Rawdoaze[a, if that weren't so scary, it would be hysterical. My son has a background in physical therapy. He tried to tell the APN that he was familiar with back exercises, but wasn't able to do them because the pain they caused was too severe and he asked for a muscle relaxer. She asked him several times if he was refusing to do the exercises. He tried several times to tell her he wasn't refusing, he simply could not do them due to the pain. She asked was he refusing so many times that he finally got upset. She then had the guard come and take him out and nothing further was done.

Wisconsin, I completely agree. I have often thought both the lack of knowledge and attitude of these people would not be tolerated on the outside, so they work in a prison.

This total lack of medical treatment is not really a prison issue, but a human right's issue.

If you don't agree with them, then their answer is to call for a CO to escort you out of the area.

I am so sorry that your son is being treated this way. Nobody----not even a dog----deserves this. And to think that they are treating someone who put his life in jeopardy for his country in the military just makes me even more livid.

rewidazepam

Thank you Rewidazepam from my heart.

The DOC is not being completely forthright with you. At the worst, they are lying and at the best they are just disingenuous and leaving out a few facts. Take your pick.

It is true that they contract out their medical personnel, but what they have conveniently failed to tell you is that they---the DOC----has almost total control in the manner in which the medical personnel practices medicine.

It is not as if the doctor there can prescribe any drug he deems necessary or that he can order any test he feels he needs to make a diagnosis. No, the DOC dictates to him what meds he can or cannot prescribe and what tests he can order done and what he cannot.

No, the actual people in medical do not directly work for the DOC; the DOC does not pay their salary, but they might as well do so, as the DOC dictates to them how to practice medicine.

I just hate it when a DOC person talks to someone who knows little about the prison system and just gives them some kind of snow job.

rewdiazepam

and I know Rew has said this but the DOC is also solely responsible for his health. Since he can't go out and get his own. It might even be prudent to start writing your politicians, federal if he is in a BOP prison or state if he is in a state run facility. Politicians do not like hearing things about the prisons under their watch with holding medical treatment. Because it is a Human Rights issue...

I am guessing the medical units work like they do in the real world... If you are contracted to work for a facility, you don't work for them but they still do "manage" you and what you do there... even if they don't pay your check. The employer that has hired the services of the contractor or the agency that supplies the contractors has FULL control of what is done while at their facilities, if they say otherwise, they are probably lying... or the person you are talking to, has no idea how a contractor and what they do is handled in the world of business.

Indeed Feeling,

It is extremely difficult to get proper medical care.
My son is incarcerated in a Fed facility in Yazoo City, MS.

He has been in almost 7yrs. He developed some sort of stomach/upper adomen pain about 2yrs ago.
This debilitated him to where he could almost not keep food down. Just about two months ago, he FINALLY had a colonoscopy which showed he had a problem in his large intestine. His "doctor" suggested he now have an endoscopy ( from the top down). That will probably take another 2 yrs. We did write the warden, and the Medical Division over the Fed prison in D.C.---just keep at it...its a very sloooowwww process.
Good Luck!

My son is still in a county facility, but under the control of the US Marshals. He will eventually end up in a federal facility. He has a few medical issues, emphysema, marfan's, an enlarged aorta, and IBS. He needed immodium and pepto to control his IBS, inhalers for the emphysema, and he is supposed to get a chest x-ray and an echo done minimum once a year. He had suffered a collapsed lung 4 years ago (before prison) and needs to be monitored because it probably will happen again.
When he was in the first facility in Montana, I emailed the "Captain" the guy who ran the place, and pointed out that it was a medical issue, not a prison issue. I also told him that if absolutely necessary, I will sue. I have power of attorney, I have the ability to sue on my son's behalf. He did tell my son that "Mom threatening to sue was a bit over the top" but it got my son the meds he needed.
Like rew suggested, keep a written record, and keep on the idiots in charge. My mom used to say "it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

The best way to deal with these types of problems is to Identify the practitioner by name, and then file a complaint against them with the State medical board, which has rules that all medical practitioners MUST follow, regardless of where they might be employed. Another thing to consider, is filing a law suit in federal court based off of 28 USC 1983, and the eighth amendment.