Six Drug Enforcement Administration agents who forgot a San Diego man in a holding cell, leaving him without food or water for five days and nearly killing him, received only reprimands and short suspensions, a decision that led Obama administration officials and lawmakers to call for greater accountability and tougher disciplinary procedures at the agency, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The DEA officials told Daniel Chong that he would be detained for only a few minutes after they arrested him in a drug bust at a friend's house, where he had been smoking marijuana. Instead, they apparently forgot the then-23-year-old in the cell, and Chong was forced to drink his own urine to prevent dehydration.

When he was discovered, the University of California San Diego student was delirious and suffering from severe breathing problems, according to a report by the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General. Chong was rushed to a hospital, where he remained in intensive care for two days, having been close to death from kidney failure, his lawyer, Gene Iredale, told CNN. He has since won a $4.1 million settlement from the government.

Of the half a dozen agents involved in the incident, one was suspended for five days, while another was given a seven-day suspension for failing to supervise, DEA spokeswoman Amy Roderick said. All officials were given a letter of reprimand, she added.

Peter Kadzik, an assistant attorney general, complained about the agency's reaction in a letter to Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, who has been vocal about Chong's detention, CNN noted.

"While DEA leadership took immediate steps following the incident to implement protocols and procedures with regard to monitoring holding cells and detainees, given the significant misconduct at issue, the department has serious concerns about the adequacy of the discipline that DEA imposed on these employees," Kadzik wrote.

"DEA's failure to impose significant discipline on these employees further demonstrates the need for a systematic review of DEA's disciplinary process, which former Attorney General Eric Holder recently directed," he added.

Holder had announced last month that embattled DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart would step down in mid-May, the news channel recalled.