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Detainee’s plea for medical help allegedly ignored
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Posted on Jul 12 2011
Wei Lin, a man in detention for allegedly obtaining a driver’s license fraudulently, has been discharging blood due to severe abdominal pain but his pleas for medical help have fallen on deaf ears, according to his lawyer.
Joseph James Norita Camacho, counsel for Lin, yesterday notified the U.S. District Court for the NMI that he has made repeated verbal, written, and email requests to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to have his client receive medical assistance.
“To date, Lin has yet to receive any medical assistance to determine what is causing the severe abdominal pain and the bloody discharges,” said Camacho in a motion for medical assistance.
Camacho said the court-appointed interpreter/translator is willing to assist to ensure clear and complete information when Lin is examined by a doctor.
Lin, a Chinese national, is charged with two counts of document fraud and a count of false statements to a federal agent. He has been in federal custody awaiting trial since his arrest in April 2011.
Camacho said the defendant has been experiencing severe abdominal pain for several months now, including the time of his present detention at the Department of Corrections in Susupe.
The abdominal pain, Camacho said, is so severe that it is causing Lin to discharge blood in his bowel movements.
The lawyer said he made a written request to DOC for medical assistance. He said a DOC nurse, with the assistance of an inmate acting as a translator, had examined Lin.
“No medication or remedy was prescribed and Lin continues to suffer severe abdominal pain,” Camacho said.
The lawyer said that, according to DOC, it is the U.S. Marshals that must bring Lin to a health center or clinic to obtain medical assistance since he is under federal custody.
