A nurse at an immigration detention center in Georgia says authorities performed questionable hysterectomies, refused to test detainees for COVID-19 and shredded medical records.
An immigration detention center in Georgia performed questionable hysterectomies, refused to test detainees for COVID-19, and shredded medical records, according to a nurse quoted in a complaint filed Monday.
The complaint to the Homeland Security Department's internal watchdog relies on accounts of Dawn Wooten, who worked full-time as a licensed practical nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center until July when she was demoted to work as needed.
Wooten calls a gynecologist who works outside the facility “the uterus collector.”
“Everybody he sees has a hysterectomy — just about everybody,” Wooten said. “He’s even taken out the wrong ovary on a young lady.”
It was unclear to Wooten if women knowingly consented to the operations. Nurses raised concerns about the doctor, who is unnamed.
“These immigrant women, I don’t think they really, totally, all the way understand this is what’s going to happen depending on who explains it to them,” she is quoted saying.
The facility in Ocilla, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Atlanta, houses men and women detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service and Irwin County.
ICE said it does not comment on matters before the inspector general but that it takes all allegations seriously.
"That said, in general, anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve,” the agency said in a statement.
While the 27-page complaint filed by advocacy group Project South quotes unidentified detainees extensively, it also includes detailed comments from Wooten. The complaint says Wooten was demoted after missing work with coronavirus symptoms, which she believes was retaliation for raising questions about addressing COVID-19.
Wooten said the number of detainees infected was much higher than reported because there was no active testing and not all cases were reported, according to the complaint.
Wooten is quoted as saying the sick call nurse sometimes fabricated seeing detainees in person when they hadn't and that she saw the nurse shred a box of detainee complaints without looking at them. She said nurses ignored detainees reporting COVID-19 symptoms.
If detainees reported a fever, nurses would put them on an over-the-counter cold medication for seven days without testing them for COVID-19, she said.
Wooten said the facility declined to use two rapid-testing COVID-19 machines that ICE purchased for $14,000 each. No medical staff had been trained on them and she saw the machines used only once.
LaSalle Corrections, which owns and operates Irwin County Detention Center under contract, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Monday.
As of Sunday, 42 detainees at the facility had tested positive for the virus, according to ICE. Nationwide, 5,772 detainees were positive.
With Martin Luther King Jr. Day fast approaching, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C. 6th District), the House Majority Whip, talked about the importance of honoring the iconic civil rights activist. "As we consider the life and celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., let's think about who and what we are as a country, and whether or not we're going to give up on the ideals of this country or continue to press forward," he said. Clyburn also discussed the push for new voting legislation, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Act, as well as the fate of the Senate filibuster.
It was 'game on' for sports bettors in the state of New York, as mobile betting kicked off on four major betting operating platforms Saturday. This comes at an exciting time for sports fans with some of the biggest NFL games of the season right around the corner. Cam Rogers - Host of Lock It In with Cam Rogers, Betting Analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The United States purchased over 600,000 doses of a monoclonal antibody treatment from Glaxosmithkline and Vir Biotechnology, bringing the total worldwide doses purchased to 1.7 million. This comes as the country attempts to ramp up treatment options as cases of the omicron variant continue to surge. Dr. Asha Shah, Director of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Health joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Former wide receiver for the New York Giants, Victor Cruz has partnered with Krystal Restaurants, a popular burger chain in the South, to bring the franchise to his home state of New Jersey. Cruz and Alice Crowder, CMO of Krystal Restaurants, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the venture. The five new locations will be known as "Victor Cruz's Krystal," decked out with memorabilia from his football career, with the former player explaining how "hands-on" he plans on being. "You never know, OK? You might walk in and Victor Cruz will be flipping a burger back there, and you might be getting it directly from the source," he said.
Max Bichsel, vice president at Gambling.com Group joins Cheddar News to talk about the growing sports betting industry, New York legalizing mobile betting, and 2022 predictions for the sector.
Cody Roark, NFL analyst at Pro Football Network joins Cheddar News to talk about NFL playoff predictions and which teams have a shot at the Super Bowl.
Mario Stefanidis, Vice President of Research at Roundhill Investments, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the implications of the Take-Two deal to purchase Zynga, as the gaming giant looks to become a major player in mobile gaming.
Covid cases have started to spike again across the nation, and this time they seem to be hitting some of our youngest and most vulnerable - school-aged children. School districts across the nation - including the country's largest public school system in New York City- are all grappling with what to do as teachers and students alike continue to miss school in droves.
Katie Honan, reporter for the New York City-based non profit news organization, The City explains how educational leaders across the country are handling covid demands from both teachers and parents alike.
For the first time since September, Bitcoin fell below $40,000 early Monday. The currency's average short-term price has now dipped below its average long-term price, which is known by a rather dramatic term, a death cross. According to analysts, the indicator appears to be a result of mounting concerns of faster liquidity withdrawal by the US Federal Reserve. The crypto slump also follows a week of rough trading for equities overall. CEO Snickerdoodle Labs and Co-Founder of the Stanford Future of Digital Currency Initiative, Jonathan Padilla, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
