Despite flags, Border Patrol staff didn't review fragile 8-year-old girl's file before she died
An internal investigation finds that Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before died on her ninth day in custody
HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of a an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before she appeared to have a seizure and died on her ninth day in custody, an internal investigation found.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the Panamanian child's parents shared the medical history with authorities on May 10, a day after the family was taken into custody.
But a nurse practitioner declined to review documents about the girl the day she died, CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility said in its initial statement Thursday on the May 17 death. The nurse practitioner reported denying three or four requests from the girl’s mother for an ambulance.
A day before she died, Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez showed a fever of 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius), the report said.
