Cuba : imprisoned American in 'normal' health

A US contractor who has been imprisoned in Cuba for nearly three years is in "normal" health and medical tests show he does not have cancer as his family fears, the Cuban foreign ministry said Wednesday. On Monday, a Cuban medical team attending 63-year-old Alan Gross met with US diplomats and medical personnel attached to the US Interest Section in Havana to discuss his condition, the ministry's statement said. Gross's hopes of being released on humanitarian grounds appeared to have been set back by the Cuban findings. His lawyer, Jared Genser, called for an independent examination by a doctor of Gross's choosing, saying it was "the only way he will feel confident in them." The report comes nearly two months after Gross's lawyers said a review of Cuban medical test results by an American doctor had found an unidentified mass under Gross's right arm that could be a life-threatening cancer. But the foreign ministry said a biopsy performed on October 24 on a lesion behind Gross's right shoulder "confirmed that it was not carcinogenic." "The Cuban medical team likewise ratified that the general health condition of Mr Gross is normal and that he is receiving the treatment required by his diseases, including the chronic illnesses that are typical of his age, which he had been suffering from even before his detention," it said. It said the biopsy could not be performed earlier because Gross had refused to take the test. In raising the possibility of cancer, Gross's lawyers had also said that he had lost 47 kilograms (103 pounds) while in prison. But the Cuban statement said the weight loss was due to a regime of voluntary exercise and a balanced diet that "has allowed him to get rid of his formerly obese condition. His body weight is normal." "Mr Gross keeps in touch with his wife and family by phone on a weekly basis and receives consular visits every month," the foreign ministry said. Genser, however, said the Cuban government had provided "no clear medical explanation" for the weight loss and said a US oncologist would soon be applying for a visit to Cuba to examine Gross. "We urge the Cuban government to allow this to happen promptly so we can put questions about Mr Gross's health to rest," he said. The lawyer also complained that the Cuban government's release of Gross' medical records was "a regrettable breach of the confidentiality that any patient should expect from their doctor." Gross, who worked in Cuba for a company contracted to the State Department, is serving a 15 year prison sentence for "acts against the independence or territorial integrity" of the communist-ruled island. He was arrested in December 2009 for illegally distributing laptops and communications equipment to members of Cuba's small Jewish community. Gross' wife Judy has appealed for her husband's release or a break from jail on humanitarian grounds. She has been rebuffed by the Cuban government, which is proposing to swap his freedom for five Cuban spies imprisoned in the United States, an idea Washington has rejected. On November 16, Gross's lawyers filed suit against the US government and his employer, Development Alternatives, for $60 million, claiming that they failed to train him for work in Cuba and did not protect him.