58 immigrant children reunited, says US officials
Washington, July 13 : Fifty-eight immigrant children under the age of five have been reunited with their parents after being separated at the US border, officials said in a filing.
The filing on Thursday night comes as part of a class action lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed against President Donald Trump's administration's "zero tolerance policy", reports CNN.
Though the deadline for reuniting children under five has passed, in two weeks the government will need to reunite thousands more children aged five to 17 to meet the judge's next deadline.
Despite working extensively together, government and ACLU lawyers sharply disagreed on how to proceed in the case, according to the joint filing.
The ACLU asked for the government to provide a daily report of reunified families to the court starting next week and for additional details to prevent the government from missing future deadlines.
The organisation also asked the judge to set additional specific deadlines going forward. However, both parties appeared to disagree about appropriate time frames.
Although the new filing details the latest reunification numbers of children younger than five, it did not provide a total of how many kids older than five the government believes to be in custody.
It also does not offer any details on the process the government plans to use to reunite those families, or how it will work to reunite children whose parents have been deported, CNN reported.
The "zero-tolerance" policy to prosecute all adults crossing the border illegally resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents after entering the US, though this case was filed long before that policy and affects almost all families separated at the border still in government custody.
After an initial backlash, Trump signed an executive order aimed at keeping families together at the border.
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Health Minister warns hospital staff against sending patients to nearby pharmacies
Bengaluru: Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has cautioned hospital personnel against directing patients to nearby pharmacies for prescribed medicines, despite an adequate supply being available in the hospital.
In a post on his 'X' account on Tuesday, the minister stated that the Karnataka government is working to eliminate 'unnecessary' pharmacies near government hospitals. He wrote, "Necessary action has been taken against medical staff who ask patients to get medicines from private pharmacies instead of providing them free medicines at the hospital. Making free medicines available to patients at all primary health centres, community health centres, taluk, and district hospitals in the state is the primary objective of our government."
Discussing medical supplies, Rao said that the government has already successfully addressed issues related to tendering processes. With the necessary drug supply to all government hospitals rising to 70 to 80 percent, the government aims to ensure this supply level reaches 100 percent. The list of medicines available in hospitals has expanded from around 300 to over 1,000, and all these medicines will be provided to patients free of cost, he assured.
"No patient should be denied medication at a hospital, as our government is focused on providing free health facilities. We have implemented the special 'Gruha Arogya' programme for this purpose. Diabetic patients and those with high blood pressure will receive free medicines, which will be delivered to their homes," the health minister stated.
