Lawmakers push GAO to review 'unnecessary surgeries' performed on migrants

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

05/10/24 11:24 AM ET


A trio of lawmakers is asking the Government Accountability Office to take up an investigation of medical care provided to migrants in detention facilities, knocking an earlier report they say failed to thoroughly review “unnecessary surgeries.” The ask, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, comes after a string of reports detailing inadequate medical care in some cases, while in other instances invasive surgeries like hysterectomies were performed on migrants who were in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Authority (ICE) custody.

An earlier review by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Homeland Security examined case files for six hysterectomies provided to women in ICE custody, finding two “did not include documentation to support a conclusion that a hysterectomy was medically necessary.” It’s not clear how many total hysterectomies were performed in the two-year period reviewed by OIG.

“Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General issued a report entitled ‘ICE Major Surgeries Were Not Always Properly Reviewed and Approved for Medical Necessity.’ Despite the title of the report, the Office of the Inspector General’s nearly four year review was unable to conclusively determine whether detainees are experiencing medically unnecessary surgeries, including hysterectomies and other procedures that may have minimally invasive alternatives.

The study also did not evaluate whether patients received informed consent prior to surgery or differentiate emergency and non-emergency surgeries,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was also signed by Rep. Robert García (D-Calif.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). “In light of these concerns, we request that GAO do a more fulsome and rigorous review.” GAO confirmed receipt of the letter and will formally review the request.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4656176-lawmakers-push-gao-to-review-unnecessary-surgeries-performed-on-migrants/

[ck4829]

1. Americans: We don't want to go bankrupt from healthcare. Government: Too bad!

Immigrant: *Taken into detention*
Government: *Sharpens scalpels without consent*

[SarahD]

2. Fulsome review? Better adjective needed.

Last edited Fri May 10, 2024, 03:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Little Miss Nitpicky Language Person here. "Fulsome" can be a synonym for complete, comprehensive, thorough etc. But it usually means gushy, too uncritical, unjustifiably positive, and so on. It's often applied to describe artistic or literary reviews that are too uncritical

[BumRushDaShow]

4. The past couple years I have heard what is an old-fashioned term

make a big comeback!

It wasn't as wild as when John McCain busted out with "festooned" all those years ago (2008).

[Lonestarblue]

3. During Trump administration ICE performed hysterectomies on migrant women.

They did not need them and had not given consent. Just another way for Trump and Miller to torment migrants since selling babies and children was not enough.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. That's real Nazi shit, there. In a just society, there would be serious consequences.