In the wake of multiple reports of substandard medical care at migrant detention centers in the United States [see citations below], the APhA Board of trustees has issued the following statement decrying the conditions at these centers.

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is concerned about media reports regarding the state of healthcare delivery to individuals residing within migrant detention centers across the United States. America’s pharmacists call for individuals to have timely access to appropriate and necessary medications and the patient care services of pharmacists to treat and manage acute and chronic medical conditions.

APhA opposes legislation, regulations, requirements and restrictions that impede migrants in immigration detention centers access to their prescribed medications or patient care services provided by a pharmacist. APhA also opposes the inappropriate prescribing and administration of medications as restraints and encourages adherence with established standards of care without compromising individual’s rights.

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Selected media reports:

• Medical care in immigrant detention centers under fire
• Unconscionable': Asylum-Seekers In Texas Detention Center Report Being Denied Cancer and Mental Health Treatment
• Women Are Being Denied Cancer Treatment, Psychiatric Help At ICE Detention Center
• Letter Urges Homeland Security to reconsider decision not to vaccinate families against flu at Customs and Border Protection
• Customs and Border Patrol’s Flu Vaccine Policy Breaches Basic Public Health Tenet
• Migrant mental health crisis spirals in ICE detention facilities