Sick Chimp’s Death in ER Raises Questions

SYLMAR —  In what some health officials called a highly unusual--and apparently illegal--action, doctors at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center treated a sick baby chimpanzee, brought in by movie-makers, in the hospital’s emergency room Saturday night.

The 2-week-old primate, treated by physicians in a vacant area of the ER, later died from an unspecified illness it had suffered from since birth, Olive View chief operating officer Carolyn Rhee said.

Hospital officials said the chimp was brought to the emergency room by its owners, who they could not identify, but who apparently had used chimpanzees for movie and television production work.

“They were not interested in getting a vet because they preferred for a physician to take care of the baby chimp,” Rhee said. “Their practice is to use a pediatrician or a neonatologist,” specialists in treating human children and infants.

Hospital officials said Wednesday the incident had been reported to the California Department of Health Services and stressed that steps were taken to guard against the possibility of infection after the incident was reported Monday.

“Right now our investigation is centering on transmission of infection,” hospital Administrator Melinda Anderson said.

“We can’t yet get into the who, what, where and why.”

County infection-control officials began their investigation into the incident earlier this week, and a commercial lab was testing for infections, tests which so far have turned up negative, Anderson said.

Meanwhile Wednesday, public health officials expressed understanding of the doctors’ motives, but added they had serious reservations about the decision to admit the furry infant to the emergency room.

“It was a very sick little animal and they wanted to help it,” said Sharon Wanglin, public information officer for the county Department of Health Services. “But you have to be licensed to treat them, and they were not.”

State veterinary officials expressed similar objections.

“As far as I know it’s not legal for a human medical doctor to operate on any animal,” said Sue Geranen, an official with the state veterinary board.

But there also are “provisions for human medical doctors to operate on an animal if they were working under the direction of a licensed veterinarian,” she added.

Hospital officials could not confirm how many doctors treated the baby chimp, but said it was brought to the emergency room twice.

The first time, the infant primate was brought in looking sick and dehydrated, Rhee said. But after a brief examination failed to turn up the cause of the illness, the owners left the hospital.

A short time later, however, the owners returned. By this time the chimp had stopped breathing.

“It was going downhill fast,” Rhee said.

Doctors tried to resuscitate the animal, but failed.

“Our concern and focus is obviously on potential infections,” Anderson said. But “I think all of us care about living things.”

Martine Colette, director of the Wildlife Waystation, an exotic animal preserve in Tujunga, said she could understand why desperate measures were taken to save the animal’s life.

“Would I suggest treating chimpanzees in human hospitals?,” Colette asked. “No. But in an emergency situation I would make the exception.”