The Pathetic Condition of Medical Care in Federal Prison!-An inmate's Story

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 8, 2009 -- This is a copy of a letter that I received from a federal inmate at FCI Beckley in Beaver, West Virginia. He had been waiting for dental care for over one year without any success. His mother called me and asked me if we could help. Here is his letter to me in his own words. His name is withheld for fear of retribution. By Rande Frantz, Federal Prison Consultant.

“In March or April of 2008, while at FCI Beckley, I chipped my tooth and my filling came out. I went to sick call and signed up for dental. I wasn’t seen till over a year later. In April or May of 2009 I was on the Call-Out Sheet for dental. When I got down there it was to have my teeth cleaned. I told Ms. Lucus (dental assistant or dental technician) I did not sign up to have my teeth cleaned. She said, “Yes you did or you wouldn’t be on the Call-Out Sheet.” So we started to go back and forth about who was right or wrong. I told her I wasn’t the only (Name Deleted) here. She said that didn’t matter because it was me who signed up to have my teeth cleaned. So I said, “Show me” and she got mad. She said, “Fine”, and went and got a refusal form. She told me I was refusing dental care. I said I wasn’t. I told her I came over a year ago to have my filling put in. She said that can’t be. So I told her I’m not your lie or anyone else’s. Then she said sign this refusal form. I said no, then she said if I don’t she’ll lock me up. (She was inferring the SHU (Special Housing Unit) also called the HOLE). I said cool. I signed the form but at the bottom, below my name, I wrote, “Ms. Lucus made me sign this.” So a few hours go by and apparently Ms. Lucus talks to the C.O. (Correctional Officer, i.e., guard). At recall that day, I was called to Medical. She has my file in her hand. But before I get there, the police, (C.O.), tells me I need to apologize to Ms. Lucus. I said, Why should I, I have done nothing wrong? He said something like it would get me a long way and keep me out of big trouble. So I take the high road and do it. So she has my file in her hand when I walk through the door. She tells me I was right about my filling being out over a year. She said I must have missed the Call-Out. I tell her I didn’t. So she said I should have told her she took an x-ray of my tooth over a year ago. So I get on the Call-Out list a week or two later. When I get there my other tooth needs care more. So I get that one fixed. Now the tooth with the filling out is still not fixed. So I go back to medical in June of 2009 and sign up for dental again. So she, (Ms. Lucus), spins me and tells me to watch the Call-Out. Two weeks ago, the day my mom called you, I go back to Dental again because the tooth with the filling out is hurting real bad. I’m eating aspirin like candy to make my tooth stop hurting. Ms. Lucus tells me to watch the Call-Out again. My name never appeared on the Call-Out. I ask her if she can give me something for the pain. I tell her the aspirin is making my chest hurt. I beg that lady for her help. She said it’s not her fault they are under staffed. I say it’s not my fault either. She said, “Say one more smart thing and I will send you to the HOLE.” I begged that woman for her help and she shit on me. Then last Tuesday they fixed my tooth, 18 months later.”

The information and details provided in this inmate’s letter are believed to be true. He would have no reason for lying. This is an actual inmate who experienced the problems and frustrations that are detailed in this letter. It was and continues to be very frustrating and exasperating for the inmates in federal prison. After all, it is their health and well being that is being jeopardized. The sad fact is that it does not have to be this way. I am sure part of the problem is lack of staffing and lack of qualified people, but attitude and the mind-set of some of the Health Service employees and prison staff in general also played an extremely important role in the overwhelming failure of their mission. Lack of funds reinforced this failure. If the Bureau of Prisons establishes policies, procedures, and adopts a Program Statement on the Care of Patients (Inmates), then all Bureau of Prisons’ facilities should be made to follow these rules and regulations and be held accountable. In this way, inmate health care can be uniform and standardized. It doesn’t have to be the absolute best, but it certainly shouldn’t be the absolute worst.


Unfortunately, this type of medical care in the Bureau of Prisons’ system is pathetic, appalling, and inexcusable. This is not an isolated case; it goes on all the time in all the prisons. Inmates in federal prison may be viewed as substandard citizens but does that mean they are only entitled to substandard or non-existent healthcare. As a country, aren’t we better than that?

More information can be found online at http://www.jailtimeconsulting.com

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