Dr. H. Michael Lewis knows he can’t throw all the starfish back into the ocean. But he can save some, so he does so. One at a time.

It’s the same with human trafficking victims. Lewis knows he cannot educate all the doctors and health care workers on how to recognize people being held in modern slavery, but he will keep trying.

“It’s become something that has become very important to me,” Lewis told Lone Star Standard.

Brent Annear | Texas Medical Association

He is a semi-retired thoracic surgeon in Arlington. Lewis works with the Texas Medical Association to train doctors and others in health care to see the signs of trafficking victims. House Bill 2059, authored by Rep. César Blanco (D-El Paso) passed during the 2019 legislative session mandating an hour of training for some licensed professionals to help them identify trafficking victims.

It took effect on Sept. 1, but the course is still being worked on, Lewis said. The class must be approved by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Medical Board (TMB) before doctors must take the course when their medical license is renewed.

Texas HHS signed off on a course provided by Polaris, a leading anti-trafficking organization.

The TMB has yet to approve the program, however, and Lewis is working for that. He said it’s crucial to recognize these people as they seek medical attention and help save them from this form of slavery.

Lewis, who turns 70 this month, became aware of the massive problem with sex trafficking seven years ago while on a drive. He was listening to a CD that contained an interview with Deena Graves, the founder of Traffick911, a Dallas organization that fights against human trafficking and serves as an advocate for its victims.

“The interview was an eye-opener to me in terms of what was going on,” Dr. Lewis said. “By the time I got to my destination, I was in tears because of the things done to people.”

He said he realized all too often, we really don’t see the people standing before us. It’s like a man at an intersection holding up a sign asking for help.

“Do you see him as a person or just a nuisance?” Lewis asked rhetorically.

That’s when he realized he had to get involved. Lewis was an Eagle Scout as a boy and later served as a Boy Scout Council president. After four decades of medical practice, he now works a couple of days a week diagnosing and treating wounds at nursing homes.

Helping people comes naturally to him. That’s why Lewis felt compelled to assist trafficking victims and to educate people in the health care industry.

“It became clear to me – ‘OK, now you’ve heard this. What are you going to do about it?’”

When he was still practicing in Paris, Texas, he brought Graves to speak to doctors, medical staff, school superintendents and teachers. Lewis wanted them to learn about the signs that reveal a trafficking victim.

The TMA devotes a page on its website to provide information in trafficking and offer guidance to health care professionals on how they can detect it and help its victims.

“Physicians and their clinical teams are in a unique position to intervene in one of the most insidious and seemingly invisible public health challenges: human trafficking,” the TMA states on its website. “This form of slavery includes both labor and sex trafficking, and may involve people of any age, gender, race/ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, or sexual orientation. Victims and survivors of human trafficking may be seen at local clinics, emergency departments, or other medical settings and the health care team’s actions at that moment can make a life-saving difference.”

There are an estimated 600 children and adolescents forced to engage in sexual acts per night in Texas. The victims are brought into this country, legally and illegally, but also are runaway youth. Reports indicate two-thirds of runaways are lured into sexual abuse within 48 hours of leaving their homes.

Despite the training offered to doctors and health care professionals, a study of trafficking victims indicates that half who visited medical facilities were not detected as being held against their will. Lewis concurs with that.

In his practice, he mostly saw people in their 60s and older, so he doesn’t think he saw any victims of sex trafficking. But he said he may have seen or even treated people who were labor trafficked and not recognized that. It’s another reason why he wants more people to be trained.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has joined in the fight against trafficking, with a pocket card for health care workers listing telltale indications of trafficking.

Brent Annear of the Texas Medical Association said the issue has received greater attention in recent years.

“Regarding human sex trafficking however, some physicians (particularly those in direct patient care) believe they can serve a role in helping a victim get help – if a victim comes to a physician’s office,” Annear told Lone Star Standard. “A TMA council of physicians looked into this issue several years ago, developing policy and recommending educational opportunities. I also recall a county medical society embarking on a mission to educate local physicians about signs of potential sex trafficking and creating tools to help them help patients – more than one has taken up similar efforts.”

He said doctors can pass information to potential victims that may help them escape their captors.

“I recall cards they had made with a number to call for help, for example, that a doctor could give a patient in the exam room if the physician suspected this person might be an abuse victim or someone who was a victim of human sex trafficking,” Annear said. “TMA also is supporting the efforts to educate physicians on how to potentially identify trafficked individuals, understand legal requirements for reporting certain cases, and how to provide patients options for assistance. We also developed a resource page of information for physicians. We’re also in the process of working with the state on new mandatory CME for physicians (continuing medical education) about this issue.”

Annear said the Texas Attorney General’s Office is leading the charge against trafficking among state agency and partner advisory groups, and appropriated new funding last session to address human trafficking.

“TMA has a representative on one of the groups — and in fact TMA approached Rep. Senfronia Thompson some years ago to ensure medicine was included on a statewide task force that she had been working to establish through the AG's office,” Annear said. “Until that point there had not been much recognition of the role that medicine can play in working with the larger community fighting this problem.”

Thompson, a Democrat from Houston who represents the 141st District, has been in the Texas Legislature since 1973. She has been a longtime advocate for trafficking victims.

“Texas has been at the forefront of human trafficking legislation and was one of the first states to criminalize human trafficking in 2003,” Thompson said in 2016. “Since then, I have continued to work and pass laws that strengthen human trafficking punishments, provide protections for victims, and require training for involved agencies.”

That is a position Lewis completely agrees with, and why he will keep urging doctors and health-care professionals to get the training needed to help combat this problem. In the end it will allow more starfish to swim free.