Three lawmakers are reportedly pressing for a probe of medical care given migrants in detention — slamming a report that allegedly failed to thoroughly review "unnecessary surgeries."
Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, the lawmakers' request to the Government Accountability Office follows reports detailing inadequate medical care in some cases, and invasive surgeries — like hysterectomies — in others being performed on migrants in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Authority, The Hill reported.
An earlier review by the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security examined files for six hysterectomies of women in ICE custody — finding two "did not include documentation to support a conclusion that a hysterectomy was medically necessary."
The Hill noted it's not clear how many total hysterectomies were performed in a 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,' " the lawmakers wrote.
"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," they stated. "The study also did not evaluate whether patients received informed consent prior to surgery or differentiate emergency and non-emergency surgeries."
Besides Raskin, those who signed were 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," the lawmakers wrote.
Concerns about unnecessary hysterectomies came after a nurse who worked at an ICE facility in Georgia blew the whistle on a doctor they said alleged removed women's uteruses without their consent, The Hill reported.
An earlier review by the House Oversight and Homeland Security Committees found the doctor may have performed unnecessary and invasive procedures on patients to inflate payment from the government.
"My concern is that he was not competent and simply did the same evaluation and treatment on most patients because that is what he knew how to do, and/or he did tests and treatments that generated a significant amount of reimbursement without benefiting most patients," wrote Tony Ogburn, a doctor asked to review an ICE contractor's files, The Hill reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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