Man’s Death Blamed on Infection : Arleta: Unlicensed healer treated Jesus Anchondo before he succumbed. But the culprit was natural causes.

A 22-year-old Arleta man who died last April after receiving an injection from an unlicensed healer died of a severe throat infection and not the injection, officials said Wednesday.

“He died of natural causes, that is the bottom line,” said Scott Carrier, spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. “It wasn’t from an injection.”

Carrier said traces of antibiotics were found in the blood of Jesus N. Anchondo Jr.

Anchondo went into spasms and died April 10 after receiving a shot from Refugio Sandoval, 60, at her illegal home clinic in Reseda, police said. He had complained of a fever and other flu-like symptoms.

Sandoval, who authorities believe fled the country, is being sought by police for illegally practicing medicine, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department said.

“We still have an ongoing investigation of . . . practicing medicine without a license,” said Lt. George Rock of the West Valley Division. “The latest information from our investigation is that she is in Mexico.”

After Anchondo died, Sandoval left her Hesperia Avenue home, leaving behind hundreds of bottles, vials and boxes of medicine, police said. The investigation suggested that Sandoval had been providing regular care to a large clientele for years.

Unlicensed healers are popular in immigrant communities, particularly when the cost of regular medical care may be prohibitive.

In California, practicing medicine without a license is a misdemeanor. Rock said Mexican federal authorities might charge Sandoval, who is a Mexican citizen, with the same crime.

“They also have a problem with private practitioners who don’t have a medical license,” Rock said.

Health officials said people who are unable to afford normal health care often use unlicensed healers.

“These alternate practitioners are generally a group of people who sell an idea that they can help or cure people,” said Shirley Fannin, director of the disease control program at the Los Angeles Department of Health Services.

“The general community is harmed by it,” Fannin said. “People who have conditions that can worsen, are usually worse by the time they get to a hospital. And (the care) is not cheap. It is the most expensive cost-saving method that you have, especially if you have a disease that is curable in the early stages.”

Fannin said a person with streptococcal sepsis, the bacterial throat infection Anchondo died of, would need to be treated immediately because swelling of the throat shuts off the windpipe.

“It is considered a medical emergency,” Fannin said. “That is the difference between knowing what you’re doing and not knowing, and that is why we regulate.”