Washington Post investigation uncovers pattern of medical neglect endured by foreign detainees held in U.S. custody -

Here are 2 examples:

 

1. Yusif Osman was a U.S. legal resident from Ghana and had been living in Los Angeles for five years. Osman was facing deportation on smuggling charges, when a companion was found with a fake ID.  While in his cell at the detention center, Osman collapsed suffering from chest pain.  A guard saw him on the ground, but did not go in. Instead, he called a clinic nurse to find out whether Osman had any medical problems.

When the nurse opened his medical file, she found it blank because supposedly the intake nurse had mistakenly clicked it as completed even though there was nothing entered.  When the nurse found it blank, she decided there was no emergency and said Osman needed to fill out a sick call request. The guard went on a lunch break.

The cellmate yelled again. Another guard came by, looked in and called the nurse. This time she wanted Osman brought to the clinic. Forty minutes passed before guards brought a wheelchair to his cell. By then it was too late: Osman was barely alive when paramedics reached him. He soon died.

 

E-Mails Show Attempt To 'Patch Up' a Case Of Medical Negligence:

At the agency in Washington responsible for foreign detainees' medical care, internal documents reveal a tendency to conceal the truth by withholding complete medical records or by offering misleading public explanations.

2. After living in Los Angeles, for about 25 years, Francisco Castaneda, was being deported after serving a four-month sentence for drug possession. Medical staff members suspected that he had penile cancer. A lesion on his penis was bleeding and oozing. The staff sought approval for a biopsy, but the Division of Immigration Health Services, in Washington denied the procedure for 10 months.

After pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, a biopsy was finally scheduled but immigration officials suddenly released Castaneda from custody days before the surgery, sparing the agency the cost.

When the DIHS medical director, Timothy T. Shack, was asked to review the case, he concluded: "I looked over about 200 pages of medical records for this case. In my opinion, the care provided to this detainee was, and is, timely and appropriate."

One week later after the review, UCLA doctors gave Castaneda a diagnosis of invasive squamous cell carcinoma. On Valentine's Day, surgeons amputated his penis.  He died a year later, leaving a 14 year old daughter behind.

These types of situations show the problem with large institutions in general.
Yes, these systems can be strained due to budget and staffing problems but I've come to the conclusion that:

1- Humans seem to have a problem with empathy & compassion for people who they perceive as very different then they are.
2- Large institutions foster cliques (aka gangs).  The staff versus the patients or inmates is the biggest clique.
3- The clique with more power (the staff) will grow more indifferent or even more cruel towards the weaker, less powerful group.
4- Mankind has a great capacity to hate. 

Predjudice will find its' way in somehow.  If you're a different race, you'll hate over color. If you're the same race, you'll hate over religion.  If you're the same race and same religion, you'll hate over money & power.  If you're the same race, religion and social status, you'll hate over sex. It goes on & on.

I suspect this happens due to personal insecurities and an attempt to elevate oneself to a higher perceived standing in society (I hesitate to use the word civilization, since there's nothing civilized about it).  

The minute I read the sentence at the beginning of the article that stated the nurse hit the wrong button by mistake and closed his medical file, I knew the institution staff was guilty, they knew they were guilty and they got their story together.  It's possible they erased the record. 

Having used electronic medical records, I know they aren't so flexible.  How do you close an empty record?  Either you didn't type anything into it or you forgot to hit save but the records usually ask you if you want to save before you close or you erased it by accident and you didn't feel like starting all over again. If you can't respect and value life can you please just do a decent job for the principle of the thing?

As I've mentioned already, I work in healthcare and trust me the more I work with people the more I dislike them but believe it or not, it doesn't matter if I like you or not.  I'm not your family, I'm not your friend but I am your nurse, doctor, dentist, whatever.  A professional should be able to separate the emotions and do the job at hand.  A life is a life and should be respected as such but if you can't, don't you have enough self respect to do a good job for the principle of the thing?

Who cares right? It's just some insignificant immigrant.  Well, Albert Einstein was an immigrant, Mother Theresa would have been an immigrant, oh and your great grandpappy and grandmamma probably were immigrants too and I hate to burst your bubble but they weren't that different or worth any more than those poor schmucks you're neglecting and abusing now.