When it comes to getting proper pain management I would guess that it is going to be even harder in prison than it is outside. First and foremost, narcotics (which is probably what your son needs) are of high market value in prison... If he has any history or AODA status, he won't get anything beyond the Ibuprophen. And if he does happen to get the kind of pain meds he needs, he'll have to jump through hoops to get it as I am sure they will keep that stuff under lock and key and dole out a dose at a time.

Thank you for your reply. I know what you're saying is correct. He has no history of drug abuse. I was thinking more along the lines of a muscle relaxer. Do you think that would fall in the same catagory?

that is usually all left up to the discretion of the doc. They might fall into the list of a wanted medication for whatever reason...

The best thing is for him to do the asking, over and over and over and over and over and over...

I was hoping someone else had more ideas...

There is no doctor at the unit, but there are APNs. I guess you can tell that I'm new at this. It's all very confusing to me. Thank you for your suggestion. I'll pass it on to my son.

Here is the drug formulary they use in federal prison. I suppose state prison would be similar.

http://tinyurl.com/nb8oyeg

Don't expect any controlled substances for the pain. Wisconsin is correct in that opiates----morphine or codeine---will never be given and even minor pain relievers such as Darvon were not used when I was in prison. I notice that the formulary states that DEA controlled substances are confined to the pill line, but I never knew of anybody that ever received them.

Ibuprofen and acetaminophen seemed to be the drugs they use for pain, but I am sure the doctor can possibly do some form of override for something a little stronger in some cases----maybe in your son's case.

As for as muscle relaxants, on page 27 they list the muscle relaxants they use. I don't know that they are available at all facilities, but some have them.
Flexeril is included and it is a really good muscle relaxant.

They also list Soma on there, but trust me, they will not give Soma. It has been moved to a schedule III drug in most states and has a potential for abuse.

I would have your son ask for some Flexeril or another muscle relaxant, and I would keep asking until they gave him something. If they say they can give controlled substances at the pill line, then they can give Flexeril. If they continue to refuse him proper medical treatment, you might have to write a letter or make a call to the DOC or BOP headquarters and talk to the head medical staff there.

The main thing is that you will have to stay on their butts to get them to do anything-----call, call, call, and write the director if you have to.

rewdiazepam

My husband just had an issue with a severe gall bladder attack at a county jail, but under federal control. They wouldn't even give him ibuprofen. He had to literally collapse on the floor from the pain before they took him to the hospital. He got 2 doses of real pain meds there before they sent him back, but regardless what the doctor recommended, he got ONE ibuprofen at 7am, 1pm and 9pm. They are scheduling surgery sometime within the next 3 months (provided fed approves it as "necessary and life threatening)....he'll get 4 to 8 hours for the surgery then back to county and ibuprofen 3 times per day. Luckily he has a pretty high tolerance for pain. He has no drug or alcohol history either.

Thank you so much for the information. I have talked to so many people at DOC including the people in the Medical Director's office. I will pass the information on Flexeril on to my son and I will write a letter to the Medical Director. Sam66, I'm so sorry you and your husband are having to deal with this. I worked in the medical field for almost 30 years, but I don't understand this kind of medical care.

They may try to tell you that they don't have any muscle relaxants, but I think they do.

I saw Flexeril, Norgesic (orphenadrine), and Parafon Forte (chlorzoxazone) on the federal formulary, so I assume the DOC formulary also has a few muscle relaxants.

They will slow play you and stall, but keep after them. And yes, the lack of medical care in prison is a human right's issue but inmates have been so vilified by the media that few people care.

rewdiazepam

Rewdiazepam, we'll keep after them. I'm beginning to see that this is the only way to get anything done. I never really thought about medical care in prisons until just recently. Now, I think that people make mistakes, sometimes really bad ones, but they are still people and deserve proper medical care. As I said, I worked in the medical field for 30 years, but the people I worked with, including the doctors, were all very caring people and would go out of their way to help. That's the reason they were in the field. I know that prison is a completely different situation, but I just don't understand this kind of treatment from supposed medical professionals.

FeelingGuiltymom,

You will find that these "supposed" caring, medical professionals in prison are usually physicians that are scrub doctors who have lost their license at one time or another or are so old that they have not kept abreast of modern medicine. Many times they use PAs or Nurse Practitioners.

What competent physician would work for the DOC for substandard wages when they could be working on the street making three times as much?

And many times, the physicians truly want to practice good, competent medicine----and they do care---- but their hands are tied by the DOC. The DOC dictates to them how to practice medicine and if they don't comply, the DOC will find someone that will.

If you cannot get any help for your son at the prison level, I would suggest writing to the DOC headquarters and contacting the person in charge of medical at the department for the entire prison system. And I would start documenting each and every contact I had with them, what they said and how they responded to the problem.

When I was in prison, a young man had juvenile diabetes, but the DOC would not administer the proper insulin for treatment. As a result, he lost one of his legs. His parents sued the DOC for a ton of money for medical malpractice and negligence----and won.

Keep on them. They don't like it, but they have to provide standard medical care for the inmates.

rewdiazepam

Rewdiazepam,

There is no doctor in the medical department where my son is. They use APN's. I have been told by everyone from the Warden through the DOC that the medical care is contracted out and they have no control over it.

I'm in the process of writing a letter to the DOC Medical Director as you suggested. I have kept a log of every conversation that I have had with the prison and also DOC. DOC always goes back to the Medical Department at the prison to see what they have documented. I believe their documentation is at the least creative and at the worst partially lies. My son has field many grievances with no success.

I want to thank you for your interest and your help in my situation. As you know, there aren't many people that I can talk to for advice.

FeelingGuiltyMom

To give you an idea of the caliber of physicians in prison, when I went to prison I was taking Dilantin for a seizure I had once after I had a car wreck and almost went through the windshield.

Dilantin is not a controlled substance and has absolutely no potential for abuse. Nobody in their right mind would take seizure meds if the doctor did not feel they needed them.

One day I was summoned to report to medical; they pulled me out of education as they said it was urgent. When I met the doctor, he lectured me on the dangers of Dilantin. He told me it was a strong narcotic, was classified as Schedule II legally, and was used by many drug addicts.

I looked at him with a blank look on my face. I said, "Show me where it says anything like that."

He became annoyed, so I suggested he look in his PDR to show me. He sighs deeply and reaches for the PDR from the book rack. He fumbles through it for a few minutes and then points me to the section that deals with the drug he has described.

He had confused DILANTIN and DILAUDID. He pointed to Dilaudid, and I said, "That's Dilaudid. I don't take Dilaudid, I take Dilantin. That is two distinctly drugs Look at my records."

He did and did not say a word except that "he thought Dilantin was also a controlled substance."

At that point, I knew the quality of medical care available in prison.

I actually believe he got Dilantin and Dilaudid mixed up and might not have been sure of the difference.

Pure incompetence.

rewdiazepam

There is another part to this story which exemplifies how difficult it is to communicate with medical in prison as they think they know everything.

About a week later, I went to see him for an ear infection and he prescribed some antibiotics. He brought up the Dilantin/Dilaudid situation again.

I told him, "Are you sure you know enough about drugs to be prescribing them?" Obviously if he did not know the difference in Dilantin and Dilaudid-----two drugs which are as dissimilar as any two drugs I can think of----he was not qualified to be working and writing prescriptions.

He shouted, "When did you become such a drug expert around here?"

I thought for a second and said, "I have a degree in pharmacy."

That infuriated him even more and he said, "Get the hell out of here before I have you locked up."

Nice people.

rewdiazepam

Yeah I have had similar things happen with folks that believe they are smarter than everyone else in the room when clearly they are not.

I think all the bullies in the world ended up as prison employees cause in the real world they realized they couldn't bully people without consequences and in prison they can...

WI; amen to that!