The chief medical officer for the Customs and Border Protection agency repeatedly asked staff members to order fentanyl lollipops for him to take on a helicopter mission to the United Nations in New York City in Sept. 2023, according to a whistleblower report by the Government Accountability Project.

The report was shared with Congress on Friday morning, and stated that Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alexander Eastman allegedly “spent copious hours of his and Office of the Chief Medical Officer staff time directing the OCMO staff to urgently help him procure fentanyl lollipops, a Schedule II narcotic, so that he could bring them on the CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter on which he would be a passenger in New York City.”

When asked why he would need fentanyl lollipops to travel to the United Nations’ General Assembly meeting, Eastman allegedly argued that the lollipops would be necessary for pain management in case of an emergency, and were “necessary” in case a CBP operator was injured, or if the Air and Marine Operations team encountered a “patient in need.”

Over half a dozen CBP employees were involved in the “urgent” requests to purchase the fentanyl lollipops, the whistleblowers said, with senior leadership in the office reporting concerns about the process in emails. Eastman’s attempts to order the lollipops were unsuccessful because there was not funding available, the whistleblowers said.

Eastman then “proceeded to write his own policy” for the procurement, storage and disposal of Schedule II narcotics, the whistleblowers alleged, after staff questioned the lack of such a policy. His first draft of the policy “initially omitted language regarding the storage and disposal of the narcotics.” Eastman also allegedly removed language that mirrored existing policies from the Drug Enforcement Administration, then signed the policy. Eastman failed to send the policy to senior leadership for approval, despite warnings that not doing so could be illegal, the report said.

With the self-signed policy, Eastman then allegedly ordered staff to order the fentanyl lollipops. However, the fentanyl lollipops could not be secured because a vendor could not be found in time, the whistleblowers said.

The report said that Eastman has previously been investigated by the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility for the improper ordering and procurement of narcotics, as well as illegally storing those narcotics with a friend. That friend, a paramedic and pilot, would have been the helicopter pilot during Eastman’s trip to New York City, the report said.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    And he improperly stores narcotics with “a friend”. The friend is the helicopter pilot.

    Man, i remember improperly storing narcotics with a friend in college. Amirite people?! Up top!

    Seriously though, what in the bright blue fuckamole is going on at Border Patrol. Jesus ballsack christ.

    • Jackcooper@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Fentanyl doesn’t absorb very well orally (pill form). It can absorb through oral mucosa, which is why lollipops are an option. Usually for serious cancer patients.

    • lingh0e
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      9 months ago

      Because it’s a easy and reliable way to deliver a measured dose.

      • Neato@ttrpg.network
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        9 months ago

        Is it? It requires a lot more time to consume and you have to watch the patient take it all instead of knowing they swallowed a pill. Is it for people that can’t swallow pills?

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The chief medical officer for the Customs and Border Protection agency repeatedly asked staff members to order fentanyl lollipops for him to take on a helicopter mission to the United Nations in New York City in Sept. 2023, according to a whistleblower report by the Government Accountability Project.

    Over half a dozen CBP employees were involved in the “urgent” requests to purchase the fentanyl lollipops, the whistleblowers said, with senior leadership in the office reporting concerns about the process in emails.

    According to the whistleblower complaint, Eastman “created a hostile and chilled work environment” through attempts to “flout law and policy,” and with his disparagement of other senior leaders and abusive treatment of other staff.

    Alvarez, who suffered from sickle cell anemia and heart disease, died after detention facility staff dismissed or downplayed her complaints of pain and declined to take her to the hospital multiple times.

    The CBP spokesperson stated Friday that the Department of Homeland Security launched a review of the OCMO following Alvarez’s death "to address the critical failures that led to this deeply upsetting and unacceptable tragedy.

    This review quickly identified serious concerns within OCMO, including mismanagement, and an insufficient focus on delivering consistent and quality medical care."


    The original article contains 748 words, the summary contains 201 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • outer_spec@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      9 months ago

      This isn’t a terrible summary but it fails to mention that Alvarez was an 8 year old migrant girl who was being detained, and not somebody related to the rest of this story

      The way this is worded makes it seem like Alvarez and Eastman are the same person who died of a heart attack because they didn’t get fentanyl lollipops in time