Page 2 - aruba-today-20200919

A2 UP FRONT
Saturday 19 September 2020
Continued from Front menstrual cycle and was
Cardentey kept her hos- told to have a D&C, said
pital bracelet. It has the her attorney, Van Huynh.
date, Aug. 14, and part When she woke up from
of the doctor's name, Dr. the surgery, Huynh said,
Mahendra Amin, a gyne- she was told Amin had re-
cologist linked this week to moved one of her two fal-
allegations of unwanted lopian tubes, which con-
hysterectomies and other nect the uterus to the ova-
procedures done on de- ries and are necessary to
tained immigrant women conceive a child. Binam's
that jeopardize their ability medical records indicate
to have children. that the doctor discovered
An Associated Press review the tube was swollen.
of medical records for four "She was shocked and sort
women and interviews with of confronted him on that
lawyers revealed growing — that she hadn't given her
allegations that Amin per- consent for him to proceed
formed surgeries and other with that," Huynh said. "The
procedures on detained reply that he gave was
immigrants that they never they were in there anyway
sought or didn't fully under- and found there was this
stand. Although some pro- problem."
cedures could be justified While women can poten-
based on problems docu- In this Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, file photo, Dawn Wooten, a nurse at Irwin County Detention Center tially still conceive with
mented in the records, the in Ocilla, Ga., speaks at a news conference in Atlanta protesting conditions at the immigration jail. one intact tube and ova-
women's lack of consent or Associated Press ry, doctors who spoke to
knowledge raises severe le- the AP said removal of the
gal and ethical issues, law- curity's inspector general. It Amin will be cleared of any According to a written tube was likely unneces-
yers and medical experts also evoked comparisons wrongdoing." summary of her psychiat- sary and should never have
said. to previous government- Grubman did not respond ric evaluation, the woman happened without Binam's
Amin has performed sur- sanctioned efforts in the to new questions Thursday. said, "I am nervous about consent. The doctors also
gery or other gynecologi- U.S. to sterilize people to In a statement Friday, ICE my upcoming procedure." questioned how Amin dis-
cal treatment on at least supposedly improve soci- Acting Director Tony Pham The summary says she covered the swollen tube
eight women detained ety — victims who were dis- said: "If there is any truth to denied needing mental because performing a
at Irwin County Detention proportionately poor, men- these allegations, it is my health care and added: "I D&C would not normally in-
Center since 2017, includ- tally disabled, American In- commitment to make the am worried because I saw volve exploring a woman's
ing one hysterectomy, said dian, Black or other people corrections necessary to someone else after they fallopian tubes.
Andrew Free, an immigra- of color. Thirty-three states ensure we continue to pri- had surgery and what I saw Dr. Julie Graves, a fam-
tion and civil rights lawyer had forced sterilization pro- oritize the health, welfare scared me." ily medicine and public
working with other attor- grams in the 20th century. and safety of ICE detain- The AP also reviewed re- health physician in Florida,
neys to investigate medical But a lawyer who helped ees." cords for a woman who called the process "abso-
treatment at the jail. Doc- file the complaint said she LaSalle Corrections, which was given a hysterecto- lutely abhorrent."
tors are helping the attor- never spoke to any women operates the jail, said in a my. She reported irregular "It's established U.S. law that
neys examine new records who had hysterectomies. statement that it "strongly bleeding and was taken you don't operate on ev-
and more women are Priyanka Bhatt, staff at- refutes these allegations to see Amin for a D&C. erything that you find," she
coming forward to report torney at the advocacy and any implications of A lab study of the tissue said. "If you're in a teaching
their treatment by Amin, group Project South, told misconduct." found signs of early cancer, hospital and an attending
Free said. The Washington Post that Women housed at Irwin called carcinoma. Amin's physician does something
"The indication is there's she included the hysterec- County Detention Center notes indicate the woman like that, it's a scandal and
a systemic lack of truly in- tomy allegations because who needed a gynecolo- agreed 11 days later to the they are fired."
formed and legally valid she wanted to trigger an gist were typically taken to hysterectomy. Binam was on the verge of
consent to perform proce- investigation to determine Amin, according to medi- Free, who spoke to the deportation Wednesday,
dures that could ultimately if they were true. cal records provided to woman, said she felt pres- but ICE delayed it after calls
result — intentionally or un- "I have a responsibility to the AP by Free and lawyer sured by Amin and "didn't from members of Congress
intentionally — in steriliza- listen to the women I've Alexis Ruiz, who represents have the opportunity to say and a request for an emer-
tion," he said. spoken with," Bhatt told the Cardentey. Interviews with no" or speak to her family gency stay by her lawyer.
The AP's review did not find AP on Friday. She said one detainees and their law- before the procedure. Grubman, Amin's lawyer,
evidence of mass hyster- woman alleged that she yers suggest some women Doctors told the AP that a said in a statement that the
ectomies as alleged in a was repeatedly pressured came to fear the doctor. hysterectomy could have doctor "has dedicated his
widely shared complaint to have a hysterectomy Records reviewed by the been appropriate due to adult life to treating a high-
filed by a nurse at the de- and that authorities said AP show one woman was the carcinoma, though risk, underserved popula-
tention center. Dawn Woo- they would not pay for her given a psychiatric evalu- there may have been less tion in rural Georgia."
ten alleged that many de- to get a second opinion. ation the same day she re- intrusive options available. Amin completed medical
tained women were taken Amin told The Intercept, fused to undergo a surgical Lawyers for both women school in India in 1978 and
to an unnamed gynecolo- which first reported Woo- procedure known as dila- asked that their names be his residency in gynecol-
gist whom she labeled the ten's complaint, that he tion and curettage. Com- withheld for fear of retalia- ogy in New Jersey. He has
"uterus collector" because has only performed one or monly known as a D&C, tion by immigration authori- practiced in rural Georgia
of how many hysterecto- two hysterectomies in the it removes tissue from the ties. for at least three decades,
mies he performed. past three years. His attor- uterus and can be used as In another case, Pauline Bi- according to court filings.
The complaint sparked a ney, Scott Grubman, said a treatment for excessive nam, a 30-year-old woman State corporate records
furious reaction from con- in a statement: "We look bleeding. A note written on who was brought to the also show Amin is the ex-
gressional Democrats and forward to all of the facts letterhead from Amin's of- U.S. from Cameroon when ecutive of a company that
an investigation by the De- coming out, and are confi- fice said the woman was she was 2, saw Amin after manages Irwin County Hos-
partment of Homeland Se- dent that once they do, Dr. concerned. experiencing an irregular pital. q