Bill aimed at unlicensed doctors; Las Vegas death cited

CARSON CITY — The death of a Las Vegas woman during cosmetic surgery in a floor tile company spurred a bill, which received a favorable reception Tuesday, that would bring long prison sentences to unlicensed doctors.

Members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee spoke favorably of Senate Bill 199, which would authorize felony penalties for practicing medicine without a license.

An unlicensed doctor who performs surgery in cases in which someone dies would receive a two- to 20-year prison sentence, and in some cases prosecutors could file murder charges.

The bill comes out of a Nevada Public Health Foundation-funded task force study after the April 2011 death of Elena Caro, 42, of Las Vegas. The attorney general’s office coordinated the development of the study, led by former Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Caro bled to death after undergoing buttocks surgery in the backroom of a floor tile company. Two Colombians were arrested in connection with her death as they tried to board an airplane at McCarran International Airport.

Ruben Dario Matallana-Galvas and Carmen Olfidia Torres-Sanchez later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and received three- to eight-year prison sentences.

No one spoke against the bill Tuesday, but the committee took no vote after proponents spoke of the need for a minor amendment.

During the hearing Tuesday, Marc DiGiacomo, chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, testified that Matallan-Galvas was a lawyer for the Colombian consumer affairs division. He and his wife, Torres-Sanchez, “put (Caro) in a car and dumped her in a parking lot,” he said.

DiGiacomo said many immigrants learn of unlicensed medical facilities through nail shops and by word of mouth.

“The state of Nevada lacks a law to protect people like Ms. Caro,” he said. “This would increase penalties and provide a deterrent through substantial prison sentences.”

Brett Kandt, a deputy attorney general, said many immigrants are unfamiliar with the Nevada health care system, and many licensed doctors who immigrate to the United States but don’t get their medical licenses here still administer to the immigrant community.

“It’s an awareness issue,” he said. “That may be the problem.”

Under the bill, even unlicensed doctors who do not cause bodily harm still would face felony charges.

After the meeting, Sen. Ruben Kihuen, who has many Hispanics in his Las Vegas district, said he regularly drove by a “botica” in his district where immigrants often seek medicine and medical help. The botica, he added, is no longer there.

Kihuen, a Democrat , said education is the key for immigrant people to learn the dangers of using unlicensed medical care. The Quick Care clinics in Las Vegas offer people medical aid that is as inexpensive as going to unlicensed doctors, he said.

“They don’t know any better (than going to unlicensed facilities),” added Kihuen, who was born in Mexico.

While the study offered few examples of problems caused by unlicensed medical care, Kihuen said medical problems go unreported because illegal immigrants fear that if they report problems to police, they will be deported.

Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, said after the meeting that SB199 is a good and necessary bill. But during the meeting he repeatedly asked a witness whether the task force study was paid with public funds. He eventually was told it was.

Brower said later he was concerned about the $24,000 cost of a study that had little new information about the extent of the use of unlicensed doctors. He questioned the need for the study when it is a given that immigrants use illegal doctors.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has been leading the move to stop unlicensed doctors in Nevada and inform the Latino community of alternative options.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or775-687-3901.