Judge Blasts Failure to Treat Cancer as ‘Most Egregious’ Lesson in Cruelty
A federal judge in Los Angeles has blasted immigration officials for failing to authorize treatment for a detainee’s penile cancer.
For 11 months the officials had ignored several physicians’ recommendations to permit them to biopsy a growing lesion that eventually led to the death of the detainee, Francisco Castaneda, the Los Angeles Times reports. Instead of authorizing the test, officials prescribed antihistamines, ibuprofen and extra boxer shorts, according to the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson refused to dismiss the lawsuit by Castaneda’s family, ruling that federal laws permit the tort claims and federal officials do not have immunity.
“The court rejects defendants’ attempt to sidestep responsibility for what appears to be, if the evidence holds up, one of the most, if not the most, egregious Eighth Amendment violations the court has ever encountered,” Pregerson wrote in his opinion (PDF) released Tuesday.
The government’s own records “bespeak of conduct that transcends negligence by miles. It bespeaks of conduct that, if true, should be taught to every law student as conduct for which the moniker ‘cruel’ is inadequate,” Pregerson wrote.
