Medical Alert in Texas Women's Prison
To whom this should concern:
I am writing this on behalf of Ms. Alesha Smith (699350), Ms Tiffany Marie Brown (620484), and any other human being who has received excessive sentencing for crimes as a teenager while under the influence of drugs.
I am deeply concerned over the inconsistency of the administration of prescription drugs inside TDCJ. Not only is this a physical health hazard but for inmates who receive anti-depressants the off and on delivery of these drugs causes emotional crisis which lead to major cases and thus canceling out possible parole in the future. If the inmates are given a prescription for any mood altering drug, they need to have this prescription refilled on a regular, stable basis or their moods will alter dramatically. This should be considered in parole evaluations. Just looking at the black and white page reading one major case in 2 1/2 years and stamping parole denied due to lack of adjustment to the system is not a just decision when that case happened when the inmate was not receiving medication.
When an inmate, for whatever reason, fails to recieve their prescription, it takes four days for a letter to arrive to me in which they ask if I can help them recieve their medication. This is after they have dropped forms requesting help from the medical staff. If and only if I am signed on to their medical release form, can I then call the department and ask them to make sure the inmate receives their medication. If I am not on the list, there are further delays. I agree it is necessary to have policys and procedures, however while we are following policy, the inmate's emotional system is reeking havoc and cases will be written up...and parole denied.
When teenagers are convicted of drug related crimes and receive 40 year sentences, they as human beings, are bound to go through depression and consider suicide. This happened to both Alesha and Tiffany. A stable and consistant program is needed here. What they have received inside TDCJ since I have known them, is the exact opposite.
I met Alesha Smith approximately ten years ago when another inmate wrote to me saying that Alesha wasn't receiving her psych meds and that the guards were verbally baiting her in order to be entertained by her reactions. Five inmates witnessed this and gave statements. This problem was resolved through the help of the warden. However in the meantime, the documentation on Alesha remained accusatory without any notations that here psych meds had been cut off.
A few months later, Alesha was transferred to another unit and once again was unable to obtain her meds. She had to go through another period of maladjustment on the books which also does not record the underlying reason for her emotional outbreaks. Any human being on psych drugs needs a consistant application or they will not be able to maintain social composure.
This same sort of unreliable pharmacology has been applied to Tiffany Brown who I have known for approximately nine years. Last month Ms Brown asked me to call the medical department because she was no longer receiving her pills for nausea which were prescribed at John Seely along with cancer preventative medication. Ms Brown had transferred from Carol Young to Sycamore and then to Hilltop for school. When I called the medical department, a cordial and very professional woman told me that the reason Tiffany's medication was not updated was because they hadn't transferred it from notes to the computor yet. This should have been done at John Seely. It must have been on the computor since she had been receiving her meds for some months after leaving Carol Young. These type of discrepancies in the medical computor system happen way too often. Once again this is not just a physical problem but an emotional plague on those human beings who have to depend upon the system to get their meds. In a span of ten years from Alesha's first request to this last one from Tiffany, I have not noticed any improvement in the medical records keeping.
Both Ms Smith and Ms Brown received accessive time for their crime. Ms. Brown's aggravated robbery was snatching a purse. None of the crimes involved any weapons or bodily harm. How can people who stab someone and attempt to kill them get only 15 years? I am not defending the acts that these women committed during their teens under the infuence of drugs. I am defending these women now in their thirties. They have matured. They still have families and children who love them and want them home. After 17 years they still are not hardened criminals. They are intelligent women who speak out for what they believe is just. They should not be condemned to more years of incarceration for that.
These are two women who when told that anyone giving a dying inmate water or any assistance would receive a case...could not just sit and watch someone incapable of getting any other help just lie there and rot..These two would do what they could to help and risk getting a case.*
These two women believe that if they must follow policy and procedure than the guards must follow policy and procedure as well. They have written countless grievances about guards not following TDCJ policy and have reaped countless cases based on retaliation.
These are women who have a reputation for not shutting up when other inmates are too afreaid to speak out. They are, upon that basis, classed as trouble makers and reap cases based on the fact that officers and guards do not want their own dirty linen hanging out on the line.
These women, like myself, are far from perfect human beings. They readily admit to their mistakes. They have progressed way past teenage rebellion and drugs into mature women who are passionate for justice. What kind of justice is there in holding them past 17 years???
These women could be utilized as part of their parole in programs for youth in Texas. They know exactly what it feels like to be caught up in the blind alley of drug infestation. They have suffered the consequences of their own youthfull actions and would be excellant and true adult guides pointing to something better than ending up behind the walls.
After seventeen years why not let them try to help alleviate some of the problems? If they break parole they will go directly back inside the walls.
Neither one of them tried to kill anyone so why not get them into a youth program to work off the rest of their sentence? If you have any doubts, visit with them. Go meet them. Their ability to speak up can be used as a positive and valuable asset for the state of Texas.
Most Sincerely,
Kathleen Knueppel
Gresham Wi 54128
*I have contacts that will verify the fact of the guards not allowing any help whatsoever to a dying woman and that they did threaten to write cases on any inmate who gave her water or any assistance.
A man at my husband's unit recently died of a heart attack.
But the reason he had the heart attack was because he was not given his heart medicine.
I don't remember if it was because the unit ran out of it or if they just didn't give it to him, but regardless, that was the cause of the heart attack.
All the inmates around knew that is what happened but the family will never know.
It is sad.
My husband sent home a list of his prescribed medication for me to look them up, 5 different pills for high blood pressure, and two of them said not to be taken with each other.
The docs don't care.
Looks like they just prescribe anything.
It is scary for them to go to the doctor because they will be worse off than before they went. Inmates need to look out for themselves and be cautious about what the docs give them and try to find out info from the library or family members about their meds, just to be on the safe side.
TPNS Member; Marleen
NEW WEBSITE TO POST PRISONERS' ABUSES
Greetings everyone:
Do you have a love one in lockdown?
Does he/she complain about physical or mental abuses?
Are they being denied medicines or are locked down in solitary
confinement for month on end?
Have you complain to the "proper" authorities with no avail?
Well here is a website to log your abuse complaints and to link with
other activism on behalf of prisoners as well.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
This is the website to log abuses, name names, and let other know
what is happening behind the walls.
Find out what is happening in the prison industrial complex that your
tax dollars fund without your input.
Torture and death happens everyday right here in the United States
Prison System.
Get in touch with the truth and let people know that prisoner are
still human beings.
Log on to: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Hello my name is Ham'diya Mu (intercityvisionary ) and I'm with the
Human Rights Coalition here in Philadelphia, PA.
HRC is an educational/ prisoners' rights advocacy group.
Please check out our site and feel free to give us feedback so we can
better serve inmates and their families and society.
[This letter below is horrible on how our loved-ones are treated when they become sick/ill!
This too needs to be reported to the SunSet Review Committee!!!]
BELOW IS ONE CASE THAT WAS SENT TO TPNS.
IT'S TIME TO TELL THE STORY IT'S TIME TO LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT OUR
LOVED-ONES ARE DYING IN TX PRISON AND THEY WERE NOT SENTENCE TO
DEATH ROW.
Letter From The Sister of Dead Inmate;
I am writing in regard to my brother Larry. He was an inmate in
Estelle Unit in Huntsville, Tx. He died of renal cell cancer Sept
22,2004.
To Whom it may concern,
As a sister to a beloved brother who recently died in prison in
Texas at the age of only 46 years old. I am seeking prison medical
care reform. The medical care in Texas is atrocious. Something needs
to be done to change his system.
Many die needlessly because no one seems to care about them as
human beings; therefore they are being treated inhumanely when it
comes to their medical needs.
My brother died of renal cell carcinoma. If the cancer had
been caught early, as it should have been, he may not have died.
Below is my account of my brothers cruel treatment at the hands of
the prison officials and the medical staff of the Texas Dept. Of
Criminal Justice.
Around June 18th 2004, my sister Mariam called to tell me about the
shocking news she has just learned from my brother. Larry
Dupplechain, regarding the possibility that the pain he had been
feeling in his shoulder for so long, may be bone cancer. My brother
had been complaining for over a year about pain in different parts
of his body before his cancer was FINALLY diagnosed.
On June of 2003, while looking at an x-ray of his lungs, he asked
the doctor if that spot should be there. The doctor told him no.
Larry then asked the doctor shouldn't we find out what that spot is?
The doctor just blew him off and told Larry he was not that worried
about it.
Larry then started having severe pain in his lower back. He
complained over and over again about this acute pain to unit medical
staff. An x-ray was finally ordered and the doctor
noticed "something" on the x-ray. Larry was told he had severe
arthritis and that it was unusual for someone his age to have that
severe a form of arthritis. He was told to exercise more.
Larry continued to complain about this severe back pain, but no one
would take him seriously. Larry then started having severe pain in
his right shoulder. Again he complained; about this awful pain. Once
more, his complaints were ignored.
The doctor finally ran an x-ray of Larry shoulder area and told him
that nothing was wrong with his shoulder-again he was told he needed
to "work it out".
The pain worsened, and became so intense that Larry was unable to
use his right shoulder and arm any more. Due to not being able to
raise his arm because of the pain, his right arm shrunk to half the
size of his left arm.
Larry started to loose a lot of weight. Still his complaints that
something was seriously wrong , continued to be ignored. According
to the letters Larry wrote his family, the pain was constant and
unbearably.
These are the words he used in one letter to describe the pain in
his shoulder (letter dated May 16 ,2004)
"it burns and throbs and just plain out keeps me in agonizing
miserable pain that goes on for every second of every minute of
every hour of every day, 24 hours a day 7 days a week and non-stop.
I am very serious about that! Even my cellie goes "God, 'I've never
seen anyone in so much pain"...I mean I literally rock myself into
complete total exhaustion before (hopefully)" I am able to get some
sleep. As a matter of fact, I probably slept in the last 3 days a
good 3 or 4 hours! And that is the truth. I can't sleep at all
with all the ungodly constant pain I've been enduring for so--so--so-
-long".
He also wrote a medical complaint about this pain, describing in
much same way and NO ONE would help him.
Larry complained to the prison officials again and again. The
doctors would only give him Motrin for the pain. He told them he
needed an MRI done-that the pain was deep in his shoulder. Larry was
told that would never be done because that test was too expensive.
He even wrote a letter to the warden begging him to just come look
at him-to see he was not "faking it"-that the pain was real and he
needed help.
An x-ray was finally done on Larry's shoulder on June 16,2004 and
ONLY because the clavicle area of his shoulder had caved in. When
the nurse on duty saw Larry's shoulder, she was appalled. The x-rays
showed many white spots on Larry's right shoulder, his chest and
down his right arm. He was told these spots could be bone cancer.
These x-rays were sent by computer to one of the doctors ar John
Sealy Hospital. When he viewed them he told the doctor at Estelle
Unit to get Larry over to John Sealy Hospital in Galveston as soon
as possible-on an emergency basis. It took Larry 3 weeks to actually
make it to the hospital in Galveston.(Grievanc e WB Re#2004196851)
When Larry finally did arrive it was determined that his cancer was
in his kidneys, his lungs and his bones and was terminal. He was not
given any further medical treatment. The only medication that was
given to him for his severe pain was Tylenol 3 (not until my family
obtained the help of an attorney-and only because we obtained an
attorney)
Once Larry was sent back to the Estelle unit, he was told over and
over again that his cancer was treatable. Time after time, he was
told that he would be going to John Sealy hospital to have tests run
to determine what kind of cancer he had, but then he would never be
sent. His pain only worsened. Again the only medication provided was
Tylenol 3. My family wanted to know what Larry's prognosis was, but
No One and I mean No One would tell us or Larry. I must have spoken
to 20 people at the Estelle Unit and John Sealy. All I ever got was
a run-a-round. When I called Estelle I was told Larry's records were
at John Sealy. When I called John Sealy, I was told they were at the
prison unit. Again, no one would give us a diagnosis or a prognosis.
The Texas prison system has protected itself from giving out any
information when it comes to the health of someone's loved one. I
feel that the reason for this is because they know they are harming
so many in the prison system and they don't know how many deaths
have been due to medical neglect and indifference.
Finally after contacting an attorney I was able to get some
information on Larry. I spoke to A Mr. Powers from Estelle Unit and
he told me that they thought Larry had renal cell carcinoma. From
his research (on the internet), he did not believe that Larry had
more than 3-8 months to live. This was such devastating news to my
family, especially when we knew that Larry had been complaining and
crying out for help for so long. We were told (by doctors and nurses
outside of the prison system) that if this cancer were caught early,
it was very curable. God had provided symptom after symptom so this
cancer could have been caught early, but the uncaring people are the
Texas Dept. Of Corrections "Refused" to listen to these signs and
therefore I blame them for my brothers death.
The next week when my sister Mariam and I went to visit Larry we
asked him what the doctors have been telling him about his illness
(at the time his arm was in a sling because he no longer had enough
bone in his shoulder; to hold it up. He was in extreme pain and
still only getting Tylenol 3). He said that no one was telling him
anything, except to say he had cancer and they could treat it.
However no one was treating him and he did not understand the reason
why.
We then decided that Larry needed to know the truth, so we told him
what Mr. Powers told me about his diagnosis. He looked shocked. He
then started crying, because he knew he would never get out of those
prison walls alive. This was one of the hardest days of my life.
Larry was not allowed contact visits that day and I wanted to hug
and comfort him, but there was a wall between us. It was devastating
to watch him walk back to his cell to deal with this news alone.
The next week I called the medical unit at Estelle to find out why
Larry was not getting any treatment for his cancer. As is always the
case, when you contact that dept...I got the run-a-round. Denise Box
assured me that Larry was being taken care of, that he was doing
well and his pain was being treated. She also told me that Larry had
an appointment to see the doctors at John Sealy hospital for
treatment of his cancer. Mariam told me that when Larry came out to
the visiting area, he was barely able to walk. He tried to sit down,
but could not. He said he was in extreme pain in his chest area. My
sister told him he had to sit down or they would not be allowed to
visit. She said it took him 5 minutes to actually be able to sit
down. She said that throughout their 2 hour visit, he moaned and
cried from the pain he was in-this was in. She said that others in
the visiting room kept looking at him with pity and concern. He told
my sister if they were going to treat him like an animal, he wished
they would go ahead and just kill him to get him out of the pain he
was in I was appalled and horrified when Mariam called me that night
with this report.
During this visit Larry had told her that on Monday of that week he
was to get his belongings because he was going on chain to John
Sealy Hospital. When he reached down to pick up his typewriter, he
was in such severe pain in his chest area (we were told later it was
due to his lung cancer) that it took his breath away. He said an EKG
was done at unit and he was told that nothing was wrong with his
heart and he was sent back. He was never sent to John Sealy that
week.
He again begged for help and relief from his chest pain.
Another EKG was done. Larry said the nurse on duty was upset
because she had to work and was very rough with him. When he
complained to her that she was hurting him , she got even more
perturbed. After she completed the EKG she left the pads on his
body. When he asked her if she was going to remove them, she told
him to keep them as a present and refused to remove them Larry said
that the pain continued all week and hurt so much he could not sit
or lie down. So what he would have to do all week was is stand up
until he was so exhausted that he collapsed into the bunk.
When the guards would come by to give him his food or medicine, he
would ask them if they could please bring these items to him because
he could not get up fast enough for them. They refused to do even
this for him. When he could finally get up he would ask them if he
could have his food and medicine and they would tell him that he
should have gotten up when they came-so he was not given food or
pain medication, if he happened to be lying down.
When visitation was over and time for Larry to go back to his cell,
he asked Mariam to beg the warden on duty to not make him be strip
searched, because the pain was so horrific. Mariam was told there
was no warden on duty that day and this was not allowed. Mariam
decided she could not go home and leave Larry in that condition. The
sergeant told Mariam that he had no doubt Larry was in pain but that
the problem was up to medical to place restrictions.
The officer on duty also told Mariam that they were always having to
rescue inmates that needed medical help at Estelle. This officer
called medical dept and told them they needed to make sure Larry was
being treated. He then told Mariam that the medical staff at Estelle
would not allow Larry to die now... because they knew this officer
had to do a report and this report would go to their supervisors.
Mariam called the medical dept later that night to check on Larry,
but everyone refused to give her any information about him. Mariam
was told that they did not have to give out that information to an
inmate's family Monday morning I called the medical dept. to see
what was being done for Larry. I spoke to Mr. Powers who told me
that Larry just happened to be in his office right then-that he was
complaining of chest pains. He denied that Larry was in the
condition that Mariam described to me on Saturday visitation. He
said that they were treating Larry.
I called my attorney to tell him what was going on. He called Mr.
Powers and was told that Larry was being sent to John Sealy hospital
because there was nothing they could do for him there. He also told
my attorney that a reporter and someone from a Senator's office had
called about Larry's condition (We had written letters to them
regarding Larry's lack of medical treatment for his shoulder pain) I
feel this was the only reason Larry was sent to John Sealy. I
believe in my heart that the employees at the Estelle Unit would
have left Larry to die in severe pain in lock up, as many other
inmates have done in the past, if we had not contacted people
outside the prison system.
Mr. Powers told me later that afternoon that many inmates just
pretend to be in pain to get help..trying to convince me this was
the case with Larry. How awful that someone with this attitude is
being paid to treat the inmates medical conditions at Estelle
Unit..How very sad. When we went to visit Larry at John Sealy
hospital (as my sister from Colorado said) the look on his face
resembled the face of someone who had been in a Nazi camp. It was
the look of someone who had been terrorized for a long time.
According to Samatha McClanahan, an employee with the Offender
Family Hotline, whose job it is to review medical neglect complaints
by family members of inmates, Larry's condition was ignored. She
sent this report to the University of Texas Medical Center. I was
told that I could not get a copy of this report because I had
contacted this dept by phone-so they only had to answer me by
phone.. Again more Secrets.
To add more cruelty to everything Larry had already suffered at the
hands of the TDCJ/UTMB Larry was not allowed to go home to die in
peace with his family. Even after and early parole board employee
came to the hospice, saw how thin Larry was..he looked like an end
stage aids patient by this time) SAW (that Larry had a catheter
because it took to much out of him to walk to the toilet every time
he had to urinate, SAW (that Larry has lost use of both of his arms
due to his cancer) SAW (that Larry could harm no one) the parole
board refused Larry's case so that Larry could be released from
prison and die somewhere else other that inside those prison walls.
I tried for over 3 weeks to get a priest to see Larry so he could
receive the sacraments of the dying by the Catholic Church-first at
the prison unit in Estelle, then at the prison hospital in Galveston
and then at the hospice. However, as was the case when trying to get
any help from anyone employed at TDCJ, no one would help get this
accomplished.
Before his death, it came to a point where Larry could no longer
swallow or talk. This was very difficult to watch, because he wanted
to talk to us badly and would try his best to relay some messages to
us. Sometimes we could understand him, but at other times we could
not. Three days before my brother passed away, he was forced-by TDCJ
employees at Palestine to take a shower..which meant he was pulled
out of his bed, put in a wheelchair and wheeled to the shower room
to be sprayed down (this occurred every 2 days).
He was told if he refused he would be locked down. This was an
extremely painful, humiliating needless thing to do to him (we were
told later..you could have requested a bed bath)..but no one ever
told us of this fact until we asked if he could be bathed another
way..should they have had to request this?
After watching Larry suffer like this for 2 days I felt the urge to
recite the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy by his bedside as he was
sleeping. I asked our Lord to please show his Divine Mercy by ending
Larry's suffering. I prayed that he would allow Larry to peacefully
pass away soon. I cried during the entire prayer, knowing I would
miss Larry terribly if my prayer was answered, but at the same time
realizing how relieved I would be once Larrys life was no longer
controled by the prison officials and he was no longer suffering..
and he was in Heaven at last.
Jesus answered my prayed and my dearly beloved brother died the next
day which was Sept 22, 2004. He died early in the morning, before
visiting hours, so he died without his family by his side. I do
believe in my heart though that Jesus was there to take Larry with
him to heaven-away from that horrible place, that had been his home
for the past 6 years of his life.
During this terrible ordeal, my sister and I met families whose
loved ones were dying in prison due to medical neglect. As was the
case with Larry, most of their loved ones deaths could have been
prevented had someone taken their complaints seriously.
Listed below are some brief facts of other horror stories we were
made aware of during the months we visited my brother during his
illness.
While waiting in the waiting area of John Sealy Hopsital to visit
Larry:
a.. 1) On August 7th 2 guards came in saying they had brought a
woman inmate from Gatesville with a broken leg to be treated.
Because the employees at John Sealy Hospital did not have the
paperwork for her, they told the guards thay had to take her back to
Gatesville until they received the paperwork. These guards begged
and pleaded with the employees at the hospital to leave the inmate
there (they said she had moaned and screamed out in pain the entire
5 hours to the hospital) Finally after about 30 minutes the hospital
employees agreed she could be admitted, after a doctor agreed to
sign the needed paperwork.
b.. 2) August 8 2004. --A woman was there to see her son who had
been on life support. She said he had pneumonia and was not taken
care of while he was at Estelle Unit..(same unit my brother was in)
She did not know if he was going to die.
c.. 3) August 11, 2004-- A women's daughter had been complaining
over and over to medical about not feeling well. She was ignored
and collapsed. She was now in hospital due to kidney failure
d.. 4) August 11 2004--Eight family members were called to the
hospital to be given the sad news that their loved one was not going
to make it. We were told by his family that he had been complaining
for awhile about not feeling well. He was told he was just lazy and
trying to get out of work.
While visiting Larry at the Hospice
September 1, 2004..2 sisters were there visiting their brother, who
was dying of cirrhosis of the liver. Same story..ignored and refused
care..He died several days after my brother.
Sept 1.2004..A woman was there visiting her dying husband. He was in
prison for a DWI and was scheduled to be released in April of 2005.
He had been complaining for a long time that he was not feeling
well. His complaints were ignored. He complained to his wife that he
was so ill he could not stand up, but that they were forcing him to
work anyway, He was finally sent to John Sealy and his wife was
overjoyed he was going to get treatment, However, this joy was short
lived. She found out several days later that his body was full of
cancer and that he was not expected to live much longer. He
passed away a week or so later. This inmate was only 42 years old.
Shame on the employees of the Estelle Unit. Shame on their
supervisors for not doing anything about their actions. Shame on
the State of Texas and Dept of Corrections and UTMB for allowing
this type of treatment to occur to inmates in their custody.
ANOTHER CASE
On July 9, 2004, my wife and myself were indicted by a grand jury
and were subsequently arrested. After two months in jail I was
diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. While undergoing treatment
(radiation and chemotherapy) I was told that if I pled guilty and
Kelee pled quilty to lying to the grand jury the murder charges
against her would be dropped and she would be sentenced to four
years. If I didn't plead out, Kelee would have faced life in prison.
I took the plea.
FCT
Murray Unit
1916 N Hwy 36 Bypass
Gatesville, Texas 76596
April 3, 2006
To who it may concern:
My name is FCT. I've been incarcerated on Lane Murray Unit since Sept 1997. My complaint is with the medical department Dr. David Curtis MD. I've several life threatening diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stomach problems, acute asthma, high blood pressure, clusters headaches, lower back pain.and latter my bowels syndrome, nueropathy in both feet and my veins are bulging with knots inside both legs. All because of my open heart double bypass done in the year 2000 at John Sealy Hospital produced by incorrect diagnosis and the lack of proper treatment.
My problems today is coming from my uncontrollable diabetes. I am suffering with my feet and can not receive proper shoes. I've seen Dr. David Curtis MD on several occasion. Everytime I was rejected and was told basically that the only way he (Dr. Curtis) would make sure that I receive proper shoes and protection was if my feet were to look as if "a crocodile had eaten them! " and the only way for me to recieve support hose was if I were to lose weight. This was told to me on my last MD visit on 1-31-06.
I've requested several times for Dr. Curtis MD to help me get medical shoes or write an I-C so that my family can purchase the shoes with the warden permission or refer me to PT (Physical Thereapy). I've begged for the paperwork for purchase from my family to receive proper fitting shoes. The shoes would protect and support my body weight, balance my feet, help with the nueropathy and help keep my veins from swelling and bulging.
Dr. David Curtis MD keep saying that the state of Texas has no money to take care of the seriously ill patients like myself. If this is true and so far I can say that we on Layne Murray Unit is not getting the proper professional and ensured medical treatments that our congress and senate and all government officials has introduced and received funding for such medical treatments and programs.
We're only tested on every Monday due to lack of supplies. We are given a peanut butter and jelly 3 to 4 times a week for snack. The other two days are cheese or maybe a hamburger patty. We are made to suffer only because we are inmates awarded to the state of Texas. This is not constitutional!! As for myself and many others heart attacks are very prominent on this unit alone! There are no proper evaluations for special needs release, no proper medicines and lack of treatment 98 percent of the time and not within the reasonable time frame or detecting once our complaint is given. Many times my complaints are made into a joke or just simply NOT heard.! Because of my illness diabetic, my eyes have cataracts but only because I am an inmate the thing that I am qualified for took me two years to get. My vision is poor! But I must wait until I am at home a freewoman before I can have surgery on my eyes. The saddest part about this system is that many of us (the inmates) worked and paid taxes for years! We made a mistake that the system of TDCJ is continually re-sentencing as well as denying us our human rights.! We have no voice! May God help us and get some help for the prisoners. We are treated less then any animal or insect on this face of the earth, we are considered nothing! Worthless! But a dollar a head, the money is going into pockets not programs and health care for the person that sin, the less fortunate that made a mistake, the inmate, the prisoner.
I am begging for help! We need this system to be over haul. We need a millennium 20th century system not a 1800"s. Please hear my voice and look into our medicals complaints, deaths, and miss diagnosis. Also look into our medical staff's history of work and look at our dietary programs.
Thank you for your time
Sincerely,
FCT
Another case of
denied medical attention:
"There's a problem going on and it concerns us all being this is a medical unit.
There are new washing machine operators.
They are either overloading the washers without adding extra soap and bleach or they have cut back on the soap and bleach.
On this unit we are not allowed to wash our personal clothes.
We are issued what's called a mesh bag and we put our clothes in it and turn it in to be washed.
Everybody's mesh bag is washed together.
There has been a problem.
Our clothes in our mesh bag is coming out dirty and grimey.
Brand new t-shirts, sport bras comes out dingy.
It was not like this before.
And I am concerned for all of us because being this a medical faciltiy and people have all types of infectious diseases like staph and scabbies their clothes are washed with all the others.
Lots of ladies are complaining to the Captain Walton who is over laundry but we have the same problem.
Do you think you can make a few calls here so we can get clean clothes again.
We can get a case if we are caught washing
(if the officer want to enforce it).
I have stopped turning in my bag because my clothes came back dingy.
I wash them in the shower.
I feel this is a great health issue being this is a medical facility.
Concerned Female Prisoner
Carole Young Medical Facility
Rt 4 Box 1174
Dickinson Tx 77539
Suffering Inmates/Inadequate Medical Care
By UTMB:
David Marin #562385
1200 Fm 655
Rosharon Texas
Got ill March 2002
Bleeding from rectum (psuedomembrane Colites)
was seen at John Sealy 3-4
times,
medications were prescribed,
but substituted (Sulfasalazin)
which
made him worse
other medications were altogether denied
once he returned
to his unit.
He is being threatened with violence
by cellmates due to
the fact
he soils his clothes with fecal
matter which has a foul oder
and also is bleeding rectally.
UPDATED NEWS 2004:
DAVID HAS NOW BEEN TRANSFER
TO A MEDICAL UNIT AND RECEIVING
BETTER CARE!
THANKS TO HIS FAMILY, TPLU AND TES.
Andrew Earl Williams #751192
8602 Peach St. Monford Tc-4-19
Lubbock Texas 79404-7705
Hep c and heart lung problems,
not getting any treatments.
R. Garcia #792815
PO Box 16
Lovelady TX 75851
Denial Dental care.
Kelvin Thomas #815684
Jester III Unit Plantation
Richmond Tx 77469
Is paralyzed from the chest down,
said they are not doing
what the
doctors in Glaveston ordered.
UPDATED REPORT:
THANKS TO TX CURE,
KELVIN IS NOW PAROLED HOME
AND DOING WELL.
Charles Hubert Meneil #405019
E2-C2 Jester 4
Richmond TX 77469
Has a film and knots on his private parts,
no treatments.
Dalton Vaughn #776917
1300 FM 655 Dorm-A2-49
Rosharon Texas
Went to John Sealy Hospital for oral surgery.
They refused to treat him
stating he was too old he is 81.
