Thursday, November 25, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JANE ANN MORRISON: Doctors rewarded with love, not lawsuits from poor in other countries

A young Filipino girl's horribly scarred arm from a house fire represented more than a disfigurement. The scarring made it hard to use the arm. If she was unable to work, what man would want Maricel Marigmen for his wife?

Las Vegas surgeon Terence Banich, who met Maricel while volunteering on a two-week medical mission in 2001, called Dr. Julio Garcia and asked the plastic surgeon for help.

"Bring her to the office," Garcia said from Las Vegas.

Since Banich was in the Cabagan district in the Philippines at the time, that was not so easy.

Ultimately, however, Banich made it happen. Maricel came to Las Vegas, lived with the Banich family and underwent plastic surgery over five months. Today she's finished college and working in Manila.

Banich laughed that, in their honor, Maricel's father named one of his pigs Terry and another Julio.

(Since this is a story of hope as well as thanks, let's believe they are still kicking their heels and not in Piggy Heaven.)

After two medical missions in 2001 and 2002, Banich learned, "It comes down to doing things for the words, 'Thank you.' It's like planting a seed, so you cause another good deed, and that causes another."

Banich became interested in the medical mission from a nurse in Las Vegas who organizes a medical group to go back every year to provide care to her village.

His photos from his trips show Maricel's burned arm and people with huge goiters and cleft palates. One photo shows X-rays hanging on a fence to dry. "On the first visit, we handled 50 cases in four days, working 6 a.m. to 8 p.m."

Banich recalled how after one surgery on a boy, the boy's father waved a spoon at him. He asked why and was told, "He wants to give you a spoon. It's the only thing he owns."

Banich didn't take the spoon. He doesn't need a spoon as a reminder. "I see their faces all the time in my mind."

He has framed a letter from Maricel, in which she wrote: "You are indeed blessed from above to us because of your concern and generosity without expecting anything in return. ... May you continue your noble intentions in helping sick and poor people like me."

"A lot of surgeons want to go back to the basics of the Hippocratic oath and go out and serve mankind," said Banich, 58.

But during the 26-hour flight home from the Philippines, Mimi Banich asked the most common question: Why can't we help people in the United States?

It's the liability.

Doctors who volunteer for missions in third-world countries don't worry about liability and malpractice insurance. It's easier to volunteer their services where the needs are great, paperwork is minimal and lawsuits are unlikely.

The trips aren't easy to organize, as Mimi Banich discovered. A nurse, she tried to set up a medical mission in Mexico and, after six months of effort, was frustrated when it fell apart after a minor official demanded a bribe.

The American College of Surgeons recently formed Operation Giving Back to encourage more volunteerism by surgeons. It handles the organizing details by working with various philanthropic organizations.

Banich's partner is Dr. Dan McBride, a governor of the Nevada chapter of the American College of Surgeons who actively advocates Operation Giving Back.

"The college will try to avoid mismatches or underutilization. You don't want to send a heart surgeon someplace to do hernias," McBride said.

He hasn't gone on a medical missionary trip yet, but plans to do one in February with his wife, Linzel, who is learning Spanish in anticipation.

"Everyone is not an Albert Schweitzer, but when they have the time and the resources, many doctors want to get involved at some point with volunteer work," McBride said.

At a dinner last week to promote Operation Giving Back, Nevada Supreme Court Justice Bill Maupin explained how much it meant to him personally to accompany his friend, Las Vegas ophthalmologist Kenneth Westfield, to Haiti for three humanitarian missions.

Doctors who had volunteered through various agencies also described their experiences.

McBride said the common theme was clear: "What you get back is greater than what you give."

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.