In exposés of the government’s atrocious and sometimes deadly medical neglect of immigration detainees, the May 11 editions of both CBS’s “60 Minutes” and The Washington Post featured the case of Francisco Castaneda of California, who died in February, a year after his penis was amputated in an attempt to stop a cancer that detention officials had refused to treat.  

Watch the "60 Minutes" segment "Detention in America."

Read the Washington Post articles from their Series: "Careless Detention:"

 "System of Neglect"

"Francisco Castaneda's Story" includes links to Castaneda's e- mails and his congressional testimony

Public Justice filed the federal lawsuit last fall, shortly after Castaneda testified about his tragic circumstances before a House subcommittee. Although the United States recently admitted medical negligence, eight other charges remain and Public Justice intends to see that Castaneda’s family has their day in court.  The lawsuit names the United States, federal and California state officials, and one private physician in California. 

Commenting on the suit filed by Public Justice on Castaneda’s behalf, a federal judge noted that “the care afforded to [Mr. Castaneda] by Defendants can be characterized by one word: nothing.”

E-mails obtained by The Washington Post, which were never provided to Castaneda’s attorneys despite numerous requests, show an attempt by federal employees to cover up the egregious medical treatment Castaneda received while in custody. 

“It is now clear that the federal government’s admission of medical negligence is simply a weapon of mass distraction,” said Public Justice attorney Adele Kimmel, co-counsel for the Castaneda family. “The government would rather admit negligence than produce documents exposing how outrageously it treated Mr. Castaneda.”

Reporting by “60 Minutes” Correspondent Scott Pelley and Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and Amy Goldstein shows the defendants not only denied Mr. Castaneda a biopsy, but also attempted a cover up by doctoring records, according to Public Justice Cooperating Counsel Conal Doyle, who was interviewed in the “60 Minutes” piece.  

“The United States' failure to disclose these records suggests that this culture of destroying or altering evidence has been ratified at the highest level, perhaps even by the Department of Justice,” Doyle said. “Ironically, it appears that the government has now attempted to cover up their cover up.”

To read previous coverage of the Castaneda case, click here.

To read briefs from the case, click here.