Gitmo doctor denies using feeding tubes to punish striking detainees News
Gitmo doctor denies using feeding tubes to punish striking detainees

[JURIST] Dr. John Edmondson, chief medical officer at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], has denied accusations that feeding tubes are being used to punish detainees. In an affidavit filed in federal court, Edmondson stated that only trained doctors and nurses were inserting feeding tubes and that anesthetic and lubricants were being used to ease the pain. The affidavit was filed in response to accusations [JURIST report] by an attorney for several detainees that troops were using dirty tubes and violently inserting feeding tubes into detainees participating in a rolling hunger strike [JURIST report] that began August 9. Defense lawyers filed an emergency petition [JURIST report] last week asking US District Judge Gladys Kessler for more frequent access to their clients, medical records and to allow their own doctors to visit the striking detainees. AP has more.