BMJ 1997;314:1297 (3 May)

News

Cuban refugees injured themselves to get into the United States

Terri Rutter, Boston 

Many Cuban refugees purposefully injured themselves or feigned illness in an attempt to be sent to the United States for treatment, according to doctors who treated them. Examples of the injuries include self inflicted burning, injection of diesel fuel, and ingestion of metal objects (New England Journal of Medicine 1997; 336:1251-3).

Frustrated by deteriorating economic conditions spurred by the collapse of the Soviet Union and dwindling economic support from Russia, thousands of Cubans attempted to sail to the United States aboard crude rafts only to be captured by US military forces and sent to Guantanamo Bay naval base, where they were held indefinitely.

While the US had previously allowed Cubans to immigrate relatively easily, in November 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno issued a policy allowing entry to only those under age 18, pregnant women, or anyone who had a medical condition that could not be treated . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Over the counter medicines: proceed with caution
Robin E Ferner and Keith Beard
BMJ 2008 336: 694-696. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ferner, R. E, Beard, K. (2008). Over the counter medicines: proceed with caution. BMJ 336: 694-696 [Full text]  
  • Iannini, P. B, Doddamani, S., Byazrova, E., Curciumaru, I., Kramer, H., Marinucci, P. (2001). Risk of torsades de pointes with non-cardiac drugs. BMJ 322: 46-46 [Full text]  
  • Parnham-Cope, D. (1997). Doctors have moral imperative to call for end to embargo on Cuba. BMJ 315: 1463-1463 [Full text]  
Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ