ILLEGAL PHARMACIES THRIVE IN SOME IMMIGRANT AREAS

TUSTIN, Calif. - Los Hermanos was the ultimate convenience store.
Patrons could buy a Teletubby doll or get a shot of penicillin for a
flu. Or they could pick up a toenail clipper, hair gel or purchase
Viagra without the hassle of getting a physician's
prescription.

For many immigrants, the store offered one-stop shopping reminiscent
of the shops back home in Mexico that dispensed everything from
groceries to knickknacks to pharmaceuticals to medical treatment.

But such operations are illegal in the U.S., and authorities here
blame this backroom clinic for the death of an 18-month-old girl last
month.

The deaths of the girl and two other "patients" of similar storefront
operations over the last year have alerted authorities to an extensive
underground network of illegal medical facilities spread across
Southern California and the Southwest.

Fronted as gift shops, beauty salons and swap meets, the facilities
sell blood plasma and such pharmaceuticals as tetanus medicine,
steroids, antibiotics and Valium smuggled from Mexico. Sales clerks
and cashiers, with little or no medical training, "prescribe" the
medication and even administer shots.

Authorities believe such operations are booming, as merchants
recognize the profits that can be earned by selling the medications
for two and three times their face value to unsuspecting immigrants.

Arrests in the border states of California, Texas, New Mexico and
Arizona are growing, and authorities say they are apprehending only a
fraction of the backroom operators.

The clandestine nature of the facilities keeps them off the radar
screen, but police believe they are spreading across the United States.

A spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department said the problem has
not yet emerged in Chicago.

California recently adopted a law that toughens the penalties for
merchants selling illegal pharmaceuticals.

Officials in Orange and Los Angeles counties have launched undercover
sweeps aimed at identifying and shuttering the illegal facilities. And
state and county officials have introduced education campaigns to tell
people about the dangers such operations pose.

"We have seen individuals claiming to be licensed physicians. In most
cases, these individuals will have no credentials at all," said Allen
Davidson, chief of the California Department of Health Services drug
unit, adding that operators of such facilities in Mexico typically are
medically trained.

"Some of the drugs (sold at the illegal clinics) have not been
approved in the U.S.," he added. "Some were withdrawn from the U.S.
because of toxicity. And some require close monitoring because they
can cause some serious side effects."

Welfare reform and the lack of medical coverage for certain low-wage
jobs, health-care advocates say, have left many people feeling they
have few options when they get sick.

But the advocates especially blame the anti-immigrant sentiment in
California, exemplified by recent ballot initiatives that struck down
government services for illegal immigrants and bilingual education for
driving many people to underground clinics.

A recent University of Southern California study indicates that 78
percent of the uninsured people in Los Angeles County have failed to
make use of the free and low-cost health services at public and
private clinics.

The advocates speculate that many of those people are immigrants who
may be under the mistaken notion that such services do not exist or
who may fear they will be reported to the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.

"Clearly, the anti-immigration mood of California in the last
administration has created a great deal of anxiety for immigrants who
believe participating in government programs could endanger their
immigration status," said state Assemblyman Martin Gallegos, who
introduced the measure that toughened penalties for merchants
operating illicit pharmacies.

"California needs to take an aggressive approach in dealing with the
uninsured population," added Gallegos, a Democrat who heads the
Assembly's health committee. "By expanding public and private
(health-care programs) we'll see fewer individuals turning to these
clandestine facilities."

For the parents of 18-month-old Selene Rios, a visit to Los Hermanos
two weeks ago was more a matter of saving money than lack of
legitimate options.

According to Tustin Police, the girl's parents took her to the gift
shop for treatment of stomach flu symptoms because it was after hours
and the office of her regular doctor was closed.

"They made an economic decision," said Tustin Police Lt. Mike
Shanahan. "Rather than take her to an emergency room (and pay a high
price) they decided to take her to the store for treatment by what
they thought was a doctor."

The 23-year-old store manager allegedly injected Selena with an
unknown medication. Two hours later the girl was dead.

The autopsy couldn't conclusively determine whether she died from the
injection, and no charges have been filed against the woman who
administered it.

Los Hermanos owner Oscar King was fined $5,000 for selling Viagra,
birth control pills and various antibiotics. In 1992, he was convicted
of selling illegal pharmaceuticals out of a van in Orange County,
according to Shanahan.

The Orange County shop has been shuttered since police raided it late
last month. A few days ago, Teletubby dolls, white bears and Dalmatian
dog dolls suspended from the ceiling could be seen through the window
and glass door, while condoms, baby oil, soap and candles were visible
on shelves.

Two women who had frequented the shop walked past, lamenting the
girl's death.

"One time I came into the store and they asked if something was wrong
with my baby; they said I could go there for help," said Edna, 25,
holding her infant. "But I said, `No thank-you.' "

"They don't hide (the illegal pharmaceuticals)," said Maria, 53, who,
like Edna, declined to give her last name. "They sold it in the open
like it's nothing. I feel sorry for the little girl."

The illegal pharmacies have been found in Asian and Eastern European
immigrant communities, but they are especially prevalent in Hispanic
immigrant communities.

In Mexico and other countries, it is legal to sell penicillin, birth
control pills, antibiotics and many other drugs without a
prescription.

U.S. law forbids anyone from bringing large quantities of the drugs
over the border and selling them.

U.S. Customs Service officials in fiscal year 1998 seized 345,764
units of illegal drugs at the border in eastern Texas, up from 308,137
units in 1997.

In fiscal 1998, Customs seized 207,075 units at the border in Arizona,
New Mexico and western Texas, up from 200,963 in fiscal '97.

In California, Customs officials have stopped 107 people at the border
and confiscated 30,000 units of illegal prescription drugs since
October. And since last May, officials in Los Angeles County have
conducted raids of 150 businesses and cited 55 individuals.

Last week, a task force consisting of Los Angeles County sheriff's
deputies and county health services officials swooped down on two gift
shops in the San Fernando Valley.

At El Trebo, a woman stood behind the counter while task force members
ransacked the store.

Authorities found only a small quantity of sulfa thiozal, used for
cold sores. The product, banned in the U.S., can cause shock and death
to individuals who are allergic to it. The task force fined the owner
$5,000 for selling numerous illegal pharmaceuticals at an earlier
undercover buy.

At Arco Iris, however, authorities confiscated $25,000 worth of
illegal drugs and health-related products, including hemoglobin,
steroids and ether pearls.

"Ether pearls (used for cold sores) are not sold in America," said Dr.
Gregory Thompson, a pharmacist working for the task force, holding the
plastic bag containing the drugs. "This is a very unstable compound.
If this were stored near a furnace, it could have blown up."