Border Agency Medical Officer reassigned after child’s death in officials’ custody
The news
The US Customs and Border Protection has relieved its chief medical officer after an 8-year-old girl died in agency custody last month.
The medical officer, David Tarantino Jr., has been temporarily transferred, according to a Homeland Security official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
Why it matters: The agency is changing its medical leadership.
Dr. Tarantino is the first CBP employee whose agency has publicly acknowledged taking action in its internal investigation into the girl’s death. The child had been seen 11 times by medical professionals while in custody before being taken to a hospital where she died. Dr. Tarantino was not immediately available for comment.
The Washington Post previously reported the transfer of Dr. Tarantino. The border agency has previously been criticized for its treatment of migrants in custody.
Background: Medical personnel ignored alarming signals.
The Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility has been investigating the death of the child, Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, a Panamanian national, who already had serious health problems before she and her family were apprehended at the Texas border last month.
Over a three-day period, medical staff examined Anadith nine times, according to preliminary findings in the internal investigation. No one contacted a pediatrician on duty. A nursing specialist rejected Anadith’s mother’s many requests to call an ambulance or go to the hospital.
Dr. Tarantino is the first person at the agency to hold the title of chief medical officer made in 2020. He helped expand medical care for people in border custody.
In a podcast interview in December, Dr. Tarantino said the agency’s medical staff had grown from about 12 contracted personnel at the southern border a few years ago to about 1,400 at the end of last year.
In building CBP’s medical capabilities, Dr. Tarantino that it was important for people to understand the population in agency custody.
“These are people who have traveled long distances,” he said. “Many have had underlying medical conditions before they started, and they certainly encounter medical issues and challenges along the way.” He added that medical officials may send migrants with “complex or emerging” cases to a hospital.
What’s next: The agency continues to review the incident and make changes.
Customs and Border Protection declined to say where Dr. Tarantino, a former Navy medic, had been transferred.
“We are bringing in additional senior leadership to drive action within the agency,” a spokeswoman, Rhonda Lawson, said in a statement Thursday.
The agency relies heavily on contract medical staff in its facilities.
Kitty Bennett contributed research.