CARING FOR THE DRUG WAR VICTIMS

Juarez Physician Helps When Others Refuse

JUAREZ -- Dr. Arturo Valenzuela Zorrilla fills a void left by two
years of violence committed by warring drug cartels.

The secretary of the surgery specialist summons him one day to the
General Hospital in the deadliest city in Mexico. Gunmen had hit a man
with three bullets, one to the neck and two to the torso.

"It happens every day," Valenzuela Zorrilla said.

Many times a day, actually.

More than 4,600 people have been murdered in Juarez since January
2008. Many more have been wounded. Health care is under siege.

Valenzuela Zorrilla is one of the few doctors who take phone calls or
drive to hospitals late at night to try to save victims of attacks.
Many hospitals now turn down patients with bullet wounds because, in
some cases, hit men followed them all the way to the operating rooms
to finish the job.

Clinics have closed after assaults and extortions have left owners
with empty pockets. Doctors have closed their offices for fear of
extortions and kidnappings.

"The medical profession is a very sensitive one," Valenzuela Zorrilla
said. "We are in the epicenter of the situation."

From his office window, Valenzuela Zorrilla can see El Paso's Downtown
buildings and the Franklin Mountains. In the same office, he takes
calls from fellow doctors who go to him for advice on how to deal with
extortions and kidnappings.

Valenzuela Zorrilla leads the local doctors' committee, which meets to
discuss ways to protect its members from organized crime. Recently,
Valenzuela Zorrilla organized a workshop for doctors on tactics for
negotiating ransoms. He carries a cell phone provided by the committee
to take calls from people with questions about public safety.

"People don't know how to confront kidnappings, how to negotiate
kidnappings. They panic," he said.

Then he talks about capitulating to the kidnappers to save a life by
paying ransom.

"For instance, you can get it down to 10 percent of the first sum
demanded," Valenzuela Zorrilla said.

He was the first person to publicly speak to Mexican President Felipe
Calderon when he visited Juarez last month. Valenzuela Zorrilla
criticized Calderon's use of the military to help police Juarez, and
what he considered a belated response to the violence. Valenzuela
Zorrilla also said the government needs a strategy to solve extortions
and kidnappings.

"I know that now I'm too exposed," he said. "I am the tipping point.
If they kill me, then we know that was the limit."

Nobody has extorted or threatened Valenzuela Zorrilla, a single dad
raising a 9-year-old girl. She often calls and sends text messages to
check on him. Valenzuela Zorrilla said his daughter understands how
important it is to be vocal on issues related to violence.

"My daughter told me, 'Dad, when you die I will continue to do what
you are doing.' With a daughter like that, you can't back out."

For decades, countless people in El Paso depended on health-care
services across the border. In late 2008, a study by the Paso del
Norte Health Foundation found that nearly a third of El Pasoans had
used some kind of medical service in Juarez. That same year, dentists
in Juarez began losing U.S. patients.

Physicians were among the first to protest against organized crime. In
December 2008, the doctors' committee was formed. Hundreds of
health-care workers covered their faces with sterile masks and
gathered at the giant Jua rez flagpole in Chamizal Park. Valenzuela
Zorrilla was there.

He said the medical profession became vulnerable to the violence
throughout the second half of 2008. The threats abated in 2009.

Criminal organizations began kidnapping doctors again this year. This
prompted one physician, general practitioner Leticia Chava rria, to
interrupt one of Calderon's visits to ask the president for measures
to better investigate kidnappings and extortions.

"My problem is the same all doctors have," she said. "That they look
at us as victims easy to kidnap."

At least 11 doctors whom the committee knows about have been kidnapped
since June 2008. Doctors said family members are afraid to call the
police.

"There's no report because there's no trust," said Dr. Miguel Garcia,
another general practitioner.

Garcia estimates that about 200 doctors' offices and seven clinics
have closed. Fearing retaliation, he did not want the El Paso Times to
publish the name of the clinic he owns.

The clinic's gynecologist was recently kidnapped, and Garcia said the
criminals confused that doctor with him.

In the past two weeks, Mexican authorities have arrested members of
two alleged kidnapping rings. Police said one was led by a doctor who
targeted other medical professionals. Rene Romeo Ruiseco Salinas,
nicknamed "El Doctor," remains a fugitive. Ruiseco Salinas is a
28-year-old general practitioner.

On Friday, Mexican authorities arrested Soledad Aldana Rodriguez,
known as "La Chole," in connection with Ruiseco Salinas' alleged ring.
She is accused of feeding and guarding 15 kidnapping victims until
bribes were delivered. One of those victims was a dentist, officials
said.

Other members of the ring, including El Pasoan Sergio "El Toki"
Iglesias, were arrested last weekend.

The effects these crimes have had on health care are felt on both
sides of the border. The number of people treated in the United States
after attacks in Juarez continues to rise. University Medical Center
of El Paso treated 83 people shot in Mexico last year, compared with
about 50 patients in all of 2008. More than three-quarters of the
patients it treated in 2009 were U.S. citizens

Members of the doctors' committee against organized crime said they do
not see how Calderon will keep a recent promise to extend health
coverage to 300,000 people in Juarez. The committee members prefer to
see a change in crime-fighting tactics. They want government to
cleanse police departments and courts of corruption.

Meanwhile, Valenzuela Zor rilla continues to respond to emergencies in
the early hours of the morning. He said no other doctor wants to go
out when it is dark.

"Going out at night is an extreme sport," he said.

The surgery specialist has become more alert. He takes different paths
to go to the hospital and back home. He tries to vary his schedule to
avoid premeditated attacks.

Even with all the shootings and people in need of long-term treatment,
Valenzuela Zor rilla said, he is not getting much out of it monetarily.

"It is not profitable. It is not safe. It is dangerous, so why would
you risk being a doctor?"