ARTICLES
April 2002 ARTICLES
Contents © 2002
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
Something Cheap and Discreet
Illegal Abortionist Seeks Whom He May Devour
By Maggie Garcia
An illegal abortion clinic, Centro Medico Para La Mujer, operating in the shadow of the Hollywood freeway in central Los Angeles, is under investigation by a task force consisting of state and local officials. Edgar Adolfo Ruiz, the owner of the clinic, is at large -- despite the fact that he has been investigated since 1999 for performing illegal abortions and medical procedures and was arrested in January of 2002 for practicing medicine without a license. Law enforcement officials are conceding that there is nothing to stop Ruiz from setting up another illegal clinic somewhere else.
After numerous agencies spent months investigating claims that Edgar Ruiz was performing illegal abortions and selling drugs, law enforcement officers moved in on the clinic in late January and arrested Ruiz, a native of Nicaragua. Ruiz had been operating out of his clinic, located at 5300 Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, as well as from his home, a few blocks away from the clinic. According to court records, the investigations into Ruiz's activities have not always been successful. One case synopsis found in the court file outlined an investigation by the Hollywood division of the Los Angeles police department. According to the synopsis, in June of 1999, the Los Angeles police department's central complain unit received a telephone complaint on June 1, 1999 that Ruiz "an individual not licensed as a physician, might be practicing medicine." When, on June 22, 1999, a police detective went to the clinic, he found Ruiz working in the capacity of clinic manager. The case synopsis describes how, on May 3, 1999, the 1-880 WE-TIP hot line received two anonymous complaints alleging that street durgs were being sold from the clinic. After receiving the tip, a police detective went to the clinic, but did not see any signs of misconduct. Three other visits were made to Ruiz's clinic. During the last visit, on August 12, 1999, a police detective asked Ruiz if he was willing to sign a field card stating that he was aware of the fact that it was illegal for an unlicensed person to perform medical procedures. Ruiz agreed to the request. The investigation was then closed "due to insufficient evidence."
A second investiagion on Ruiz was opened when an anonymous call, in Spanish, was received on March 9, 2001, alleging that Ruiz was performing gynecological examinations in his apartment. The caller said, "the exam was for cancer and it was performed by Ruiz inserting an unknown apparatus in the vagina." The caller also alleged that Ruiz "might be wanted for double murder in Nicaragua." According to the case synopsis found in the court file, on March 1, 2001 a detective went to Ruiz's clinic but did not see anything unusual. On March 21, 2001, an undercover detective went to Centro Medico Para La Mujer and asked if the doctor was in. A receptionist told the female undercover detective that the doctor would return shortly and handed her a business card on which she wrote, "Dr. Ruiz."
In addition to seizing medical equipment and files, the clinic was served with a cease and desist order by the Los Angeles County department of health services on January 29, 2002, and was then closed. Court records show that Ruiz admitted officals that he is not licensed to practice medicine in the United States. According to court files, Ruiz was arrested on January 29 for the unlicensed practice of medicine with risk of great bodily injury. A copy of the Los Angeles County sheriff's department supplementary report, written by sheriff detective R.J. Alvarado, said that Ruiz was interviewed after his arrest at the East Los Angeles sheriff's station. During his interview, Ruiz told detectives that he is the owner of "Centro Medico Para La Mujer", which also goes by the name, Women's Medical Center. Ruiz said that he pays Dr. Mohammed Bararsani "to treat patients." Ruiz told detectives that, during the past four years, he employed two other doctors, one being Dr. Jorge Flores, whose primary work at the clinic is performing abortions. Ruiz told investigators that approximately 1500 abortions have been performed at the clinic during the last four years. Each abortion costs $200 in cash. During the questioning, Ruiz admitted that he is behind in his child support payments "and doesn't want to be caught." Nothing further happened.
Investigators found 17 vials of what appeared to be human fetuses in the clinic. Barbara Nelson of the Los Angeles county coroner's office told this reporter that the clinic was a "dump." Nelson said that she was not certain what the vials contained and that they had been sent to the pathology lab to determine if they contained fetal tissue. Because there is an on-going investigation, Nelson stated that the vials would be kept "under lock and key." At press time, the pathology report was not available.
Citing lack of sufficient evidence, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to file charges against Ruiz. Ruiz was released, in spite of the fact that police and health department officials feared he would relocate his abortion clinic. Sandi Gibbons, spokesman for the district attorney's office told me that there was no case pending against Ruiz. When told about Gibbons' comment, Don Ashton, an official with the county health department told me that the case was being actively pursued. Ashton said that he had phoned Gibbons' office to tell her that she was being misleading in her comments.
The California Medical Board and the California department of health joined forces to investigate Ruiz after receiving complaints that he was practicing medicine without a license. California department of health investigator Monica Tuttle and state medical board investigator Gabe Sanchez begin investigating Ruiz in 1999 -- about the same time that the Los Angeles police department was also investigating Ruiz. Court records show that in May of 2001, Tuttle went to the clinic undercover and told Ruiz that she was possibly pregnant. When the sonogram that Ruiz took showed that Tuttle was not pregnant, she left the clinic. Don Ashton of the Los Angeles County department of health services said that when Tuttle first investigated Ruiz she was not involved with the task force that is investigating Ruiz. When asked why Tuttle was not more aggressive with her undercover investigation, Ashton said that, at the time, Tuttle was working with the medical board. "I can't comment on a medical board investigation," he said.
Candis Cohen, spokesman for the California Medical Board would not comment on the case. When asked why the physician, Dr. Mohammed Bararsani, who worked for Ruiz, was not disciplined for aiding and abetting Ruiz in his illegal practice of medicine, Cohen replied that if they received a complaint, the medical board would look into the matter.
What finally led to Ruiz's arrest, was a complaint by a constituent of Los Angeles County supervisor Gloria Molina. According to a copy of an e-mail sent by Molina's office to the Los Angeles County department of health, a woman called in and complained that her sister had had an abortion at Ruiz's clinic. The woman said that Ruiz's wife, Wendy Gonzales, was the one who ran the clinic for Ruiz. After receiving a complaint from Molina's office, health department officials moved in and sped up the investigation. Calls to Molina's office for comment were not returned.
The clinic catered to low-income women who often did not speak English and wanted "something cheap and discreet, something that wouldn't leave a paper trail" according to Los Angeles County sheriff's department Sergeant Steve Opferman. On this note, I decided to go to the clinic, which is housed in a four-story medical building in a teeming Latino neighborhood. The building directory has Ruiz's clinic on display: Women's Medical Center, Suite 203. The directory also shows that Dr. Nolan Jones, another abortionist who had been dogged by lawsuits and accusations by the medical board, has a clinic in the building. Nolan's clinic, the Butterfly Medical Clinic is located on the fourth floor. When I called directory assistance to locate the phone number of the Butterfly Medical Clinic or Dr. Nolan Jones, neither was listed in Los Angeles. While I was in the building, the manager of the complex asked if I needed some help. When asked where the "doctor" was, he replied, "he's gone." He then asked me if I needed to see the doctor. I told him that I had seen him last year but needed help again. He asked which doctor I wanted to see?
"Dr. Bararsani" I told him.
He then smiled at me and said, "You want Bararsani? The other guy wasn't a doctor." He then wrote a phone number on a scrap of paper. When I called the number, it turned out to be a pager.
Norma Arceo, spokesman for the California Women's Health office told me that she is aware that this is a problem. "Unfortunately all we can do is tell people to look out for themselves and their families." Arceo said that currently there is not a media campaign to warn women, especially poor and minority women, of the dangers posed by illegal clinics. "It's a sad situation," she said.
After Ruiz's arrest, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky held a press conference outside the clinic. Yaroslavsky said that he was concerned about Ruiz's release and the possibility of his fleeing the country. A staffer in Yaroslavsky's office told me that these types of clinics are of concern. "He [Yaroslavsky] is concerned, certainly based on what he's heard."
An unlicensed clinic like Centro Medico Para La Mujer is not unique in a metropolis like Los Angeles. According to Ashton, too often recent immigrants do not trust governmental agencies and clinics and so are easily victimized.
The investigation into Ruiz's clinic is ongoing. When asked about the status of the investigation, Ashton told me: "the case is being worked on daily -- it's exploding".