'Entertainment' sonograms at San Antonio flea market violated health and safety codes, state says

A business at the Traders Village flea market has been conducting sonograms, creating speculation shared on social networks. A business at the Traders Village flea market has been conducting sonograms, creating speculation shared on social networks. Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close 'Entertainment' sonograms at San Antonio flea market violated health and safety codes, state says 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

Traders Village shoppers can find a variety of services at the flea market with more than a thousand vendors, and for about a year and a half, pregnancy sonograms were one of them.

Sonograms are defined by the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography as a diagnostic medical test, ordered by a physician, which uses ultrasound. But, that’s not exactly what was happening in Traders Village booth 966, a business owned by Leticia Trujillo, according to the Texas Department of State and Health Services (DSHS.)

Fox 29 News sent an undercover producer to investigate the business earlier this week after being alerted to the questionable situation.

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Trujillo told the producer she would conduct a sonogram “just like a doctor’s office” and provide a 12-minute DVD of the ultrasound footage as well as photos for $35.

“I kind of help the community,” Trujillo told the producer, explaining some of her clientele consists of mothers who do not have insurance. She also said she has works in “several” clinics in San Antonio, Floresville and Uvalde.

The DSHS stepped in to investigate the situation on May 7 and found the business was not in compliance with health and safety codes, according to case documents obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.

Trujillo’s flea market sonograms were in violation because they were “being used on patients without a prescription from a licensed physician/practitioner,” and there was not a medical practitioner supervising use of the equipment, according to the notice of detention. Further, the owner also could not provide operational material or reporting protocols and procedures for the device at the time of the inspector’s visit.

Trujillo was given 10 days from the May 7th detainment to give the department a written response explaining why her equipment was not “adulterated or misbranded and why they should be released,” according to a letter issued by the Drugs and Medical Devices Group of the DSHS.

Van Deusen said as of May 21, a response had still not been received, meaning the department can now refer the case to the Texas Attorney General’s Office “to seek an order for condemnation and destruction of the detained articles,” according to the letter.

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Trujillo’s claim that her services were done for “entertainment purposes” does not excuse her from health codes, Van Deusen said.

“It is a prescription device and the patient has to have a prescription to have it done” regardless of purpose, he said. “This (sonograms) is a medical procedure, they should be done in a therapeutic controlled environment, and a flea market is not that.”

Traders Village was unaware their former vendor was not in compliance, Tim Anderson, president of Traders Village Marketplaces said in a phone interview.

“When she first signed the lease, she provided credible documentation to do what she did,” Anderson said. “We want everybody renting space from us to obey the law… they have to obey the law, if they aren’t – they can’t be here.”

Trujillo told Yami Virgin, of Fox 29, she understands why flea market sonograms are not allowed and also admitted she does not have a supervising doctor, as mandated by Texas health and safety codes. While DSHS never received a response, she told Virgin she planned to transfer her equipment to a doctor’s office where she is contracted to conduct ultrasounds.

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Twitter: @MaddySkye