Authorities raid store where surgeries were performed in back room

By Marshall Allen

Friday, June 26, 2009 | 1:15 p.m.

Health authorities today raided two retail stores in Las Vegas catering to Spanish-speaking immigrants after learning of illegal surgeries being performed at one of them, with bloody rags and used needles being tossed into a trash bin out back.

The raids, and a cease-and-desist order, were prompted after authorities learned of a woman who was bleeding uncontrollably because of a botched gynecological surgery performed in a back room at Botanica Maya, which sells over-the-counter medications, vitamins and herbs at 5347 E. Lake Mead Blvd. in Las Vegas.

Someone called 911 and authorities took the woman to a hospital, state Health Division spokesman Ben Kieckhefer said. The woman informed Metro Police investigators of another facility, Botanica San Francisco at 2645 S. Nellis in Las Vegas, where other surgical procedures were allegedly being performed, he said.

In the ensuing days, employees for Republic Services found biomedical waste — bloody rags, bottles of injectible drugs with Spanish labels, pill bottles, gloves, used syringes and needles — tossed in a Dumpster behind Botanica Maya, Kieckhefer said. The Health Division was notified Thursday and moved in this morning.

They discovered that the back room at Botanica Maya was set up as a crude surgical suite, Kieckhefer said. Inspectors found a cabinet with intravenous and injectible medications, many with Spanish labels, and a log with names of patients and dates of procedures. He said it’s unknown how many procedures were performed at the location, but that it’s a serious risk to the public.

“Disposal of syringes and other sharps in a dumpster out back obviously poses a threat to public health,” Kieckhefer said.

In addition, patients could become infected with disease during procedures, given the unsanitary conditions, he said, and whoever was performing the procedures could also take advantage of patients.

The health division said there were no obvious signs that procedures had been performed in the back rooms at Botanica San Francisco. The stores are owned by Adam Padilla, officials said.

Reached by phone, Padilla told the Sun he owns the Lake Mead store and his father owns the Nellis store. His step-mother, Patricia Padilla, ran the Lake Mead location, he said, and he claims he knew nothing about any surgical procedures being performed at the site.

On the day of the 911 call, June 19, “somebody called me and told me there was a bunch of cops in front of my store,” said Padilla, who works two other jobs. “I came down here and that’s when the cops told me what was going on.”

On the Internet, the location is listed as the address of “Patricia Padilla, MD,” but Adam Padilla said his step-mother does not advertise herself as a physician. State records show she is not licensed in Nevada as a medical doctor.

Padilla said the procedure performed June 19 was done by a man known only as “Gustavo,” and he fled to Mexico or Guatemala after the police were called.

Padilla said he is cooperating with the investigation, which also includes the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners, the Nevada Pharmacy Board and the Southern Nevada Health District.

“People need to recognize that this is an unsafe medical practice,” Kieckhefer said. “Anyone who received care at one of these facilities should go and see a licensed medical professional to ensure that they’re OK.”