A Southern California case in which federal officials agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle a wrongful death suit points up the need for the Obama administration to make authorities responsible for their charges' basic health needs, no matter their immigration status.
Los Angeles Times: Francisco Castaneda spent nearly a year locked up in Southern California immigration detention centers while fighting his deportation case. During that time, the Salvadoran national pleaded with the medical staff to treat painful lesions on his penis. He filed grievances about the quality of care and even sought outside help. Department of Homeland Security health officials responded by giving him Ibuprofen and denying his request for a biopsy because it was considered "an elective procedure." He was released in 2007, and within days was diagnosed with penile cancer. If Castaneda had been an inmate assigned to a "supermax" prison instead of an immigrant held in a detention center, he would have been likely to receive treatment quickly. Instead, he died a year after he was released, at age 36. On Thursday, federal officials agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle a wrongful death suit brought by Castaneda's family. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted in court that its negligence led to his death.
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