury of five women and three men on Monday that a record amount would show health corporations they couldn't put profits ahead of patient safety. The jury instead assessed a $270 million punishment from Health Plan of Nevada and $230 million from parent company Sierra Health Services.