Cuba: Jailed American Alan Gross doesn't have cancer

Alan Gross, center, is visited by David Prinstein, president of the Patronato synagogue in Havana, and Adela Dworin, president of the Cuban Jewish Community, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. / CBS News

WASHINGTON The Cuban government says a test shows an American imprisoned in Cuba doesn't have cancer, countering a previous statement by a US doctor that a mass on his shoulder should be assumed cancerous unless proven harmless.

Cuban and American officials met Monday to discuss Alan Gross' health, Cuban officials said in a statement Wednesday. During the meeting officials discussed in part an Oct. 24 biopsy that confirmed that a lump on Gross' right shoulder is not cancerous. The one-page statement from Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the test "could not be performed before due to Mr. Gross' refusal" and that Gross' wife, a resident of the District of Columbia, was given the test results during a meeting in Washington on Monday.

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The Cuban medical team treating Gross said "the general health condition of Mr. Gross is normal" though he is being treated for "chronic illnesses that are typical of his age."

A U.S. doctor who previously reviewed tests performed on Gross in Cuba before the biopsy said they were inadequate. Dr. Alan A. Cohen, a Maryland radiologist, said in early October that the mass "has yet to be properly evaluated." Cohen suggested it would be preferable if Gross was immediately examined at a facility in the United States.

Gross, 63, has been in prison in Cuba since late 2009. He was working as a U.S. government subcontractor when he was arrested, and his case has become a source of tension in U.S.-Cuba relations. Both sides have spent the past several months going back and forth with statements about the growth on his shoulder. His lawyer and family want to be able to choose a doctor to examine him. The Cuban government has said his health is fine.

A New York rabbi who saw Gross on Tuesday also said the growth was not cancerous. Rabbi Elie Abadie, a gastroenterologist, told The Associated Press in an interview that he had examined Gross and received a lengthy briefing on his health.

Next week will mark three years since Gross was arrested.

[jkfcbs]

The situation of Mr. Gross is a total travesty. Thousands of other Cubans face the same or similar situations = JAILED FOR SEEKING/PROVIDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. The US gvmt, in my opinion, needs to seek the assistance of allied Western gvmts to ensure that Mr. Gross is released immediately. No person should be jailed for assisting others to access the internet. Many people from the EU and Canada use Cuba as a travel destination, most like the friendly people, and the reasonable prices; but the Cuban gvmt has a very dark side, which these tourists do not realize. The way ahead, is to get a boycott of Cuban tourism, and to immediately roll back the banking easements on Cuba; in addition, the curtailment of credit access and availability are musts. People, that intend to travel to Cuba need more awareness on the fact that arbitrary detentions, for minor infractions, can readily occur in Cuba. We had a case of teenager involved in a minor colision, with a rented car, and the teenager spent months in jail in Cuba, causing a massive amount of distress to him, his family, and friends; DICTATORSHIPS, AS THE CUBAN, DO NOT RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS. Arbitrary detentions in Cuba are not unusual, these are with extreme duress/punishments. In the case of the teenager in my view, was about extortion... In my opinion, Mr. Gross's situation is also about extortion, he is being used as a pawn/hostage to achieve the dictatorship's dirty work against the Gvmt of the US and against the people of the US. The sit of Mr. Gross is beyond pale, he has already served 3 years, for something in a democracy he would have never been arested for. And because this is a US citizen, we do not hear a pip from humanitarian agencies like amnesty international and others such.

[GNNNNick]

sign this plz to help free Alan Gross and for a rational policy with Cuba! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/open-honest-dialog-cuba-government-secure-release-american-operative-alan-gross/qcZC2pG2