Families of SOs Community Group
WE HAVE MOVED!!! ............................. ............................... ......................... ............................ ............................. .......................... HERE: http://support-for-families.boards.net ............. ................ ............... ................ ............................... .................Please create a profile...
My son called me a few hours ago and was fighting back tears. He's been having some serious symptoms for the past three days...tightness in his chest and neck, nausea, shortness of breath, feeling lightheaded, and vertigo. He's pretty scared.
He has been to the medical department twice today and they did a few tests. However they didn't find anything abnormal, except a very slightly elevated blood pressure. Nevertheless, my son asked the nurse to send him to the hospital, because he is quite alarmed by how he feels. The nurse refused, because she didn't have any medically documented reason to do so.
My son knows a fellow inmate who is a medical doctor. He told the doctor/inmate about his symptoms and his experience with the nurse. The doctor/inmate advised my son to go back to the medical department, refuse to leave, and threaten to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, unless they send him to the hospital.The doctor/inmate told my son that, if they were in his office on the outside, he would immediately have him taken to the emergency room, because the tests they gave my son can potentially miss important things. He told my son this could lead to a fatal arrhythmia. My son really choked up and could barely speak to me, when he told me that. He's really scared.
I told him I'm here for him...but that sounded pretty weak, actually. I wish I could be THERE for him!!! I told him I would call and ask to speak to the nurse to find out what's going on and let her know I'm not going to leave them alone, until I know my son is being properly cared for. He was grateful.
I did call two times in the next hour, but I was not able to get through to the nurse. This is very typical of trying to communicate with prison staff. I did leave a message for the nurse to call me, but I've done that in the past and they hardly ever do call back. I intend to keep calling until I do get through, no matter how long it takes.
Does anyone have any advice or input? Is there something more *I* can do or should be doing to help my son?
He has been to the medical department twice today and they did a few tests. However they didn't find anything abnormal, except a very slightly elevated blood pressure. Nevertheless, my son asked the nurse to send him to the hospital, because he is quite alarmed by how he feels. The nurse refused, because she didn't have any medically documented reason to do so.
My son knows a fellow inmate who is a medical doctor. He told the doctor/inmate about his symptoms and his experience with the nurse. The doctor/inmate advised my son to go back to the medical department, refuse to leave, and threaten to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, unless they send him to the hospital.The doctor/inmate told my son that, if they were in his office on the outside, he would immediately have him taken to the emergency room, because the tests they gave my son can potentially miss important things. He told my son this could lead to a fatal arrhythmia. My son really choked up and could barely speak to me, when he told me that. He's really scared.
I told him I'm here for him...but that sounded pretty weak, actually. I wish I could be THERE for him!!! I told him I would call and ask to speak to the nurse to find out what's going on and let her know I'm not going to leave them alone, until I know my son is being properly cared for. He was grateful.
I did call two times in the next hour, but I was not able to get through to the nurse. This is very typical of trying to communicate with prison staff. I did leave a message for the nurse to call me, but I've done that in the past and they hardly ever do call back. I intend to keep calling until I do get through, no matter how long it takes.
Does anyone have any advice or input? Is there something more *I* can do or should be doing to help my son?
"I’m glad you liked the cert petition. I know what you mean about feeling alone in the wilderness. So often in the job, I feel like I am screaming in the wind. More often than not, it feels like no one hears me and no one cares. Ugh. The culture of hatred that you mentioned in your other email is not limited to the DOC. Unfortunately, there is way too much apathy and hatred towards criminal defendants in our legal system. But… we keep fighting, and eventually I believe the pendulum will swing closer to the center.
"I’m sorry to hear about your son's medical issues. I read your entire email. It sounds terribly frustrating and stressful. Ultimately, the DOC has a tremendous amount of power regarding how they treat inmates & very little oversight. Suing the DOC is one of the few ways to get them to treat inmates better but that is an uphill battle that requires resources. In the meantime, I would suggest that you continue doing what you have been doing. Keep complaining and making a record. There is validity to the saying about the squeaky wheel. And hopefully your son’s health will continue to improve.
"Your son is lucky to have such a good support system outside of the DOC."
I can find no instance where a prison health official has ever been criminally prosecuted. There may be a couple, but I could not find any.
rewdiazepam
I found the document that contained Judge Bohanon's quote.
Some of you asked about Judge Bohanon's quote. You could not find it in the court document, so I found it. It was not in the 1972 case, but in the 1978 case when it went back to court.
Apparently, the Battle vs Anderson went back to court several times. The link I previously gave was the first time they went to court in 1972. I included the link in one of my previous posts on this thread. The link below is for the original 1972 case----
http://tinyurl.com/hu4jnfn
They went back to court on the same case in 1978. Follow the link below and it will take you to the 1978 case. Scroll down the page just a bit and you will see Judge Bohanon's memorandum opinion and the quote.
http://tinyurl.com/hjylj5h
Hope this helps.
rewdiazepam
I don't think any family member has to worry about retaliation toward their loved one in prison unless you get smart with them or tell them how to run their medical department.
I have a lady friend whose daughter works at a minimum security prison as a nurse, and she gave me a few hints how to deal with medical. First, if you are the mother, tell them right off that you are the MOTHER of the inmate. She told me that many who work in medical are mothers themselves and telling them you are the mother often gets things done quicker. She also told me the when you call, NEVER try to tell them how to run the medical aspect of their department. It makes them furious.
Medical in prison is sub-normal at best and atrocious at it worst. Many of the physicians are retired doctors who are close to incompetent.
I, myself, almost get sent to SHU once for only questioning a physician, which add credence to the nurses advice not to question how they practice medicine.
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 was close to non-existent.
Any physician that does not know the difference between Dilaudid and Dilantin should never be able to practice anywhere, not even in a prison.
I actually believe he got Dilantin and Dilaudid mixed up and might not have been sure of the difference.
Pure incompetence.
rewdiazepam
PS When medical does make a mistake, the last thing they want to hear from an inmate is that they were wrong.
At some point in my conversation with the elderly physician, he said, "How would you know anyway?" I said, "Maybe because I went to pharmacy school?"
He got real huffy and said, "Get the hell out of my sight before I have your ass locked up." ha ha I laugh when I think about it. But they never think they are wrong.
Well, today is Tuesday, and lo and behold, I was contacted by TWO people in response to my email. One was a woman with the Private Prisons Monitoring Unit and the other was a woman with the Director of Clinical and Correctional Services' office. Whew! Somebody does care!
Here's the email I got from the Director of Clinical and Correctional Services' assistant and my response.
05/31/16 - Good Afternoon. Thank you for sending this to me, I have asked the Private Prison Medical Monitor to take a look into the concerns you mention here. She should be reaching out to you, her name is LG. Thank you, M.
05/31/16 - Thanks for responding, M. Yes, LG did call me this morning. Unfortunately, she can't tell me anything, because the form giving permission to discuss my son's case with me hasn't been submitted by him yet. As you can see in my long email, my son has been challenged with hurdle after hurdle in the process of obtaining that form, getting it notarized, and getting it submitted.
And today, I am presented with yet another hurdle in getting my son the help he needs. LG told me that she is on vacation and won't be back in the office until Wednesday, June 8. I told her I very much appreciated her calling me, even while she's on vacation. However, as you can see in my long email, there have been far too many obstacles put in my son's way to getting that permission form submitted.
Every time I have talked to prison staff or to my son, I am told another reason why NOTHING can be done and NOTHING can be discussed with me, his mother. I have to tell you this makes my blood absolutely BOIL!!!
I would like to share with you a judicial opinion that was issued by Judge Bohannon in 1978 as part of a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections...http://legaliq.com/Case/Battle_V_Anderson_457_F_Supp_719
"Persons are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. It is incumbent on the incarcerating body to provide the individual with a healthy habitative environment. Anything less would be to subject the individual to further punishment than was given by the sentencing trial court. With habilitation assured, then possibly or probably the inmate can decide to rehabilitate himself.
"But if the basic habilitative needs of the individual are not met then rehabilitation, reformation or redemption are not possible. Water, fire protection, air and food are necessities of life. Minimum space to call one's own is a primary psychological necessity. Without the basic minimums, prisons are doomed to failure, with both society and the inmate incarcerated therein the losers." Battle v. Anderson, 447 F.Supp. 516 at 525 (E.D.Okl.) - Read more at http://legaliq.com/Case/Battle_V_Anderson_457_F_Supp_719#@16c-2de:-59a
Judge Bohannon spoke the truth. This is the attitude that should be taken by any incarcerating body. However, based on the many hurdles that have been put in my son's path to decent health care by the Colorado Department of Corrections, I can only assume CDOC has just the opposite attitude.
In fact, the track record of Bent County Correctional Facility in providing my son with any medical care at all is such that it makes me highly suspicious that they are trying to cover up serious intentional neglect of prisoners' medical needs. I hope that is not the case.
However, if the CDOC chooses to make my son (and me) wait another week to get competent and comprehensive medical attention to his serious symptoms, then I have no choice but to believe it *IS* the case.
I trust you will do whatever is in your power to call on higher authorities who can address this concern at the earliest possible time.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to assist my son and me.
====
Rew, I really appreciate you sending me the PM with that link to the Bohannon quote. As you can see, I used it in the above email.
My son called me again today and he's still feeling better. However, he still hasn't received the form to sign or an appointment with a medical professional, even though he sent the kite on the same day he was told to do it...one week ago today.
Oh, by the way...that day he was denied access to the medical professional because he was 12 minutes late...there was no one else waiting to be seen. He was the only one.
One more good thing...the woman from the PPMU told me to tell my son to send a kite requesting to speak with her the next time she visits his prison. Evidently she makes the rounds visiting all the prisons in the state, checking up on their medical departments. She says she will "pull him in" and give him a chance to tell his concerns to her in person.
Wow! If THAT happens, it will be really great. I told my son to try and write as much of this down as he can and either give it to that lady or send it to me, so I can document it. I told him I try to scribble as fast as I can when he calls me, trying to get all the details correct, but I can't write as fast as he talks.
My son thanked me profusely and emphatically for all the help and support I give him. He knows he'd be in an even worse predicament without me. That makes a mom feel so good.