http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3166633

Dangerous health-care practices more common in immigrant populations
Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer


Teresa Muñoz of San Bernardino died last year after reportedly receiving an
injection of an antibiotic from an unlicensed practitioner at a Rialto swap meet.

Teresa Muñoz of San Bernardino died last year following an injection of an antibiotic she'd purchased from an unlicensed practitioner at a Rialto swap meet.

Rialto police said Muñoz bought the antibiotic and a syringe in September 2004, and the merchant showed her how to inject herself at home.

But the 42-year-old Mexican immigrant, who was seeking relief from a cough perhaps the flu had a severe allergic reaction following the injection. Days later, she was dead.

Such dangerous health practices, experts say, happen more frequently in immigrant neighborhoods, where residents can be vulnerable because of language, cultural or economic barriers.

Certain ethnic communities are particularly susceptible to harm from unlicensed practitioners, said Candis Cohen, spokeswoman for the Medical Board of California.

"This may be due to a certain comfort level in dealing with persons of one's own culture," she said. "It may be also due to a lack of education as to the dangers inherent in seeking medical care from unlicensed individuals. (Or) there may be a concern about money."

For new immigrants, health is often not a priority, said Joe Vargas, program supervisor of the Safe Healthcare Project at the Orange County Health Care Agency.

They may not seek care until becoming seriously ill, and prevention is not given the same weight in some cultures, Vargas said.

Additionally, some immigrants are simply used to the way things are done in their native countries and seek the same kind of service here. In Mexico, for example, patients can obtain antibiotics from pharmacists without visiting a doctor first, Vargas said.

Vargas and others say educating immigrant communities is critical to saving lives. Faced with large foreign-born populations, many California counties have begun to take action.

Following the death of an infant who was treated in a backroom business, Orange County officials formed the Safe Healthcare Project in 1999. The project helps people find safe, low-cost health resources in the community so they don't have to use clandestine or illegal ones.

"We're making a change, in at least their knowledge, in at least their awareness," Vargas said.

In Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors has created a multi-agency task force to combat unlicensed dental and medical operations, the sale of illicit pharmaceuticals, unlicensed practitioners and illegal Medi-Cal billing practices.

As of December 2000, the task force had been responsible for more than 450 investigations, 300 arrests, confiscation of more than $4.5 million in pharmaceuticals and closure of 60 businesses, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

In September, the merchant who sold Muñoz the antibiotic, Rebeca Perez, was charged with two felony counts of practicing medicine without a license. She pleaded not guilty in October and is awaiting a preliminary hearing.

Rialto Police said their investigation into Muñoz's death led them to a man who reportedly owns a pharmacy in Mexico and delivers illegally imported medicines to residents and vendors throughout Southern California.

Perez, who still has a booth at the swap meet, said in an interview that she didn't inject Muñoz, and hadn't given injections for several months at the time of the woman's death.

An immigrant herself, Perez did say she was selling antibiotics from Mexico and was showing people how to inject themselves until she was notified by law enforcement officials last October that what she was doing was illegal.

"I don't feel responsible ... because I didn't inject her," Perez said. "She bought it. She can buy anything."

Muñoz's husband, Francisco, was left alone after her death to raise most of their seven children. He has a difficult time talking about the incident, and during a recent interview asked his 18-year-old daughter, Lupita, to leave the room.

"I don't know if we committed an error, or if (Perez) did, or the swap meet because they are not checking the vendors there," said Muñoz, whose youngest children are 8-year-old twins.

"My little daughters are alone without their mother. Imagine."

To find safe, low-cost health care in your area, call the Health Referral Line at (800) 564-8448 or (800) 801-7100 TDD for the hearing impaired. Help is available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.