Death of Toddler Called a ‘Needless Tragedy’

The death last week of a toddler treated by a man allegedly impersonating a physician at a Santa Ana storefront clinic was “an absolutely needless tragedy,” the director of a community clinics organization said Monday.

“There are licensed clinics that are free or low-cost and right there in the Santa Ana area,” said Mary Earlabaugh Gordon, executive director of the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics. “The mission of the clinics is to provide access to care to people who otherwise couldn’t afford it. That’s why this was such a needless tragedy.,

Thirteen-month-old Christopher Martinez died Thursday after repeated treatments for a flu-like illness at Consultorio Medico of Santa Ana. His parents took him to the strip-mall clinic seeking low-cost care because they were uninsured.

His parents said Christopher, who had severe diarrhea and was vomiting, was given five injections over three days by Gamaliel Moreno, whom the boy’s parents believed was a doctor. State medical authorities, however, say he is not a licensed physician.

Santa Ana police on Monday continued to look for Moreno, who is wanted only for questioning at this point, they said. An autopsy has yet to determine the cause of Christopher’s death, and the coroner’s office has ordered toxicological and other tests, the results of which may not be available for weeks.

Consultorio Medico remained locked Monday.

Santa Ana police and officials from the Medical Board of California have searched the office, removing documents and other evidence. Felix Rodriguez, supervising investigator at the medical board’s Tustin office, said the office was empty but unlocked when they arrived, and police locked it when they left.

Moreno’s partner at the clinic, Rafael Gamay--who also is not licensed to practice medicine--has been questioned by police, authorities said.

Rodriguez said the clinic was housed in a small office space, with sparse medical equipment. Drugs were labeled in Spanish and he saw no certificates or diplomas on the walls. “It was a very suspicious type of thing,” he said.

The area where the clinic is located has many storefront-type medical offices with signs in Spanish. Christopher’s father has said the family was referred by a co-worker to Consultorio Medico, which reportedly offered low-cost care to the uninsured.

But people needing a doctor can receive even lower-cost care through the county’s network of community clinics, operated by nonprofit agencies, said clinic coalition director Gordon. What’s more, community clinics must be licensed by the state and staffed only by licensed medical personnel, she said.

Privately run clinics or medical offices are not licensed, but their names must be registered by their licensed physician-owners with the Medical Board of California.

Consultorio Medico of Santa Ana was not registered, a medical board official said.

The baby’s father, Salvador Martinez, has said Moreno told him he was a doctor and had been trained in medicine in Michoacan, Mexico. But there is no medical school in Michoacan, and Mexican authorities could not say whether Moreno had received medical education anywhere in that country.

On Monday, Martinez family members declined to comment as mourners attended Christopher’s wake.

The baby lay inside a white coffin, to which a Winnie the Pooh balloon was attached. The grieving father stood silently, arms crossed, in front of the coffin for half an hour, looking inside.