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As the border crisis raged last year, the top official at Homeland Security’s border agency spent time trying to procure fentanyl lollipops for an unusual trip to the U.N. in New York City, whistleblowers have told Congress.
The whistleblowers also said Friday that Customs and Border Protection’s mismanagement of its medical service contract contributed to the factors that cost an 8-year-old migrant girl her life last year while she was in CBP custody.
The disclosures came in a 32-page document submitted to Congress by the Government Accountability Project on behalf of the whistleblowers, who said “chaotic management” in CBP’s medical affairs is endangering migrants’ lives.
The whistleblowers said CBP’s leadership knew that Loyal Source Government Services, which holds the medical contract, failed to deliver quality care.
In one case in September, a 15-year-old migrant girl had a burn on her leg, and the Loyal Source team judged it “painless” and prescribed an antibiotic cream. When she was sent to Health and Human Services, officials there said it was a serious burn and she ended up in the emergency room.
Then there was the case of the 8-year-old Anadith Reyes Alvarez, who died in CBP custody in Texas last May after being nabbed by Border Patrol agents along with her mother. Anadith succumbed to complications of the flu and her underlying sickle-cell anemia.
An investigation found the medical staff ignored the mother’s repeated requests to have a doctor treat Anadith. The whistleblowers said that was in direct contradiction with guidance to err on the side of caution in complex cases.
“Now, nearing a year after the preventable death, Loyal Source continues to be the vendor on this contract for critical medical services, earning hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars,” the accountability project said.
CBP’s chief medical officer was ousted in the wake of the death, and his replacement, Dr. Alexander Eastman, came in for particular criticism from the whistleblowers who said he has created a “toxic work environment,” speaks “lewdly” about women, berates employees and delivers “gross mismanagement.”
The fentanyl lollipops incident loomed large in the complaint.
The whistleblowers said Dr. Eastman insisted on attending the U.S. General Assembly meeting last year despite not having a clear role. They suggested his time would be better spent managing the border.
Instead, he “spent copious hours” of his and staff’s time trying to get the fentanyl lollipops for the helicopter flight to New York. That included rewriting the agency’s policy.
“Eastman claimed that his possession of fentanyl lollipops was necessary in case a CBP operator might be injured, or in case the CBP Air and Marine Operations team encountered a patient in need,” the accountability project said. “Over half a dozen CBP employees were involved in handling the urgent purchase request and navigating the hurdles of purchasing and handling highly regulated narcotics.”
The lollipops ultimately weren’t procured because there wasn’t enough time, the whistleblowers alleged.
The new allegations build on a previous whistleblower disclosure by Troy Hendrickson, who said he warned about systemic issues with the Loyal Services contract but was ignored. He says he faced retaliation for raising the issues.
Sen. Richard Durbin, Illinois Democrat and a leading voice for his party on immigration, said he will demand answers from CBP.
“The whistleblowers’ disclosures continue to demonstrate CBP’s failure to oversee the provision of medical care to individuals in custody and indicate the agency has not pursued needed changes,” he said.
CBP said in a statement that it already did one review after Anadith’s death that found “mismanagement” and a lack of “focus” on key goals. It said it installed new leadership, and claimed “considerable progress to improve the quality of medical care provided.”
That leadership appears to include Dr. Eastman.
“CBP will continue to review procedures and practices related to the provision of in-custody medical care,” the agency said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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