O.C. to Form Illegal-Clinic Battle Plan

Orange County supervisors voted Tuesday to draw up a plan for warning residents away from back-room clinics where illegal pharmaceuticals are sold.

The effort comes in response to the deaths of two toddlers, including 18-month-old Selene Segura Rios. The girl died two weeks ago after she was injected with what her parents were told was penicillin in a Tustin toy store.

The Board of Supervisors authorized a coalition of public and private health-care advocates to come up with a five-year plan to combat unlicensed pharmacies.

“The problem is widespread throughout the county,” said Susan Banuelos Smith of the Orange County Safe Healthcare Coalition in remarks to the board. The group was formed nearly a year ago after a Santa Ana toddler died following a series of injections from an unlicensed physician.

Smith said swap meets, dress shops and other businesses often serve as illicit pharmacies, partly because of the cultural background, education and income levels of immigrants.

According to Smith, there is no easy solution. “Education of those in the immigrant community is one small component,” she said. “Access to health care is another.”

She proposed a five-year marketing campaign that includes public-service advertising in Spanish-language newspapers, radio and television, billboards and bus stops. She also recommended establishing a 24-hour referral hotline to connect residents with proper medical care.

“Community outreach will also include linking up and talking at [English language] classes, community health clinics, schools and hospitals,” Smith said.

She recommended the county hire a director to manage the plan and to help seek grants and other funding. County officials have also indicated a willingness to contribute money.

Last week, board Chairman Charles V. Smith and Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson met with the county’s top law enforcement officials to form a task force to investigate and shut down illegal clinics and arrest those illegally dispensing prescription drugs. Next week, the district attorney is scheduled to brief supervisors on the task force’s plans.

But county officials emphasized that the law-enforcement effort will be independent of the education effort, to avoid creating any mistrust among immigrants.

Coalition members will begin meeting with county Health Care Agency officials to work out details of the program and its funding.

Among the problems the coalition will have to address is how to reach residents who may fear their immigration status will be hurt by seeking publicly supported medical care, said America Bracho, executive director of Latino Health Access, a nonprofit agency that provides health education in Santa Ana.

Immigration applications may be voided, Bracho said, if an applicant becomes a “public charge.” The phrase has caused much confusion in Southern California’s ethnic populations when it comes to seeking health care, Bracho said.

Smith said he would rather have “all people regardless of whether they’re here illegally,” get health care without worrying about how it affects their immigration status.

The board suggested that county counsel write a letter to both the U.S. attorney’s office and federal immigration authorities seeking clarification of the law.