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Alabama Department of Corrections
Apr 19, 2014 blog.al.com
WETUMPKA, Alabama -- Patricia
Smith was sent to an Alabama prison in February 2008 after her probation
was revoked over failure to make $50 monthly restitution payments. A month
later, the 58-year-old Birmingham woman was dead. Her estate filed a
wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that inadequate medical treatment at Julia
Tutwiler Prison for Women led to her death. The Alabama prison system --
plagued by budget pressures, overcrowded and understaffed facilities and
now Justice Department allegations over prisoner mistreatment -- remains
responsible for the serious medical needs of its prisoners. If those needs
are not met, what can a prisoner do? State and federal courts are wary of
inmate complaints, especially those filed without an attorney. Lawyers who
represent prisoners in civil rights complaints say that Alabama’s immunity
protection for state employees makes pursuing complaints a major challenge.
And even a court settlement can come too late, as in the case of Patricia
Smith. Response time: Smith had a history of high-blood pressure and heart
problems, which the defendants knew about, the suit claims. It named
Tutwiler’s then-warden, the Department of Corrections director of medical
care and Correctional Medical Services, the company contracted to provide
prison health care at Tutwiler and other state prisons. The inmate had a
history of high-blood pressure and heart problems. Medical staff advised
her to eat ice chips and drink Maalox. The was placed in a Tutwiler
isolation room on March 25, 2008, and over the next several days made
documented complaints about nausea, chest pains, diarrhea and
vomiting. The suit claims Smith’s complaints were made to corrections
staff and to the CMS medical personnel. She was taken to the Tutwiler
health care unit once between March 25 and March 31 and advised to lie
down. Medical staff advised her to eat ice chips and drink Maalox. On March
31, she was found unresponsive in the isolation unit, and the lawsuit claims
the CMS employees were not properly trained to use oxygen bottles and a
defibrillator. The lawsuit, filed by Montgomery-based attorney Mike Crow,
said Smith died of acute myocardial infarction, a heart attack. Crow said
the confidentiality agreement contained in the settlement of the lawsuit
prevents him from discussing the Smith case, but he said prisons and jails
in Alabama have medical staffing problems. “In my experience and
involvement in handling other prison and jail cases, most of these facilities
do not have the staff that is properly trained, nor do they keep the proper
equipment there to handle medical emergencies, especially on the weekends,”
Crow said. “When a staff member does recognize a medical emergency on a
late night or weekend, the staff that does recognize it doesn’t have the
authority to contact the ambulance. “They have to contact their immediate
supervisor, who contacts their supervisor, who then contacts the sheriff or
warden, and those kinds of delays are critical when you’re talking about an
emergency.” Smith had been sent to Tutwiler after her probation was revoked
for failure to pay $50 per month in restitution over a 2003 guilty plea on
a first-degree theft charge. Crow said Smith, who had no family in Alabama
that he could locate, was buried in the Department of Corrections pauper’s
cemetery. Both the DOC employees named in the lawsuit and CMS argued the
claims should be dismissed. [ What’s your experience with Alabama’s prison
system? Click here to share your story: CMS has since merged with another
prison health care company to become Corizon Correctional Healthcare.
Through a spokeswoman, the company said it could not comment. “Corizon’s
goal is to provide quality health care to every patient we serve. Because
of patient confidentiality, we are not able to discuss details of the care
provided to any individual or actions taken in any individual case. All
healthcare providers must follow these same restrictions.” The claims
against the DOC defendants were difficult to prove, as state law provides
immunity and requires showing a given employee, while acting in their
official capacity, violated a regulation, standard or law, Crow said. But
CMS was more amenable to a settlement and Smith’s estate and the company
reached a court-approved, undisclosed settlement in July 2011 in Montgomery
Circuit Court. Crow said he eventually located a second-cousin of Smith’s
who received the proceeds from the settlement.
November 11, 2008 Huntsville Times
New allegations in a federal lawsuit accuse the state of punishing a
retired Army colonel for being a whistleblower" because he reported
mistreatment of inmates at Limestone Correctional Facility. Dr. Larry Camp,
a dentist, and Sabrina Martindale, a dental technician, both from
Huntsville, were fired in early 2004 after they complained about the
"delivery of unnecessarily brutal and painful dentistry" on
inmates by Dr. Michael West, their supervisor. The two are seeking
compensatory and punitive damages from Correctional Medical Services Inc.;
state prison Commissioner Richard Allen; Ruth Naglich, the Corrections
Department's associate commissioner of health services; and Laura Ferrell,
the department's medical systems administrator. The updated complaint accused
Naglich of slander and CMS of negligence. Allen, who was not commissioner
when Camp and Martindale complained of the mistreatment of inmates,
declined to comment on the case Monday. Corrections Department spokesman
Brian Corbett said the agency would have no comment, but its legal
department believes the accusations will be proven false. According to the
complaint, the mistreatment included the reuse of unsterilized equipment
between inmate-patients. David Long-Daniels, an Atlanta attorney representing
Camp and Martindale, said West's practices were especially dangerous
because many inmates at Limestone have HIV and/or hepatitis. West
"liked one instrument in particular," Long-Daniels said Monday.
"He would use it in extracting teeth. He would use it before the
anesthesia had time to take effect, and if an inmate cried out he would
tell him he had to get out of the chair." At the time, West was
director of dental services for the state Department of Corrections under
the agency's health services contracts with Prison Health Services Inc. of
Brentwood, Tenn., and NaphCare Inc. of Birmingham. Camp reported West's
conduct to Prison Health Services while Martindale reported it to the state
Board of Dental Examiners. Ferrell, who was Prison Health Services' regional
vice president and now works for the Corrections Department, fired Camp
less than a month later. Ferrell, whose husband, Jerry Ferrell, is the
longtime warden at the Foundation Correctional Facility in Atmore, also
fired Martindale, according to the complaint. The state Dental Board
sanctioned West on May 5, 2005, for his failure to comply with
recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Recommended Infection-Control Practices for Dentistry. According to the
complaint, Ferrell testified on West's behalf at that hearing. After a new
$228 million prison health contract was awarded to St. Louis-based CMS last
October, both Camp and Martindale reapplied for their old jobs at
Limestone. According to the complaint, Camp interviewed with CMS for a
staff dentist position at Limestone on Oct. 12, 2007. CMS' dental recruiter
told the Corrections Department had to approve all contracts, but he
"indicated that this was a mere formality and that he had approved his
(Camp's) hire." Camp said he was later told that the Corrections
Department had denied his application. Martindale was rehired for her job
in October 2007 but told she would start once Camp began treating
prisoners. A week after her hiring, she was informed by Limestone that neither
she not Camp would be working at there and CMS employees "were told
not to ask any questions." Ken Fields, a spokesman for CMS, called the
lawsuit "frivolous and not based on the facts." "We look
forward to addressing these assertions based on the facts in court,"
he said. "We can tell you that we recruit health care professionals
based on their ability to deliver quality services in the corrections
environment." The Corrections Department declined to comment on West's
whereabouts, and Fields said CMS does not comment on personnel matters.
September 9, 2007 Huntsville Times
The Alabama Medicaid Agency will get a $3.8 million contract with a
company with a checkered past, but a political cloud may linger over the
transaction. And the state Department of Corrections will get a $233.73
million contract with a St. Louis company that bid $6 million more than the
losing bidder for inmate health care services. Democrats insinuate that
politics may have played a role in ACS Heritage Inc.'s winning the Medicaid
contract even though its bid was $500,000 higher than the next company. And
the firm that won the prison contract, Correctional Medical Services, Inc.,
was represented by former Republican Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, a lobbyist with
close ties to Gov. Bob Riley.
September 7, 2007 Birmingham News
The Legislative Contract Review Committee on Thursday delayed
implementation of a $223 million prison health-care contract after an
official with a company that bid $9 million less questioned the process.
The panel also delayed a $3.7 million Medicaid contract to computerize
medical records after lawmakers questioned the company's performance in
other states. The Contract Review Committee reviews state agency contracts.
Committee members can delay the contracts for 45 days but do not have the
power to cancel them. The Department of Corrections, after taking
proposals, selected Correctional Medical Services Inc. of St. Louis to
provide medical care to Alabama's more than 20,000 inmates. Another
company, Wexford Health Sources, had submitted the low bid that was about
$9 million cheaper than Correctional Medical Services'. Rep. Alvin Holmes,
D-Montgomery, and other legislators asked Corrections Commissioner Richard
Allen why the department had not selected the low bidder. Allen said
Correctional Medical Services scored slightly higher on bid reviews, which
take quality of care into account. "I don't know that Mr. Holmes would
go to the cheapest doctor in town," Allen said after the meeting.
Lawmakers also questioned that the prison staff who reviewed the bids
included several former employees of CMS. Allen said none had worked for
the company in at least six years. "I have full confidence in these
people. There was no politics involved in this selection," Allen said.
But Michael Davis, a lawyer representing Wexford, said company officials
wanted to meet with the commissioner before the contract was finalized.
Davis said company officials had questions about how bidders' scores were
determined.
September 6, 2007 Huntsville Times
The state corrections commissioner was questioned by legislators
Wednesday over a $233.73 million contract for health care for Alabama's
nearly 26,000 inmates. Commissioner Richard Allen is seeking approval of a
three-year contract with St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services Inc.
CMS would take over a contract now held by Prison Health Services Inc., of
Brentwood, Tenn. Sen. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, a retired physician,
endorsed the CMS contract, which would have two potential one-year renewals.
"I have a keen interest in (prisons), particularly the health
care," Griffith told the committee. "We're rapidly moving into
the baby boomers going through the prison system just like we're going
through it outside the prison system." Griffith said health care for
convicts is a "major, major cost factor" for the state, but he
added that "we're capping it with this contract and I think it's well
thought out." The committee has the power to delay the contract for 45
days but cannot stop it from being enacted. Some members of the Joint
Legislative Contract Review Committee questioned Allen about members of his
staff who formerly worked for the two private companies and were involved
in the selection process for CMS. A third company that submitted a
proposal, Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources, was represented by an
attorney who said he will ask for an explanation of the grading process
when the committee meets again today. Allen acknowledged that Wexford's bid
was about $6 million lower than CMS. "We evaluated the contracts very
carefully," said Allen. "All the bidders were told that price
would be 40 percent of the score and other things - innovations, cost
savings, those types of things - would be scored 60 percent." Allen
said Wexford scored third. Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Gadsden, said he was
concerned that Department of Corrections employees who formerly worked for
CMS and PHS were on the team that graded proposals submitted by the three
companies. But Allen defended the process, calling prison health care
"a very narrow specialty." "If you look at the resumes of
these (DOC) people, they have worked for several companies, not just this
company (CMS)," he said. "Nobody in our department has worked for
this company in the last six or seven years. They've also worked for PHS.
They've also worked for about a dozen other companies. They go back and
forth between the companies and state service."
February 18, 2006 Birmingham News
A nurse hired by the state prison system last month to monitor its
medical contract had until then worked for the company he was hired to keep
tabs on. After a few weeks on the job, nurse Brandon Kinard resigned from
the state to return to Prison Health Services, then rescinded his
resignation Friday. Despite earlier plans to go back to the company, Kinard
will remain a regional clinical manager with the Department of Corrections
assigned to make sure PHS does an adequate job, prisons spokesman Brian
Corbett said. The state pays Kinard a $59,000 annual salary. He is one of
several regional managers who oversee quality control, protocols and
contract compliance, specifically DOC's $143 million contract with PHS, a
Tennessee-based company that has come under scrutiny in several states on
allegations of placing economic interests above patient care. Kinard's boss
at DOC, Associate Commissioner Ruth Naglich, ultimately is in charge of
making sure the company lives up to its contract. She also has ties to PHS,
where she was vice president for sales and marketing before taking the
state job. Kinard's employment falls within a gray area of state ethics
law, officials say. Attorneys who represent prisoners treated by PHS say
it's a conflict of interest even though it may be legal. "I don't know
if it violates any state laws. But effective monitoring of a private
company by the state Department of Corrections needs to be done by people
who are independent of the medical company and independent of the DOC, and
this is ..... something that would seem to prevent effective
monitoring," said Joshua Lipman, an attorney with the Southern Center
for Human Rights. Previous state monitoring efforts have resulted in DOC's
withholding payments to PHS because the company failed to fulfill minimal
contract staffing levels. The state withheld $1.2 million last year when
monitors found the provider did not have enough doctors, nurses,
administrators and support staff in the prisons, and later withheld
$580,000 as a performance penalty. Kinard first worked for PHS at Hamilton
Aged and Infirm. He worked both as a director of nursing and in an
administrative position, making decisions about patient health care. He'd
been with the company since November 2003, when PHS received the Alabama
contract. He also had worked in prison medicine with companies that
previously contracted with the state. Kinard began his job at DOC the first
week in January. In early February, he submitted his resignation, effective
Feb. 24, to return to PHS. A day after The News contacted PHS about the
situation, Kinard rescinded his resignation, staying with the DOC job.
Alabama ethics law prevents state employees from immediately accepting jobs
at companies they audited, investigated or regulated for the state, said
Hugh Evans, general counsel at the Alabama Ethics Commission. There has not
been a ruling on whether that includes returning to jobs they came from.
"Under the ethics law, if you are involved in auditing, investigating
or regulating a private entity, that would include monitoring or awarding a
contract to a private entity, you can't go to work for them for two
years," Evans said. However, he said, "The issue is somewhat
muddied, if that person is returning to the status quo. It could be a cause
for concern."
December 17, 2004 Corrections
Professional
Private prison employees' terror claim survived dismissal. Case name:
Bullin et al.,v. Correctional Medical Services Inc., No. 2030573 (Ala. Civ.
App. 11/19/04). Ruling: Because private prison employees claimed they
suffered mental anguish as a result of their employer's failure to properly
implement policies to protect them from the prison population, their claim
was not covered under the Alabama Workers' Compensation Act. Accordingly,
their claim survived dismissal and will proceed. Summary: In August 2002,
Jamie Bullin, Lisa Johnson and Tabitha Manuel brought a civil action
against Correctional Medical Services Inc., three individuals employed by
the Alabama Department of Corrections, and several fictitiously named
defendants in the Baldwin Circuit Court. The employees collectively alleged
that CMS had negligently failed to formulate policies for the protection of
the employees from the wrongful conduct of the prison population. The
employees said they had been terrorized and caused to suffer severe and
continuing mental anguish and emotional distress as a proximate result of
CMS' omissions. The Baldwin Circuit Court transferred the cause to the
Montgomery Circuit Court, and CMS filed a motion for summary judgment. CMS
alleged that the employees' exclusive remedy was a claim under the Alabama
Workers' Compensation Act. The employees contended that their claim alleged
purely psychological injuries, therefore the claim was outside the scope of
the act's exclusivity provisions. The trial court granted CMS'
summary-judgment motion, and the employees appealed. The Alabama Court of
Civil Appeals held that the employees' claim against CMS was not barred by
exclusivity provisions of Workers' Compensation Act because the employees'
injuries were purely psychological in nature. The "injury" the employees
complained of expressly included mental injuries that had neither been
produced nor proximately caused by physical injury to body. The decision of
the lower court was reversed and remanded.
Albany
County Jail, Albany, New York
October 15, 2013 timesunion.com
THE ISSUE: Still no sanctions or
fines in an Albany County jail inmate's death that a federal probe found
was preventable. THE STAKES: Contract medical services providers with
shoddy records need to be held to account. Put yourself in Irene Bamenga's
shoes: It's summer 2011. Although you are only 29, you suffer from
cardiomyopathy, so you have filled your day-of-the-week pill reminder boxes
with enough medication to keep you alive. You and your spouse are heading
to Canada, then to France to await the green card offering legal residence
in America, where you hope to start a family. But you've carelessly let
your visa expire. So you're taken into custody by U.S. Immigrations and
Customs Enforcement agents to be deported to France — the very place you
were trying to go. Except now you've lost your freedom. You cling to your
pill boxes and hope. But bureaucracy says you can't take those pills
because you don't have your original prescriptions and bottles. The first
jail where you are held to await deportation finally gives you some of your
medication. Then you're transferred to Albany County Correctional Facility.
Here, according to a story by the Times Union's Alysia Santo last week, the
facility's main doctor is away. You write, "I am not being given the
full doses of my medication." Then: "Shortness of breath ...
palpitations when laying down."
Irene Bamenga died in the jail, a death that could have been
prevented, according to a physician hired by ICE who determined that missed
and incorrect medication dosing contributed to her heart failure. Yet,
aside from the evening medication nurse, who is "no longer employed at
the Albany County jail," according to a report a year ago from the
state Commission of Correction, no person or agency has faced sanctions or
fines for this travesty. The commission disagreed with ICE and labeled it a
"natural death," citing autopsy and toxicology reports that
Albany County withheld from ICE. This denial of responsibility smacks of a
whitewash and cries out for further investigation. Albany County must
reexamine how it provides medical care. When Ms. Bamenga was being held,
health care was provided by Correctional Medical Services Inc., a
for-profit business that has merged with Prison Health Services to form
Corizon, the country's largest private prison health care business. Albany
County has since changed to Correctional Medical Care — but one might
rightly question whether its record is any better. CMC has been cited in
recent years by state investigators for inadequate care that contributed to
inmate deaths across New York. Albany County is not alone in this region in
using private medical providers in jails. Ms. Bamenga's case offers no
reason for the public to believe that these companies are being held to
account. Nor is there any reason not to conclude that a desire among our
county executives, legislators and sheriffs to save a few dollars is
putting people's lives at risk. A stay in county jail --should not be a
death sentence.
December 15, 2009 Times-Union
When Kelly Mayo was arrested for drug possession on a Saturday
afternoon in May 2006, she was only supposed to spend a weekend in the
Albany county jail. Instead, two days later, a guard found her hanging by a
sheet twisted into a makeshift rope. "I didn't want to be in jail, so
I tried to hang myself to get out of jail," Mayo said, according to
transcripts of a deposition later gave. Her father, Joseph Mayo, 89, is
suing the Albany County Correctional Facility and Correctional Medical
Services, a private company that runs the jail's health unit, for
unspecified damages on her behalf for damages. He claims they should have
done more to prevent Kelly Mayo, 46, from attempting suicide and should pay
for the 24/7 care she now requires. Both the sheriff's department and the
medical company declined to comment on the case for this story. The U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of New York in Albany dismissed
the case in April, saying the jail took all reasonable precautions. An
appeal was heard Friday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
in Manhattan. According to depositions of staff on the ward on May 15,
2006, at 4:30 p.m., a guard walked by and saw Mayo peering through the
window in her door. One nurse took a cigarette break, while the other had
just finished treating diabetic inmates. At 4:41, the guard found Mayo
unconscious. The staff called an ambulance and tried to revive her. They
saved her life, but oxygen deprivation destroyed her short-term memory and
left her with limited brain function. "They ruined my daughter's
life," Joseph Mayo said in a phone interview from his home in
Manhattan. "She used to flash around, jolly, helping people. She was
always out of breath whenever she came into a room. She would hang around
for a while, then she was back in her car, going somewhere else."
Kelly Mayo grew up in New Jersey and New York City, but was living with her
boyfriend in Albany when she was arrested. She was a part-time stagehand by
profession, and a free spirit by temperament, her father said, treading
gently around his daughter's years of drug abuse. Now every time he visits
his daughter at the Belvedere long-term care home in Albany, he finds her
sitting in the corner of her room. "I tell her the same joke every
time I call her," her father said. "She laughs every single time.
She still has a sense of humor, but her memory is gone." The district
court said the Mayo family cannot sue because the jail met standards for
suicide risk screening approved by the state Commission of Correction,
which oversees local jails. The commission provides a 16-question test
about suicide risks for guards to give newly admitted inmates. A prisoner
who answers "yes" to eight questions is considered a suicide
risk. Mayo answered yes to three of the questions. When she was admitted,
Mayo told nurses that she injected heroin and drank a pint of alcohol
daily. Staff gave her medication to ease withdrawal symptoms, placed her in
a cell next to the nurse's station with only a mattress on the floor, and
checked on her every 30 minutes, according to her medical file. But the
Mayo family's lawyer, James Monroe of Albany, said the jail should have
monitored Mayo constantly or sent her to an outside facility after she
began suffering from tremors and hallucinating that she saw gnats around
6:30 a.m. the day she tried to kill herself. The staff knew these symptoms
constituted a risk for suicide, Monroe said. "It says so in their own
training manual. "They took a chance and Kelly paid the price,"
he added.
June 23, 2009 Courthouse News
Five workers at a New York prison health clinic were unfairly fired for
peacefully picketing in their bid to unionize, the 2nd Circuit ruled,
overturning a decision by the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at
the Albany County Correctional Facility sought to organize in 2002. The
Civil Service Employees Association asked Correctional Medical Services,
which operated the facility, to recognize it as the collective-bargaining
representative of all clinic employees except doctors, supervisors and one clerical
worker. CMS rejected the request. Workers responded by organizing a
peaceful demonstration outside the facility. Twenty individuals - including
five clinic employees - walked in a circle in front of the facility's main
entrance for 40 minutes. The five clinic employees were fired for engaging
in an "illegal picket," because the union failed to give the
facility proper notice of the picket. The union fired back in October 2002,
claiming the firings were illegal. The National Labor Relations Board ruled
in May 2007 that the terminations were lawful, and that a health-care
employer can fire workers who picket on behalf of a union that failed to
give the mandatory 10-day advance notice of picketing. In overturning the
decision, the New York-based federal appeals court found that picketing for
recognition is an employees' right, and the distinction Congress made
between striking and picketing indicates its intent to protect workers from
retaliation. "While labor organizations are subject to sanction for
either striking or picketing without observing the notice
requirement," the three-judge panel wrote, "the statute specifies
sanctions for employees who participate in the violation only in the case
of strikes and not in the case of picketing." The circuit concluded
that Congress showed "no intention to punish individual employees who
do not strike but peacefully picket," adding, "it would not be
appropriate for us to attribute one."
Allegheny
County Jail, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
On Oct. 21, 1996, 33-year-old Charles Fine, a
heroin addict From Monongahela, became the first inmate to kill himself in
what was then the new Allegheny County Jail. He rigged a makeshift noose
out of his shoelaces and hung himself from a bunk in his cell. Now, seven
years later, the medical company that used to screen inmates for suicide
risk at the jail is on trial in U.S. District Court, defending itself
against a negligence claim. Fine's stepmother, Barbara Mayfield,
represented by local attorney Vincent Coppola, says employees of Correctional
Medical Services Inc. of Missouri should have known Fine was going to kill
himself. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 24, 2003)
Arkansas
Legislature
November
18, 2007Arkansas News
Several companies with ties to state legislators have contracts with the
state. The deals involve more than $ 700, 000, most of the contracts were
awarded after competitive bidding, the arrangements are legal, and they
were publicly disclosed in recent reports to lawmakers because of a law the
Legislature enacted this year. Sen. Percy Malone, an Arkadelphia Democrat
and a legislator since 1995, is president and the majority stock owner of
W. P. Malone Inc., which owns Pharmacy Care of Arkansas. That company does
business as Allcare Pharmacy, which has a $ 25, 000-a-year pharmacy
services contract with the Department of Human Services’ Alexander,
Arkadelphia and Jonesboro Human Development Centers, said the state’s
procurement director, Joe Giddis. It was awarded Jan. 20, 2005. Allcare
also has had a contract with the department for the Arkansas Health Center
at Benton since July 2004, said Julie Munsell, a spokesman for the
department. That’s for $ 200, 000 a year, Giddis said. Allcare was paid $
437, 890 from July 2004 to Nov. 8 this year for drugs under the contract, Munsell
said...Malone’s firm also is a subcontractor to the Department of
Correction for inmate medical care, Giddis said. That arrangement, too,
began before he was a legislator, Malone said. The firm provides
prescription drugs and other services through Correctional Medical Services
of St. Louis. He and Correctional Medical Services declined to say how much
business Allcare does each year with Correctional Medical Services. “It’s
proprietary [information ],” Malone said.
Arlington
County Detention Center, Arlington, Virginia
March 1, 2006 DC Examiner
The cost of medical services for inmates in the Arlington County Detention
Facility has gone up, staff turnover is high and service is lacking,
according to an audit released this week by the Criminal Justice Institute.
A 43 percent rise in operating costs was due to skyrocketing health care
expenses, a higher influx of inmates with acute medical conditions and the
rising prices of drugs prescribed for mental illness, said Susie Doyel, the
facility's administrative director. Doyel said the report, which outlines a
number of problems in the service provided by contractor Correctional
Medical Services, is a positive thing for the facility. A number of
criteria that were not specified in the contract with CMS led to
inefficiencies and costly procedures. CMS's contract ends Oct. 31. In
April, the detention facility plans to send out a request for new contracts
that includes the majority of the auditor's recommended changes in
operations, including allowing inmates to take drugs like Tylenol or
antibiotics without the assistance of a nurse - freeing nurses for more
pressing duties. But high turnover also contributed. Nurses were leaving,
said the report, because of "high costs for parking, transportation
issues and higher-paying positions in the vicinity with free parking."
Baldwin
County Jail, Baldwin County, Alabama
April 26, 2005 Mobile Register
Scott Allen Winingear spent less than two months in the Baldwin County jail
last year before administrators concluded they were not equipped to control
the diabetic inmate's blood sugar, according to federal court testimony. So
concerned was the nursing staff about Winingear's condition, that officials
had him transferred to Mobile County Metro Jail, which has 24-hour medical
services on staff, Baldwin jail personnel testified. But in about three
months at Metro Jail, the 31-year-old Indiana man's blood sugar readings
actually got worse, according to the federal court testimony earlier this
year. The case marks another criticism of the Metro Jail system that has
come under attack in recent years and echoes findings of a nutritional
consultant who reported last week that the jail does not appear to be
preparing different meals for diabetics and other inmates with special
needs. According to testimony at the sentencing hearing, Winingear's prob
lems at Mobile County Metro Jail stemmed from a switch to a cheaper form of
insulin and a diet that was not conducive to controlling his diabetes.
Testimony at the hearing indicated that the jails in Baldwin and Mobile
treated Winingear differently. At Metro Jail, Winingear testified, he
received the same meals everyone else did. He said the diet consisted of
high-carbohydrate foods like spaghetti and white bread, along with
sugar-laden items like fruit cocktail and Kool-Aid. Unsweetened
alternatives were not available, he said. Winingear testified that his
parents put money in his jail account but that administrators deducted
those funds to pay for his medical care. As a result, he testified, he was
unable to supplement his meals by purchasing snacks from the jail store.
Winingear contended in his testimony that the jail gave him Novolin 70/30,
a cheaper mix of Humulin-R and Humulin-L that he said was not as effective.
A former nurse at Metro Jail, who asked not to be identified out of fear
she might face professional reprisals, said the jail switched insulins in
the fall. She also said nurses often did not test diabetic inmates' blood
sugar levels frequently enough. "The nurses were pushed so hard that
there hardly was a time in the day when we were not so far behind,"
she said. The nurse said administrators also showed little flexibility in
making sure diabetics were regularly monitored. "If they were at a
religious service or something else when blood sugars were tested, the
unwritten policy was they would do without," she said. Correctional
Medical Services, a St. Louis company that has provided health services to
Metro Jail inmates since July could not immediately offer a response. In testimony
at Winingear's sentencing hearing, an administrator with the firm
acknowledged that a nurse at one time was late making rounds to check blood
sugar levels and administer insulin. Carla Wasden, the jail's health
services administrator, testified that it was possible the nurse was late
more than once.
Bayside
State Prison, Leesburg, New Jersey
A New Jersey inmate
infected with potentially deadly hepatitis C has filed a federal lawsuit
against the state Corrections Department and its medical contractor, contending
that his disease was left untreated for a decade after it was detected. The
suit by Jose Lopez, 49, an inmate at Bayside State Prison in Leesburg,
Cumberland County, is the latest to allege that New Jersey neither treated
inmates for the liver disease nor told them that tests had found they were
infected. "The
conduct of prison officials and medical providers was outrageous. Not to
inform Mr. Lopez of a life-threatening disease is tantamount to watching a
person having a heart attack and sit idly by," said Lopez's
Philadelphia lawyer, Mark B. Frost, who filed the suit Friday in Camden.
The Department of Corrections declined to comment on the lawsuit. A
spokesman for the department's medical contractor, the St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services Inc., said he had not reviewed the lawsuit
and could not immediately comment. Lopez, a career criminal who has been in
prison since 1983, tested positive for the hepatitis virus in 1992, the
suit said. By the time he was notified 10 years later, it said, his health
had seriously deteriorated. He has since developed bleeding ulcers, a sign
of liver cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C, medical records show. In addition
to Lopez, several other current and former New Jersey prisoners have sued
the Department of Corrections and Correctional Medical Services - the
largest prison health company in the nation. (Philadelphia Inquirer, May
13, 2004)
Bernalillo
County Detention Center, Bernalillo, New
Mexico
June
8, 2010 The New Mexico Independent
Bernalillo County officials have destroyed bid-scoring sheets used in
awarding a $23 million jail health services contract, the Albuquerque
Journal reported Monday. The destruction of public records may have
violated the state public records law, New Mexico Foundation for Open
Government (FOG) director Sarah Welsh said. “(They) are certainly something
the public would have an interest in seeing,” Welsh said. “It seems strange
to just destroy that one part of it. The whole point of open government is
so the public can review decisions that officials are making.” Correctional
Healthcare Management won the $12 million a year contract to provide
medical care to inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center. Correctional
Medical Services (CMS) has held the health services contract for seven
years. The County is investigating millions of dollars in suspected
overpayments to CMS during that time.
Bi-State
Jail/Bowie County Detention Center, Bowie County, Texas
Jul 25, 2015 ktbs.com
FBI to investigate Texarkana inmate's death
The FBI will take over the investigation into the death of an inmate
found dead this week in his cell at the Bi-State Jail in Texarkana. Michael
Sabbie, 35, was found unresponsive on Wednesday morning. He was the only
person in the cell, said Texarkana, Ark., police, who initially arrested
Sabbie and have been investigating the case. The jail is operated by
LaSalle Corrections Corporation for local government. An autopsy was
performed at the State Crime Lab in Little Rock. Police did not provide
specifics about why they asked the FBI to take over the case. Police Chief
Bob Harrison on Thursday asked the FBI to take over the investigation.
Sabbie had been in jail on domestic assault charges.
October
3, 2009 Texarkana Gazette
A federal lawsuit filed by the family of a one-armed, toothless man who
managed to hang himself with a suicide suit while an inmate in the Bowie
County jail annex, has been settled. Because of a confidentiality
agreement, neither the plaintiff nor the defendants are talking about the
terms of the arrangement. The family of Robert Bruce Williams filed the
suit in April 2007. Named as defendants are Bowie County, Sheriff James
Prince, Civigenics Inc., which manages the jail, Correctional Medical
Services, which serves the medical needs of Bowie County inmates, and
several...
Broome
County Jail, Broome, New York
Nov 23, 2012 PressConnects.com
BINGHAMTON — A medical services contractor under contract with Broome
County is now the target of a lawsuit over the 2011 death of a county jail
inmate. Pennsylvania-based Correctional Medical Care, Inc., was served on
Monday with a legal summons and complaint alleging that its employees
failed to prevent the July 20, 2011 death of 40-year-old inmate Alvin Rios
Jr. at the Broome County jail. After Rios’ family filed the lawsuit in
state Supreme Court last month against Broome County, the Press &
Sun-Bulletin obtained and released a state medical review board’s report on
Rios’ death. The five-page report said CMC failed to follow its own
intoxication and withdrawal policies and procedures, and that Rios was left
“in an emergent life-threatening status without appropriate medical
attention.” An amended legal complaint was filed Nov. 2, adding CMC and
unnamed nurses as defendants and alleging that CMC, through its employees,
“failed to follow policies and procedures with respect to treatment to be
afforded to inmates exhibiting symptoms of withdrawal from narcotics and/or
alcohol or other hallucinogenic substances.” The amended complaint also
accuses CMC personnel of “leaving (Rios) unassisted on circumstances where
timely medical intervention could have prevented his untimely demise."
Binghamton-based attorney Ron Benjamin, who is representing Rios’ family,
said the private company is positioned to absorb any legal ramifications
the county faces.“The county has a contract with CMC that requires CMC to
indemnify them,” he said, “which means they have to pay them whatever the
county gets hit for.” County officials have declined to comment on Rios
death due to the litigation. CMC has since 2006 provided medical services
at the jail under a contract with Broome County worth more than $2 million
per year. CMC executives did not respond to phone and email messages
requesting comment for this report. The company has contracts to provide
medical care at 12 facilities in New York state, according to its website,
including county jails in Broome, Tioga, Albany, Dutchess, Monroe, Niagara,
Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Shenectady and Ulster counties.
Oct
23, 2012 PressConnects.com
DICKINSON — A 40-year-old inmate was left “in an emergent, life-threatening
status without appropriate medical attention” before his death at the
Broome County Correctional Facility last year, a state oversight agency has
determined. While a lawsuit filed last week seeks to hold Broome County
accountable for the July 20, 2011, death of Alvin Rios Jr., a report by the
New York State Commission of Correction accuses a medical services company
under contract with the county of failing to follow its own procedures in
the hours before the inmate’s death. Pennsylvania-based Correctional
Medical Care Inc. did not respond to phone messages or a written list of
questions about the incident. County officials also declined to comment
because of the pending lawsuit. According to the commission’s five-page
report, obtained by the Press & Sun-Bulletin this week, Rios was
arrested at a local motel on July 19, 2011, on a warrant for criminal
possession of a controlled substance. Rios died the next day of “cardiac
arrhythmia produced by cardiomyopathy” — an abnormal heart rhythm stemming
from a deterioration of the heart muscle — “from illicit drug use.”
According to the report, CMC failed to implement its own intoxication and
withdrawal policy and procedure after Rios was booked into the jail at 4:48
p.m. on the day he was arrested. Medical workers and jail personnel are
identified only by their initials in the report, which is heavily redacted.
Among the commission’s findings is that the doctor who was at the jail for
more than eight hours on July 20, 2011, was never made aware of Rios’
condition. In a statement later to the Commission of Correction, the doctor
said he “never touched the chart.” When questioned by the Commission of
Correction, a nurse employed by CMC said the nursing staff “typically
utilized sick call protocols and over-the-counter medications,” rather than
notifying a physician, when withdrawal symptoms are assessed. CMC’s policy,
however, requires the notification of a physician as soon as the potential
withdrawal is assessed. At 4:21 p.m. on July 20, 2011, a corrections
officer heard a “thud” from Rios’ cell, according to the report. “Officer
D.T. checked on Rios and saw him laying face down and shaking,” the report
states. The officer then notified a registered nurse on staff, but Rios was
pronounced dead less than an hour later. “The RN clearly left his patient
in an emergent, life-threatening status without appropriate medical
attention,” the report states. The report adds the nurse is no longer
employed by CMC. The Commission of Correction produces mortality
investigations as part of its oversight responsibilities for jails and
prisons in New York state. Unanswered questions' The release of the
investigation report, through the state’s Freedom of Information Law, comes
in the wake of a wrongful-death lawsuit filed last week by Alvin Rios Sr.,
the father of the inmate. The complaint, filed in Broome County Supreme
Court, alleges that negligence on the part of personnel at the jail led to
the wrongful death of Alvin Rios Jr. Broome County and Sheriff David
Harder, in his official capacity, are named as the defendants. “... Despite
calling for medical assistance, and despite (Rios) exhibiting signs and
symptoms that could have indicated a heart attack, stroke or catastrophic
consequence, no one came to his assistance for a substantial period of time
after he first cried out for assistance,” the legal document states. Rios,
who immigrated from Puerto Rico in 1971 and was employed as a painter, was
married and had children, according to the commission’s report.
Binghamton-based attorney Ron Benjamin said Rios’ family is “devastated” by
his death, and also unsettled by the lack of clarity about the
circumstances leading up to it. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions,”
Benjamin said. According to Press & Sun-Bulletin archives, the Broome
County Sheriff's Correction Division on July 21, 2011, said an autopsy that
day had determined Rios died of an opiate overdose as the consequence of
long-term drug abuse. “It was not caused by an overdose,” Benjamin said.
“What may have been going on, at least in part, is that Mr. Rios was
experiencing some of the symptoms of withdrawal. And had he been given
adequate assistance when he began making complaints, we believe that his
life could have been saved.” Although the lawsuit seeks to hold Broome
County liable, the Commission of Correction report focuses on failures on
the part of employees of CMC, which has provided medical care at the Broome
County jail since 2006 under contracts worth more than $2 million per year.
In addition to a series of recommendations directed at CMC, the Commission
of Correction’s report recommends that Broome County Executive Debbie
Preston “conduct an inquiry into the fitness of Correctional Medical Care
Inc. as a correctional medical care provider.” Preston spokesman Jim
Worhach referred questions about the county’s response to the report to
Harder, who declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit. In a letter
sent to the Commission of Correction in July of this year, Harder said the
Sheriff’s Office “took steps to insure that Correctional Medical Care Inc.
complied with the commission’s recommendations” and has “monitored the
development and implementation of the actions taken by the medical service
providers.” A state report issued this month on
two inmate suicides at the Broome County Jail last year found fault with
medical procedures but said staff security and supervision were performed
properly. The state Commission of Correction, the agency that oversees all
of New York's jails, issued its report nearly a year after a 20-year-old
asphyxiated himself Oct. 18, 2002, with a shoelace by wrapping it around a
window frame in his cell and tying it around his neck. A murder suspect
died in a similar manner on Christmas Eve by asphyxiating himself using a
sheet. The two were the first suicides at the jail since it opened in 1996.
Both men had medical issues when they were booked in, the report indicated.
Scott Sickles suffered symptoms of heroin withdrawal, but did not receive
standard treatment for drug withdrawal from medical staff, the report
states. Both families have put the county on notice that they plan to
sue the county and its officials. In the past, inmates waited 24 hours
while CMS obtained medication from a facility in Minnesota. (Press &
Bulletin Sun, October 27, 2003)
Calhoun
County Jail, Battle Creek, Michigan
March
25, 2005 WZZN13
A sneeze changed Linda Peterson's life forever. Peterson, 53, of Battle
Creek, was a licensed practical nurse working in the Calhoun County jail
when a female inmate sneezed during an examination on May 15, 2002. What
Peterson didn't know at the time was that the woman was infected with
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a bacteria resistant
to many antibiotics. Peterson believes it was that sneeze which infected
her. For Peterson, the infection forced amputation of her middle toe and a
portion of her left foot, forced her to stop working, plunged her into
depression and placed her nearly $100,000 in debt because of medical bills
and her inability to work. She can't rid her body of the infection
and can only hope to control it. Peterson was working for Correctional
Medical Services, a St. Louis, Mo., company which contracts with Calhoun
County to provide medical care in the jail. The company provides
correctional health care in 27 states. Peterson and another former
registered nurse working for CMS, Sally Lett of Kalamazoo, and two former
inmates, contend CMS and jail personnel did not do all they could to
disinfect jail living areas and equipment to help prevent the spread of the
bacteria. "It wasn't as clean as it should be," Peterson said.
"We didn't always have the supplies." "The health and safety
of the inmates and the employees was not a consideration," Lett
alleged.
Callaway
County Jail, Fulton, Missouri
November
17, 2005 Fulton Sun
With half a month left before inmates at the Callaway County Jail lose
their healthcare provider, county officials believe they have found a new
provider, one that will offer more benefits at a cheaper rate. The Callaway
County Commission decided Wednesday morning to pursue using Advanced
Correctional Healthcare to provide medical services to the county's
inmates. After Correctional Medical Services - which will provide the
county's healthcare until Nov. 30 - notified the county that it was pulling
out of the contract at the end of October, Callaway officials have been
hurriedly looking for another provider. "I was really concerned when
the sheriff said (CMS) would no longer be providing services," said
county auditor Rosemary Gannaway. "That was the scary part." CMS
generally provides medical services to institutions larger than county
jails, but because of Callaway's proximity to the Department of Corrections
in Jefferson City - which CMS services - CMS agreed to cover the Callaway
jail, Gannaway said. CMS provided a nurse practitioner to work 18 hours a
week at the jail, as well as an on-call doctor. Because the nurse practitioner
recently accepted another job, Gannaway said CMS decided to end the
contract rather than trying to find another nurse practitioner to fill the
position.
Central Mississippi
Correctional Facility, Mississippi
July 16, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A state prisoner suffering from life-threatening illnesses has been denied
medical treatment for more than a month, a lawsuit claims. The
lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, seeks immediate
medical treatment for Raymond Winne of Gulfport, an inmate at Central
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County. The Eighth Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution guarantees an inmate the right to receive necessary
medical attention, the suit says. Named as defendants are the
correctional facility Superintendent Margaret Bingham and Correctional
Medical Services, Inc., which provides medical treatment for state
inmates. The lawsuit comes after an American Civil Liberties Union
class- action lawsuit was filed in June on behalf of roughly 1,000 inmates
in Unit 32 at the state Penitentiary in Parchman. The lawsuit's
allegations include that inmates in the super maximum security unit are
subjected to inadequate medical, mental health and dental care. In
2003, the ACLU filed a lawsuit and won improvements in Unit 32 for death
row inmates.
Correctional
Industrial Facility, Pendleton, Indiana
December
4, 2007 The Herald Bulletin
A contractual employee at a Pendleton prison has resigned after she
admitted to trafficking with an inmate. Tim Horan, public information
officer for the Correctional Industrial Facility, said Margie Rickner
resigned Friday after admitting to Indiana State Police investigators she
brought in tobacco for an inmate. Rickner, a behavioral clinician employed
by Correctional Medical Services, had been working at the prison since Dec.
3, 2006. Her job duties included counseling inmates. Rickner has not been
charged with any crime, but Horan said ISP is pursuing charges against her.
Trafficking in tobacco with an inmate is a Class A misdemeanor punishable
by up to a year in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. The $5,000 fine is
mandatory if the person who committed the crime is a Indiana Department of
Correction employee or is an employee of a penal facility, according to
state law. CMS provides medical services for about 250,000 inmates in 24
states, according to the company’s Web site. The inmate’s name and the
amount of tobacco brought into the prison weren’t released, Horan said,
because the case remains under investigation. He could also not release
when Rickner allegedly began bringing the contraband inside. Her age and
city or residence were also unavailable from prison officials. “CIF staff
are due all the credit,” Superintendent Tom Hanlon said in a news release.
“Through their observations and communication, this trafficking incident
was detected.”
Correctional
Medical Services (now Corizon),
St. Louis, Missouri
Arizona
prisons in health-care quandary: February 16, 2012, Bob Ortega, The
Arizona Republic. Expose on for-profit health providers
August
30, 2012 ACLU Press Release
The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri’s civil suit against
the city of St. Louis and Correctional Medical Services, the medical provider
for the city jails that is now known as Corizon, was dismissed today.
Originally filed in 2010 on behalf of an HIV-positive inmate at the Medium
Security Institute in St. Louis, the ACLU-EM’s lawsuit cited
life-threatening deliberate indifference to a serious medical condition.
The inmate, known as John Doe to protect his privacy, was incarcerated in
early 2010 and for the first 20 days of his stay was denied the life-saving
medication for which he had a daily prescription. During that period he was
given only Tylenol, despite repeated attempts by him, a friend and his
doctor to re-establish his prescribed medical regime. “No one awaiting
trial should ever be denied medical care,” says Brenda L. Jones, executive
director of the ACLU-EM. “But, this case was especially egregious because
people who are HIV-positive can quickly build resistance to medications
that are not taken consistently.” Tony Rothert, the ACLU-EM’s legal
director, said “This gross violation of our client’s constitutional rights
caused him suffering, mental and emotional distress, and great fear of
physical harm. Even worse is the gross incompetence displayed by Corizon,
the company that also provides medical services to the state of Missouri’s
prisons.” The case was dismissed as part of a settlement agreement. A
condition of the settlement prevents the disclosure of the amount of
settlement funds paid to Doe.
May
24, 2012 Post-Dispatch
About an hour after a doctor instructed St. Louis jail staff to send inmate
Courtland Lucas to a hospital immediately, medical records show, the
31-year-old prisoner collapsed in a cell and soon died. The lapse is among
a variety of medical missteps alleged in a wrongful-death and malpractice
lawsuit against the private contractor that provides medical care for the
St. Louis Justice Center. Medical records obtained by lawyers for Lucas'
family also contain a nurse's notes indicating a belief at the time that
his episodes were 'staged." Lucas died May 25, 2009, from
complications of a heart problem, congenital aortic valve stenosis while
under the care of Correctional Medical Services Inc. CMS merged last year
with PHS Correctional Healthcare to form Corizon. It provides medical
coverage to more than 400,000 inmates at 400 correctional facilities across
the country, including St. Louis, where its operational headquarters is
located. A company spokesman, Pat Nolan, said: "Corizon and its
employees work hard every day to provide quality care to thousands of
inmates across the country." Mayor Francis Slay's spokeswoman, Kara
Bowlin, would not comment on specific allegations. She noted that the city
spends nearly $7 million each year on inmate health care and "takes
seriously its obligation to provide health care services to the people it
confines, many of whom come to us with serious medical problems." The
suit, filed this month by the St. Louis Lawyers Group on behalf of Lucas'
minor son, Trayon Lucas-McNairy, seeks unspecified damages over $25,000
from CMS but does not name the city as a defendant. Burton Newman, one of
his attorneys, said in an interview: "We found several individuals who
were quoted on the record as recognizing the care that this gentleman
needed, but other individuals seem to have failed to recognize the care
needed, or ignored the care needed." It is the second attempt at
compensation in the case. A prior wrongful-death suit, filed by the
American Civil Liberties Union against the city and the health care
provider, was voluntarily dismissed last year on a legal technicality.
DETERIORATING HEALTH -- Lucas, the youngest of 14 children, was a jokester
who wrote poetry and announced a new commitment to God, his family told the
Post-Dispatch in 2010. He had been a restaurant manager but struggled with
drugs, including heroin, for the last four years of his life. Medical
records show Lucas long suffered from serious heart problems, which
required several valve replacements and a hospitalization in 2009 for
swelling and an irregular heartbeat. He was diabetic, suffered from
hypertension and had a pacemaker. When he was arrested by St. Louis police
May 20, 2009, on a parole violation — he had a record of drug and traffic
offenses — he was taken to St. Alexius Hospital, complaining of chest pain.
Doctor's orders from that visit set out a plan for checking his blood sugar
and administering insulin. Later orders from a jail physician offered a
similar schedule. But Lucas' lawyers, one with a medical degree, say
evidence shows the orders were not consistently followed. The suit refers
to medical records it says reflect neglect. The plaintiff's lawyer provided
a Post-Dispatch reporter with CMS documents that show: • May 24, afternoon:
Lucas, in a narcotics detoxification unit, shows signs of trouble. His
blood sugar level is elevated, at 228. Nurses administer insulin but don't
record another blood-sugar check until the next day. • May 24, 7:15 p.m.:
Lucas complains of a fast heartbeat and hallucinations, talking of
"little people" in his room. A nurse notes he is agitated and
perspiring. A jail physician has asked to be called about any changes in
Lucas' mental status but there is no record of such a call; Lucas' lawyers
maintain it wasn't made. • May 25, 4 a.m.: Lucas asks to go to a hospital
and says he doesn't want to die in the jail. He is taken by wheelchair to
an examining room. Nurses try to draw blood but note that it's too thick.
Existing hospital orders call for a doctor's care if his blood sugar rises
above 300; it is now 325. There is no note of any insulin being
administered. • May 25, 1:10 p.m.: A nurse notes Lucas' altered mental
status and also writes that "all episodes appear to be staged as
(Lucas) easily comes back to normal conversation." • May 25, 5:30
p.m.: Lucas is found lying in his cell in a 'stuporous condition" and
answers questions 'sluggishly," according to a nurse's notes. Insulin
is administered but there is no note of his sugar being checked. Nurses
have trouble detecting his pulse and blood pressure, but ultimately find
his heart rate is high, at 160. • May 25, 5:45 p.m.: The on-call physician
orders Lucas taken to a hospital emergency room immediately. • May 25,
about 7 p.m.: Lucas is still waiting for transport. A sheriff's deputy
reports that Lucas has collapsed while sitting in a wheelchair. Records
indicate a lost minute while medical staff struggles to have the doors to
the holding unit opened by master control. • May 25, 7:10 p.m.: Paramedics
arrive and take Lucas to St. Louis University Hospital. • May 25, 7:54
p.m.: Lucas is pronounced dead. OTHER CLAIMS OF NEGLECT -- CMS which has
worked for Missouri's prison system since 1992 and has for decades been one
of the biggest inmate health care contractors, has been a target of
criticism before. It was the main subject of a 1998 Post-Dispatch
investigation, which showed that inmates died in more than 20 cases due to
negligence, indifference, understaffing, inadequate training or
cost-cutting. Such concerns rose again in 2007 after the death of LaVonda
Kimble, 30, from an asthma attack at the St. Louis Justice Center. A fire
department report, obtained by a lawyer for her family, showed paramedics
encountered delays and apathy when trying to get into the jail. Autopsy
findings showed no trace of a drug that jail nurses said they repeatedly
administered to ease Kimble's breathing. "The discovery in this case
showed they did little to nothing for her. They just watched her die,"
according to her family's attorney, John Wallach. A confidential settlement
of that suit was reached last year and fulfilled in the past few weeks.
Wallach said that "justice was done to the extent that the law would
allow..." In 2010, the ACLU alleged in federal court that an
HIV-positive John Doe plaintiff was deprived of medications for 17 days,
even though he told jail staff of his condition and his physician faxed
information about his medicines and dosages. Also that year, Vanessa Evans,
37, died hours after she complained to staff about having trouble
breathing. Jail officials said she appeared fine a half hour earlier.
Evans' family complained that the company failed to take her claims
seriously despite her history of asthma. Newman said Lucas' case is another
chapter in a sad history. He complained: "It's tragic that a man with
known medical conditions was incarcerated in the city jail and did not receive
any of the medical care that he was not only entitled to, but ... the
medical officials at the jail knew he needed."
December
13, 2011 Baltimore Sun
Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano will go into the 2012 legislative
session next month with ethics charges safely behind him. Bereano settled a
case with the State Ethics Commission earlier this year by agreeing to pay
a $2,750 penalty for failing to make required disclosures of meals and
other gifts to state officials. Bereano, a convicted felon who settled a
more serious ethics cases in 2009 with a $29,070 payment, came to a new
agreement with the ethics panel in May under which he agreed to a fine and
submitted amended disclosure forms that added detail about which state
officials were the beneficiaries of his generosity. Over the years, Bereano
appears to be the lobbyist most frequently cited by the panel for
violations large and small. He now has seven ethics cases on file with the
commission. The most recent settlement was found in an examination of the commission’s
records. The panel does not normally send out public notices of violations
– helping to account for why the infraction was not reported for months.
The agreement stipulated that Bereano did not properly disclose his
spending on meals and beverages he bought for Richard B. Rosenblatt, then
an assistant secretary in the Department of Public Safety and Correctional
Services, each year between 2005-2008. Meanwhile, Rosenblatt was making the
required disclosures each year – though he took a short cut by
overestimating Bereano’s spending on him as coming to $500 a year for those
four years. Rosenblatt was violating no law, according to the ethics
commission, because state law allows executive branch officials to be wined
and dined in the presence of the person footing the bill as long as the
identity and amount are disclosed. But when ethics officials cross-checked
Bereano’s disclosures against Rosenblatt's, they found that the lobbyist
hadn’t been quite as diligent. Records show Bereano filed amended disclosures
for 2006-2008 showing spending between $148 and $300 on wining and dining
Rosenblatt for those three years while representing Correctional Medical
Services. In the same settlement, Bereano also admitted to a failure to
disclose a series of gifts to a Senate staff member between 2001 and 2005.
The lobbyist explained that the gifts, including sports tickets, were
personal in nature and weren’t paid for by one of his employers. The ethics
panel found that such gifts to employees of the legislature are not
permitted. The recipient was a former member of the staff of state Sen.
John Hafer, a Western Maryland Republican. Bereano’s amended disclosure
shows that the gifts followed a running theme involving the Dallas Cowboys,
including tickets to the teams games against the Washington Redskins. The
agreement noted that the staff member eventually reimbursed Bereano for the
gifts. Rosenblatt, who now works in the prison health industry, said he
regrets having been imprecise in his disclosures, but not having dined with
Bereano. He said his outside-the-office communications with the lobbyist
helped improve communications between his department and a company that
already held a contract. “He helped improve the service received from the
client,” Rosenblatt said. Bereano did not return a call seeking his
comment. The infractions were far less serious than the previous case in
which Bereano was cited. That involved signing an illegal contingency
contract that would have rewarded him for a successful outcome. But the
$2,750 settlement is considerably more than the typical fine paid in a case
against a lobbyist – which typically involve $250 fines for late filing of
a disclosure. Bereano is currently seeking to have his 1994 federal mail
fraud conviction invalidated because of subsequent appellate rulings that
call into question the prosecution's legal groundwork for the case.
June
3, 2011 Biz Journal
Valitás Health Services Inc. on Friday completed its previously announced
acquisition of America Service Group Inc. for $250 million, and the merged,
privately held company has changed its name to Corizon. Valitás, the St.
Louis-based parent company of Correctional Medical Services Inc., announced
in March that it planned to buy Brentwood, Tenn.-based America Service Group,
parent of PHS Correctional Healthcare Inc. America Service Group
shareholders, who are being paid $26 per share, approved the deal
Wednesday. Valitás previously was one of the largest privately held
companies based in St. Louis, with $750 million in 2010 revenue. However
the newly named Corizon’s operational headquarters will remain in St.
Louis, but its corporate headquarters will be in Brentwood, Tenn. America
Service Group President and CEO Rich Hallworth is now CEO of Corizon, and
Valitás Chairman and CEO Richard Miles is Corizon’s non-executive chairman.
Stuart Campbell, formerly president and chief operating officer of Valitás
and Correctional Medical, is Corizon’s president and chief operating
officer. The combined prison health-care service provider has about 11,000
employees and independent contractors, and serves more than 400
correctional facilities. Corizon's annual revenue is expected to total $1.4
billion for 2011.
March
3, 2011 The Street
America Service Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASGR), the parent company of PHS
Correctional Healthcare, Inc., and Valitás Health Services, Inc., the
parent company of Correctional Medical Services, Inc., announced today the
signing of an agreement and plan of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) under
which the two companies would be combined, bringing together two leading
companies in the correctional healthcare field – America Service Group's
PHS Correctional Healthcare and Valitás’ Correctional Medical Services.
Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company will have
approximately 11,000 employees and independent contractors and will serve
more than 400 correctional facilities. The combined company’s annual
revenues are expected to total approximately $1.4 billion for 2011.
October
12, 2010 AP
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a wrongful death lawsuit over
the death of a jail inmate in St. Louis, claiming he did not get proper
care for a heart condition. The ACLU filed suit Tuesday on behalf of Landa
Poke. Her brother, 32-year-old Courtland Lucas, died at the St. Louis City
Justice Center in May 2009, five days after he was jailed on a probation
violation. The ACLU says Lucas had chronic heart disease and was wearing a
pacemaker when taken into custody. The suit contends Correctional Medical
Services failed to provide proper medications or care for Lucas. A
spokesman for CMS says the company has not yet seen the lawsuit and cannot
comment on the allegations. A message left with a spokeswoman for the city
of St. Louis was not returned.
May
5, 2010 The News-Journal
Three new vendors will replace the company that provides medical care in
Delaware's prisons, the state's response to five years of criticism and
turmoil over the quality of inmate health care. Correction Commissioner
Carl C. Danberg acknowledged the agreements Tuesday, shortly after he
signed a $29.8 million contract with Nashville-based Correct Care
Solutions, which will serve as the general health care provider. On Monday,
Danberg said, he signed a $10 million contract with MHM Services Inc., of
Vienna, Va., and a $700,000 contract with Correct Rx Pharmacy Services Inc.
of Linthicum, Md. MHM Services will provide mental health and substance
abuse treatment to the Department of Correction. Correct Rx will fulfill
pharmacy responsibilities. The two-year contracts, with optional one-year
extensions, go into effect July 1, the day after St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services' contract expires. The new contracts are
expected to be announced today. The breakup of the single medical health
care contract was a result of frustration with CMS, the subject of a 2005
investigation by The News Journal. The newspaper's series brought to light
problems with high inmate death rates, especially from AIDS and suicide. It
also pointed out neglect of sick inmates who were in filthy infirmaries
that sometimes lacked beds. Following the series, a federal monitor was
appointed by the U.S. Justice Department to oversee prison health care. The
state entered a three-year agreement in 2006 with the Justice Department to
improve inmate health care.
March
5, 2010 News Journal
Twenty-four companies have submitted bids to provide health care services
at Delaware's prisons Four of them are from Delaware, and many critics of
the current health care provider, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical
Services, say a local contractor is needed to help lift the Department of
Correction from under the federal scrutiny it's been under for almost four
years. "The good news is that the deplorable tenure and administration
of [Correctional Medical Services] will come to an end," said the Rev.
Christopher Bullock, senior pastor of New Canaan Baptist Church and
co-founder of the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice.
"Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a new day for Delaware
corrections." Correction Commissioner Carl C. Danberg announced last
year he would end the contract with Correctional Medical Services after it
was criticized for providing inadequate care despite being paid more than
$130 million over three years. In place of hiring a single health care
provider, Danberg broke the contract into 10 smaller agreements focusing on
specific services. Last week was the deadline to submit proposals.
"We've never had more than half a dozen vendors participate in either
the substance abuse contract or the medical contract before," Danberg
said. "So to have 24 we're doing something right." In addition to
the four local bidders, another 10 are from neighboring states.
Participants could submit bids to provide more than one service, and eight
businesses have done so, including some of the Delaware companies. Names of
the bidders were not released because their abilities have not been
verified. "We're excited, but still a little nervous," Danberg
said. "The hard part is going to be putting this contract
together." Danberg said it is too soon to know if the state will save
money under the new bidding format. Meetings with the bidders will be held
later this month. "Ultimately, the proof of whether or not this whole
new system works is going to be in whether or not the provision of medical
health care works," Danberg said. Bullock said he would like to see
local vendors used, as long as they have a proven record. It also is
important that there not be too many companies for the correction
department to handle. "We need a healthy balance to fix an unhealthy
system," he said. Delaware entered an agreement with the federal
government to improve prison health care in 2006 following stories by The
News Journal that uncovered problems and high inmate death rates,
especially from AIDS and suicide. The 2005 series also pointed to poor
medical treatment for cancer, meningitis, hepatitis and other communicable
diseases and bacterial infections.
October
14, 2009 The News Journal
After years of criticism and a federal investigation, state officials
announced today they will let their contract with Correctional Medical
Services expire and try to find a new provider. The Department of
Correction announced it will take bids for a new contract with
modifications it hopes will provide better care, including breaking the
contract into smaller pieces to allow multiple companies to provide more
specialized service. The new contract will also have a “shared risk,” with
the DOC paying for certain costs in order to prevent medical providers from
limiting inmate care in order to maximize their profits. “The Department of
Correction has used the last few months to prepare for and make an informed
decision about this [Request for Proposals],” Commissioner of Correction
Carl Danberg said. “We have reviewed the best practices from other states
and interviewed medical experts from around the country in an effort to
develop a better contracting model for prison health services. In addition,
the department has interviewed correctional health-care professionals to
identify and eliminate the impediments to competition, which existed in
previous contracts.” In January, Danberg extended the contract with CMS
from a 2009 expiration date to June 30, 2010. At the time Danberg said
rebidding the contract would cost the state an additional $4 million on top
of the $39 million it’s already paying for health care. The Department of
Correction has come under scrutiny for its care of inmates in Delaware
prisons. Delaware entered into the agreement with the federal government
following a series of articles in 2005 by The News Journal that pointed to
problems with prison health care and high inmate death rates, especially
from AIDS. Other findings by the newspaper's six-month investigation
included an outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria and an inmate's massive brain
tumor – largely ignored by staff – which led to his death. Independent
reports as a result of the agreement with the federal government repeatedly
pointed out that CMS suffers from a "lack of stable and effective
leadership." Independent monitor Joshua W. Martin III said in his most
recent report that the department made some strides in complying with the
memorandum of agreement, or MOA. Martin found the state failed to comply
with six of 217 provisions, and was in substantial compliance with 64 of
them. The state was said to be in partial compliance with the remaining
requirements. Among the improvements was better organization of health
records, as well as up-to-date filing of health documents. Training for
guards in suicide prevention has expanded and the department created a
Bureau of Correctional Health-Care Services to supervise and audit medical
programs. However, Martin also said it is unlikely that the state will be
in full compliance when the agreement expires. In addition to leadership
problems with the medical contractor, other problems cited include
shortages of mental health counselors and psychiatrists, incomplete annual
staffing plans, poor treatment plans and a continued lack of space that
results in inadequate privacy.
September 30, 2009 The News Journal
After spending more than $130 million over three years, Delaware's prison
system continues to provide health care to inmates that falls short of
federal requirements, according to a report issued Tuesday by an
independent monitor. Because of that, the state Department of Correction is
at risk of remaining under U.S. Justice Department supervision when an
agreement it signed in 2006 expires later this year. While the federal
agency declined to comment Tuesday, it can take the more drastic measure of
suing for control of the state's prison system. When it did that in
California, the penal system was taken over by the federal government,
which ordered the release of prisoners because of overcrowding. In
Delaware, prisoners who cannot get adequate health care could be ordered
released if there is a takeover, said Stephen A. Hampton, a Dover attorney
who represents inmates and their families in lawsuits against the
department. Delaware entered into the agreement with the federal government
following a series of articles in 2005 by The News Journal that pointed to
problems with prison health care and high inmate death rates, especially
from AIDS. Other findings by the newspaper's six-month investigation
included an outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria and an inmate's massive brain
tumor -- largely ignored by staff -- which led to his death.
"Unfortunately, I'm beginning to accept that we're not going to be in
substantial compliance by the end of the year," said Carl Danberg,
Department of Correction commissioner. "We are still working very hard
to meet that deadline, but I'm beginning to accept that we'll not make
it." The state has until Dec. 29 to comply with 217 provisions
mandated by the agreement, which was signed by Danberg, who was then
Delaware's attorney general, and former Correction Commissioner Stan
Taylor. It called on the state to revamp its prison health care system and
report its progress regularly to the Justice Department. Independent
monitor Joshua W. Martin III said in his report that the department made
some strides in complying with the memorandum of agreement, or MOA. Martin
found the state failed to comply with six of 217 provisions, and was in substantial
compliance with 64 of them. The state was said to be in partial compliance
with the remaining requirements. Among the improvements was better
organization of health records, as well as up-to-date filing of health
documents. Training for guards in suicide prevention has expanded and the
department created a Bureau of Correctional HealthCare Services to
supervise and audit medical programs. However, Martin also said it is
unlikely that the state will be in full compliance when the agreement
expires. Problems listed in the 210-page report include a "lack of
stable and effective leadership" by the company contracted by the
state to provide medical services, an ongoing problem Martin listed on
previous reports. Other problems cited include shortages of mental health
counselors and psychiatrists, incomplete annual staffing plans, poor
treatment plans and a continued lack of space that results in inadequate
privacy. Danberg, who previously said there were problems with the medical
vendor, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services (CMS), extended the
group's $39 million contract for another year because it would cost the
state an additional $4 million to seek a new vendor. Danberg said he has
penalized CMS for not complying with its contract. "Last year alone,
we forfeited over a million dollars from them," Danberg said, adding
the money was used on the prisons' medical facilities." We have
improved the physical plant space at Howard Young [Correctional
Institution], Baylor [Women's Correctional Institution] and [Sussex
Correctional Institution]." CMS officials said in an e-mail they are
reviewing the monitor's findings and recommendations. "While we are
proud of the accomplishments our team has achieved in partnership with the
DOC, we remain fully committed to working with the state to do more to
strengthen the health care program in Delaware prisons," CMS spokesman
Tony Zagora said. 'Lapses in medical treatment' -- Robert Kern, 69, wonders
how much longer the problems will continue and how many lives will be
affected. "I don't see where any major changes have been affected
because the same organization is there," said Kern, whose 41-year-old
son, Daniel, died earlier this month while serving a one-year sentence for
drunken driving at Wilmington's Plummer Community Corrections Center. Kern
said the state Medical Examiner's Office told him his son died of
pancreatitis inflammation or infection of the pancreas. The younger Kern
complained to prison officials, but the illness went undiagnosed until he
was taken to St. Francis Hospital and died, Robert Kern said.
"Apparently their profitability is somewhat related on what they
spend" on inmate health care, Kern said about CMS. "Right there
the incentive to treat people versus having a higher profitability is just in
contrast. I'm afraid the patient will lose nine times out of 10." John
Painter, department spokesman, said that while the state is prohibited
under federal law from disclosing specifics, Daniel Kern's death is
"being reviewed in the same manner that all inmate deaths are
addressed. Specifically, the Delaware Medical Examiner will determine the
cause of death and, as of now, no cause has been determined." He also
said the case will be reviewed by the independent monitor and others.
"To the extent lapses in medical treatment are identified, DOC will be
take prompt corrective action," he said.
May
27, 2009 St Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist has made it a priority to run the "most open and
transparent" administration in state history. But a former adviser to
Crist is suing the state, claiming the Department of Corrections broke the
Sunshine Law by mishandling a contract to provide mental health services to
inmates. Attorney Chris Kise of Foley & Lardner, who served as a
counselor and climate change advisor to Crist, filed the suit in state
court in Tallahassee Tuesday on behalf of MHM Correctional Services, a
Virginia firm that pitched a proposal to provide mental health care in the
agency's South Florida Region IV prisons. Kise's suit alleges that he obtained
public records showing that agency staffers began "secret
negotiations" with a competing vendor, Correctional Medical Services
(CMS), almost two weeks before competing vendors learned that their
proposals were rejected. Kise also said the deal the state negotiated with
CMS would cost taxpayers $5.5-million more than MHM's proposal. Corrections
Secretary Walt McNeil said he was confident the agency would prevail. We
are fully confident that we didn't do anything that would be a problem to
the state," he said. "I think the facts will bear that out to be
not true." By law, McNeil said, he can't discuss the details of a
contract that is "still in the throes of procurement."
November
7, 2007 Financial Times
Madison Dearborn is preparing a sale of Valitas, a company that provides
medical care to prison populations, three sources told mergermarket. An
auction for the company will probably kick off early next year, and the
company is working on putting together a staple financing package at the
moment, according to one of the sources. UBS has been mandated to run the
process, the second source said. Valitas’ EBITDA is around USD 50m,
according to an industry banker. The company’s main subsidiary,
Correctional Medical Services, reached USD 750m in revenues in 2007,
according to its website. The company is likely to draw interest from
private equity buyers only, as there are no natural strategic buyers for
the asset, the banker added. Valitas could draw interest from Maximus, a
listed provider of healthcare services to the US government, a second
industry banker said. Madison Dearborn backed a management buyout of the
Missouri-based company in 1997 from Aramark, the company that provides food
service and uniforms to institutions, according to news reports. Under Aramark
the division was called Spectrum Healthcare, and included a business that
provided contract healthcare services to the US military. That business,
however, was sold to Team Health, another Madison Dearborn portfolio
holding, in 2002. Team Health itself was sold to the Blackstone Group, in
2005. The company is one of the oldest healthcare investments in Madison
Dearborn’s portfolio, the industry banker said. A company spokesperson
declined comment, and a Madison Dearborn official did not return calls.
November
8, 2001
Gregory Jennings, Jacqueline Reich, Lorenzo Ingram, Sr., Henry Simmons,
Calvin Moore, Billy Roberts and Kathy S. Kearns didn't know each other in
life, but they shared a common bond in death: All died in U.S. prisons, the
victims not of the death penalty, or at the hands of fellow inmates or
guards, but in the allegedly negligent care of a single provider of
privatized health services. Correctional Medical Services (CMS) is a
St. Louis, Missouri-based for-profit corporation that contracts to provide
health care services to over 270,000 inmates at more than 330 prison sites
in 29 states. A 1998 in-depth investigative report done by the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, its hometown newspaper, shed light on the downside of
prison care privatization. The Post-Dispatch's investigative team spent
five months "visiting prisons and jails; gathering hundreds of police,
court and medical records and other documents; and interviewing doctors,
nurses, inmates, lawyers, scholars, prison and health experts and families
of inmates who died behind bars." Published in September 1998,
"Death, Neglect and the Bottom Line: Push to Cut Costs Poses
Risks," found that while CMS successfully reduced the cost of health
care to several states, there were "more than 20 cases in which
inmates allegedly died as a result of negligence, indifference,
understaffing, inadequate training or overzealous cost-cutting."
At the ACLU web site, the civil liberties organization posts a late-January
2001 letter it sent to the Connecticut Department of Correction (CDOC) that
claims CMS's health care services -- medical, mental health and dental care
-- at the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, Virginia is woefully
"inadequate." The ACLU writes: "The health care
provided by Correctional Medical Services, the contract provider at
[Wallens Ridge], was considered so grossly inadequate that [Virginia
Department of Corrections] recently fined CMS nearly one million dollars.
The Virginia State Auditor specifically found that CMS did not provide a
dentist at [Wallens Ridge] for over three months, and never provided an
optometrist. Medical privacy and confidentiality is non-existent at
[Wallens Ridge]; as a matter of policy, prisoners are required to discuss
their most private medical and mental health issues in the presence of
security staff and other prisoners." In 1998, the Minnesota
Department of Corrections contracted with CMS for health care services in
its state's prisons. According to the Twin Cities Independent Media
Center, the NAACP called a press conference in mid-October to publicize a
lawsuit "over the death of Gregory Jennings, who died in Stillwater
prison on April 6, 2001 because the medical staff were indifferent to his
complaints of symptoms of diabetes." Should Calvin Moore, in
custody for less than a month at the Kilby Correction Facility in Alabama,
have died from being ignored while he lost fifty pounds and exhibited
severe symptoms of mental illness, dehydration and starvation? Should Diane
Nelson, a 46-year-old mother of three, have died because her request to
receive her heart medicine prescribed by her doctor was refused? And what
of Charles Guffey, who died of a perforated ulcer because nurses at the
Tulsa County Adult Detention Center in Oklahoma refused to pay attention to
his complaints of severe abdominal pain? If these folks were around today
they'd have a lot to say about the human cost of the growing privatization
of prison health care services. Hopefully, privatization will begin to
receive the close scrutiny it deserves. That is the least we can do. The
deaths of these men and women, while tragic, should not have been in
vain. (AlterNet.org)
Corrections
Center of Northwest Ohio, Stryker,
Ohio
August
1, 2009 Toledo Blade
A Springfield Township psychologist whose security clearance was
revoked earlier this year by officials of the Corrections Center of
Northwest Ohio,was named in a lawsuit filed by a former inmate at the
Stryker facility. Wallace D. O'Shell was sued Thursday in Lucas County
Common Pleas Court by a woman who claimed she was treated in an
"improper manner." Specifically, Stephanie Funkhouser, 31,
claimed "inappropriate sexual conduct" and "touching in an
offensive manner." The lawsuit also alleged Funkhouser's medications
were withheld and that she was placed in solitary confinement as a means of
obtaining information from her. CCNO was also listed as a defendant in the
lawsuit. Mr. O'Shell had been a contract employee who worked through the
jail's Correctional Medical Services since June, 2008. In March, CCNO
officials revoked his clearance and initiated an investigation into
Funkhouser's complaints. Yesterday, Jim Dennis, CCNO executive director,
said in a statement that the investigation was completed and Mr. O'Shell's
clearance was permanently revoked. He added it was determined Mr. O'Shell
"violated CCNO ethics policy, but there was nothing criminal in
nature, according to the Williams County Sheriff's Department."
"Dr. O'Shell admitted to investigators that he gave cash and letters
to a female inmate, which is in violation of CCNO policies," the
statement said. "Investigators were able to substantiate that there
was no sexual contact and no sexual conduct from the victim."
According to CCNO policy, "staff and inmates are not allowed to have
sex or fraternize with each other," an issue raised in a training
session that Mr. O'Shell attended, the statement said. "He knew
better. Such behavior was not tolerated and his security clearance was
revoked," said Mr. Dennis. Funkhouser was sentenced to CCNO May 20 by
the Williams County Common Pleas Court for three counts of theft. She was
released June 22. Jail officials said the Ohio and Pennsylvania boards of
Psychology were contacted concerning possible discipline against Mr.
O'Shell, although no further information was available about the request.
Linda Shambarger, manager of inmate programs at CCNO, said the lawsuit had
not yet been served on jail officials.
March
6, 2009 Toledo Blade
Officials at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio say they’ve revoked
access to the regional jail for a contract employee after an inmate
complained of improper behavior. CCNO officials said the male employee, who
is a psychologist, admitted to giving cash and sending letters to a female
inmate. That was a violation of the jail’s fraternization and ethics
policies, which are covered in a handbook and an orientation video, they
said. A Williams County sheriff’s investigator is reviewing evidence in the
case, which remains under investigation. Authorities said they do not believe
a crime was committed. The employee had worked through the jail’s
Correctional Medical Services since June.
Cumberland County Jail,
Cumberland County, Maine
February
26, 2008 Portland Press Herald
Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion said today that the county has begun
its own internal investigation to determine whether a man who is
HIV-positive was denied medication when he arrived at the jail on a
misdemeanor charge of failing to pay a fine. Dion said he is assessing how
much time elapsed between when Charles Wynott arrived at the end of January
and when he was provided medication prior to his release about a week
later. The jail typically does not store a wide range of expensive HIV
medicines but Dion said he will assess whether there was an unacceptably
long delay in determining the medical care Wynott needed and then obtaining
medicine and providing it to Wynott. Inmates are not allowed to bring their
own medication into the jail. Wynott, who is representing himself, filed a
federal lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland against
Correctional Medical Services, which manages medical care in the jail,
saying delays in getting him his medicine may have allowed the virus in his
system to mutate, making it more resistant to medicine. Dion said CMS would
not have had a financial motive to deny the medicine. CMS does not pay for
the medicines it prescribes, but is instead paid a management fee by the
county and then passes the cost of medicine and hospitalizations on to the
county. Medicine costs alone were almost $400,000 last year.
February
26, 2008 WMTW
A Westbrook man is suing the company that provides health care services at
the Cumberland County Jail, saying it took the jail five days to give him
his HIV medication. Charlie Wynott spent about a week at the jail last
month after being arrested for driving with a suspended license. Wynott,
44, filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against Correctional Medical
Services. He said he wants to see policies changed. He told News 8,
"It's not about the money to me. It's about taking care of the inmates
in the jail. It shouldn't take five days for them to get the meds to
you." Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion said the jail tries to
provide the best care possible. "I've looked at the timeline. There
was a lag,” he admitted. “The reason for the delays is it wasn't available
in the pharmacy. It's pretty costly, and we don't normally keep it on the
shelf. Once we did get it, he received it." While Dion said he would
like to see the lawsuit open up a conversation on the issue, Wynott said he
just wants to make a difference. Another man filed a similar suit against
the jail’s former medical provider about 10 years ago. David McNally
settled out of court.
Craighead County Jail,
Craighead County, Arkansas
September
27, 2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
An inmate at the Craighead County jail died after medical officers ignored
his urgent requests for attention to a painful blood clot in his left leg,
a federal lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court in
Pine Bluff, says that Kevin Lakes, 24, of Jonesboro died on Sept. 27, 2006,
of what an autopsy later determined was a pulmonary embolism caused by a
deep-vein thrombosis, or a blood clot, in his left leg. “The doctor could
have put him on drugs, or easily done something that would have saved his
life, but instead he fell through the cracks,” said Little Rock attorney
John M. Hardy, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Lakes ’ younger sister
Dominique King, 23, of Jacksonville. Lakes was taken to the Craighead
County jail on Aug. 7, 2006, to await transfer to the Correction Department
to serve time for a cocaine-possession conviction, Hardy said. On Aug. 12,
Lakes submitted a medical request form. “I have acquired a blot clot in my
left calf area and it’s unbearable,” he wrote. “It’s constant pain whether
I’m lying down, sitting, or standing. And it’s swelling up very badly. I
need immediate medical attention.” A medical officer didn’t respond for two
days, at which point Lakes thought he was improving, and no tests or
examination were performed, the lawsuit states. But two days later, on Aug.
16, Lakes submitted another medical request saying the leg was still
swollen and was causing “extreme pain.” Two days later, a “medical officer”
without any formal medical training saw Lakes, the suit states. “Even
though a blood clot in the leg is a potentially deadly condition and should
be treated as an emergency, [the medical officer ] treated the blood clot
with an ankle wrap and Naproxen and failed to inform a physician of Kevin’s
condition or to transport Kevin to a physician or hospital,” the suit
states. The defendants in the lawsuit are the medical officer, Benny Ford,
and the jail’s medical administrator, Steve Metcalf, who, according to the
lawsuit, is a licensed paramedic but not a doctor. The lawsuit also names
Craighead County officials and Correctional Medical Services Inc., which
contracted with the state to provide medical services in the prison system,
including the Diagnostic Unit in Pine Bluff where Lakes was taken on Sept.
22, 2006. A day earlier, Lakes had fainted while playing basketball in a
jail yard and reported that his heart rate was abnormal, his chest burned
and that he was dizzy, the suit says. Jail personnel refused to take him to
a hospital or allow him to see a doctor, the suit says. At the Diagnostic
Unit, Lakes didn’t receive a required initial health-care screening, the
suit alleges. Although Lakes informed medical personnel that he had a
serious health problem and needed to see a doctor, he “was told he would
have to wait until his scheduled ‘health assessment, ’” the suit says. But
he never made it. On Sept. 27, Lakes suddenly collapsed, and he went by
ambulance to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, where he was
pronounced dead. The lawsuit alleges that inmate medical personnel were
deliberately indifferent to Lakes’ constitutional rights. It alleges
various “constitutional deficiencies” at the jail, including: a lack of
medical intake screening; a requirement that inmates pay for all medical
services or go without; absence of staff nurses; no contract with a doctor;
and an inadequately trained medical administrator.
Cummins
Unit,
Lincoln County, Arkansas
September 8, 2005 Northwest Arkansas News
An inmate died last year after a prison doctor neglected to effectively
treat an ailment that caused his lungs to fill with infected pus, according
to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court. Willliam
Jobes died at Jefferson Regional Medical Center after being transferred
from the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County on Feb. 9, 2004. About two months
later, he received a posthumous pardon by Gov. Mike Huckabee. Five days
before he died, Jobes, 50, had been admitted to the Cummins infirmary after
complaining of pain in his left side and back for three weeks. Dr. Olabode
Olumofin ordered a chest X-ray, which showed a buildup of fluids in Jobes’
chest. Olumofin tried to drain the fluid, but it would not flow through a
catheter. The lawsuit contends that the lab reports "were blatantly
and willfully disregarded" by Olumofin, who "wholly failed to
take any action in response to save Bill Jobes’ life." Olumofin works
for Correctional Medical Services Inc., a St. Louis-based company that
provides medical care for Arkansas’ 13,000 inmates under a $38 million
contract. The company has contracts for prison and jail health in 26 other
states and is responsible for 212,000 prisoners nationwide. According to
federal court records, Correctional Medical Services has been named as a
party in about 200 suits in the Eastern District of Arkansas. A suit filed
Aug. 16 in Little Rock against the company contends that incompetent
medical care provided by Dr. Craig Bardell at the McPherson Unit in Newport
led to the Oct. 23, 2004, death of 47-year-old Virginia Morris. Morris, the
mother of two grown sons, was seven months into a 10-year sentence on drug
charges when she died after months of neglect by Bardell, who resigned in
late July 2005, according to the suit. The Morris suit alleges that the
company "has a history and reputation of customarily cutting corners
in prisoner health care to maintain high profits" and trains its
personnel "to be deliberately indifferent" to prisoners’ health
needs.
Davidson County
Criminal Justice Center, Davidson, Tennessee
A state prison inmate who contends that he had to
wait months for surgery to repair his fractured wrist has filed suit
against the private firm that provides health care for Tennessee's
penitentiaries. Michael W. Mallory, 45, slipped and fell in the
Davidson County Criminal Justice Center immediately before his transfer to
the state prison system in 2003. The fall fractured his hand and wrist,
according to his federal lawsuit against St. Louis-based Correctional
Medical Services Inc. Although initially treated with a fiberglass
splint at Meharry Medical Center, the Aug. 31 injury failed to heal
properly. It was not until March 26, 2004, that he received the surgical
repairs he claims he needed all along. CMS officials said yesterday that
medical privacy laws prevent them from discussing the particulars of
Mallory's medical case. But Mallory ''was seen and treated by health-care
professionals and specialists on numerous occasions,'' according to company
spokesman Ken Fields. ''We will defend against these allegations,'' Fields
said. The suit echoes the complaints of other inmates who have filed
suit in recent months contending that painful and sometimes
life-threatening conditions have been ignored — including that of Terry
Crouch, whose headaches and precipitous weight loss were treated with
antacids administered by prison doctors. In fact, Crouch had a brain
tumor and was transferred, partially blind and unable to walk, to a local
nursing home after long-delayed surgery. (The Tennessean, September
4, 2004)
DeKalb
County Jail, Georgia
December 8, 2004 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If Adams v. Dorsey were an old movie instead of a lawsuit, calendar pages
might blow past the camera, stopping briefly at the turn of the years from
1999 to 2004. Now it appears the story will continue past one more New
Year's Day, because some disputes remain in the long and costly battle over
medical care at the DeKalb jail. By mid-December, Superior Court Judge
Hilton Fuller will receive written arguments on one aspect of what may be
the final steps in the lawsuit. Lawyers for the Southern Center for Human
Rights, representing jail inmates, want to send in their own expert to
review the care provided by the jail's private medical contractor. Lawyers
for the county government and Sheriff Thomas Brown oppose that request.
Also this month, the inmates' lawyers are to meet with the jail's medical
staff in the first of what a court-appointed monitor recommends should be
monthly meetings to review any complaints. The case began in 1998, finally
yielding a settlement in March 2001. At the time, Fuller said that inmates
with life-threatening diseases weren't being treated and that the jail's
failure to adequately protect against contagious diseases posed a hazard to
guards and the public. Later, Fuller ruled the agreement wasn't being
followed. He found the county government in contempt and said he would
continue to oversee the jail medical program until the agreement's
conditions were met. Since the settlement, the jail's annual medical bill
has increased from about $7 million to about $11.5 million. The county's
legal bills for the lifetime of the case total more than $700,000.
February 16, 2004
A new court-appointed inspector says medical care at the
DeKalb County jail has improved enough that a costly six-year legal battle
could end soon. The county has spent more than $700,000 in
legal expenses on the case that began when inmates sued over poor medical
care. Meanwhile, county jail medical costs have jumped to about $11 million
this year from $7 million in 2001. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
March 17, 2003
Georgia Philpot knows her complaints about her son's medical treatment by
the DeKalb County sheriff's Department won't get the attention of many
county residents. Her youngest child, 21-year old Alan D. Philpot,
has been held in the DeKalb jail since September for violating probation on
a drug conviction. He has a history of ear infections that required
surgery, and began telling jail officials in October that he had a new
infection, his mother said. She said it took more than three months
and at least 10 phone calls to various jail officials to find someone who
made sure Philpot got the antibiotics he needed. "The public is
generally unconcerned about the medical care rendered to inmates,"
Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller wrote in a 2001 ruling in which he
nonetheless tried to spell out reasons the public should care. He
cited society's moral duty to treat humanely and health risks to guards,
jail visitors and the outside world. Such charges and countercharges
are part of an ongoing 3 1/2-year old battle over health care for the 2,700
men and women housed in Georgia's largest jail. Tamara Serwer, lawyer
representing inmates, insists inmates are still at risk and the public
sector could be too, from inmates released with communicable
diseases. Failure to control communicable diseases, including
tuberculosis, has been a frequent criticism in reports by Dr. Robert
Greifinger, a former chief medical officer for the New York Department of
Corrections. He was appointed by Fuller to monitor the jail's
compliance with its 2001 agreement to improve medical care at the
jail. Even as Greinger praised a new management team installed at the
jail by private contractor Correctional Medical Services in his latest
report in February, he said he found cases in which there was not
"timely and appropriate follow-up" for inmates whose chest X-rays
showed a risk of TB. (The Atlanta Journal Constitution)
February 25, 2003
Sheriff Thomas Brown on Monday said the DeKalb County Jail's
much-criticized medical care system is close to earning national
accreditation. Brown called a recent positive review by the National
Commission on Correctional Health Care a welcome counterpoint to a series
of critical reports by a court-appointed inspector. Brown described
medical care at the jail as in a crisis when he took office two years ago.
The jail has operated under a court-approved settlement of an inmate
lawsuit over inadequate care since March 2001. As recently as last
week, the inspector appointed to monitor the settlement reported that
minimum standards were not being met, though there were signs the jail's
private medical contractor was trying to improve. Brown said the
reports by the inspector, Dr. Robert Greifinger, have focused on problems
with individual inmates, while the accrediting commission review shows that
the jail's overall approach to health care is sound. In a jail with 2,700
inmates, "you can miss one and not do something just right," the
sheriff said. But, he said, "We think we're well on the way to solving
this particular litigation." That assessment was disputed by
Tamara Serwer, a lawyer for the inmates who brought the medical care
lawsuit. She said Greifinger reviews random cases and that the examples he
has cited show "the system is not functioning." She said
the commission focuses on written policies. "It's a great thing to be
accredited by the NCCHC, but it doesn't tell you anything about the way
patients are actually treated." She said it was "amazing"
that it took two years to get adequate policies in place. Actual
improvement will take months more, she said. (The Atlanta Journal)
January 24, 2003
A court-appointed inspector says some diabetics inmates haven't been
getting proper doses of insulin at the DeKalb County Jail and the jail
medical staff has been slow to react to potential tuberculosis and HIV
cases. Dr. Robert Greifinger, a former medical director of the New
York State Department of Corrections, made the criticisms in a report after
visiting the jail last week. Greifinger visits the jail to monitor
compliance with a 2001 settlement in a lawsuit over inmate medical
care. Greifinger said one diabetic inmate received no insulin for three
days and "developed a life-threatening condition" that required
emergency hospitalization. He said he reviewed the records of four
other inmates with diabetes that was "seriously out of
control." Two had foot ulcers and "none have had insulin
adjustments to get them in control," according to the report.
Ken Fields, a spokesman for CMS, the company contracted to provide jail
medical care, said it was not clear if some of the diabetic inmates
Greifinger cited were recent arrivals. Fields said CMS officials do
not agree with Greifinger's assertion that no HIV tests had been ordered at
the jail since Dec. 25. He said he could not comment specifically on
five cases in which Greifinger said CMS did not appropriately follow up on
chest X-rays "suspicious for tuberculosis." Tamara Serwer,
staff attorney for the Southern Center for Human Rights, which filed the
original lawsuit, said Greifinger's report signaled a need for further
action to improve conditions at the jail. (The Atlanta Journal
Constitution)
August 9, 2001
Earlier this month, the court-appointed monitor released a scathing report
about medical care at the jail and said that Healing Touch was doing little
to improve it. The lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have filed a
motion to put the jail's medical care under control of the courts.
DeKalb County hopes its newest contractor finally will improve medical care
at the jail and get the court system off its back. The County
Commission Tuesday hired Correctional Medical Services Inc. of St. Louis to
provide medical care to inmates at the state's largest jail. The contract,
which is for up to five years, is worth at least $8.16 million a year, an
increase of $1 million over the last contract. In 1998, a group of
inmates sued the county over poor medical care. Under a settlement
agreement signed in March, the county agreed to improve the care and the
court appointed a monitor to oversee the progress.
In April, the county's
medical care provider ---Correctional Healthcare Solutions --- walked away
from its $7 million contract. A local company, Healing Touch Inc., was
given an interim contract. Earlier this month, the court-appointed monitor released a
scathing report about medical care at the jail and said that Healing Touch
was doing little to improve it. The lawyers for the plaintiffs in the
lawsuit have filed a motion to put the jail's medical care under control of
the courts. (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution)
Delaware
Department of Corrections
May 5, 2010 The News-Journal
Three new vendors will replace the company that provides medical care in
Delaware's prisons, the state's response to five years of criticism and
turmoil over the quality of inmate health care. Correction Commissioner
Carl C. Danberg acknowledged the agreements Tuesday, shortly after he
signed a $29.8 million contract with Nashville-based Correct Care
Solutions, which will serve as the general health care provider. On Monday,
Danberg said, he signed a $10 million contract with MHM Services Inc., of
Vienna, Va., and a $700,000 contract with Correct Rx Pharmacy Services Inc.
of Linthicum, Md. MHM Services will provide mental health and substance
abuse treatment to the Department of Correction. Correct Rx will fulfill
pharmacy responsibilities. The two-year contracts, with optional one-year
extensions, go into effect July 1, the day after St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services' contract expires. The new contracts are
expected to be announced today. The breakup of the single medical health
care contract was a result of frustration with CMS, the subject of a 2005
investigation by The News Journal. The newspaper's series brought to light
problems with high inmate death rates, especially from AIDS and suicide. It
also pointed out neglect of sick inmates who were in filthy infirmaries
that sometimes lacked beds. Following the series, a federal monitor was
appointed by the U.S. Justice Department to oversee prison health care. The
state entered a three-year agreement in 2006 with the Justice Department to
improve inmate health care.
March 5, 2010 News Journal
Twenty-four companies have submitted bids to provide health care services
at Delaware's prisons. Four of them are from Delaware, and many critics of
the current health care provider, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical
Services, say a local contractor is needed to help lift the Department of
Correction from under the federal scrutiny it's been under for almost four
years. "The good news is that the deplorable tenure and administration
of [Correctional Medical Services] will come to an end," said the Rev.
Christopher Bullock, senior pastor of New Canaan Baptist Church and
co-founder of the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice.
"Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a new day for Delaware
corrections." Correction Commissioner Carl C. Danberg announced last
year he would end the contract with Correctional Medical Services after it
was criticized for providing inadequate care despite being paid more than
$130 million over three years. In place of hiring a single health care
provider, Danberg broke the contract into 10 smaller agreements focusing on
specific services. Last week was the deadline to submit proposals.
"We've never had more than half a dozen vendors participate in either
the substance abuse contract or the medical contract before," Danberg
said. "So to have 24 we're doing something right." In addition to
the four local bidders, another 10 are from neighboring states.
Participants could submit bids to provide more than one service, and eight
businesses have done so, including some of the Delaware companies. Names of
the bidders were not released because their abilities have not been
verified. "We're excited, but still a little nervous," Danberg
said. "The hard part is going to be putting this contract together."
Danberg said it is too soon to know if the state will save money under the
new bidding format. Meetings with the bidders will be held later this
month. "Ultimately, the proof of whether or not this whole new system
works is going to be in whether or not the provision of medical health care
works," Danberg said. Bullock said he would like to see local vendors
used, as long as they have a proven record. It also is important that there
not be too many companies for the correction department to handle. "We
need a healthy balance to fix an unhealthy system," he said. Delaware
entered an agreement with the federal government to improve prison health
care in 2006 following stories by The News Journal that uncovered problems
and high inmate death rates, especially from AIDS and suicide. The 2005
series also pointed to poor medical treatment for cancer, meningitis,
hepatitis and other communicable diseases and bacterial infections.
January 3, 2010 The News Journal
Inmate Edward G. Williams has a bulge the size of a cantaloupe
protruding from his abdomen. The 50-year-old believes he is being denied
adequate health care in retaliation for a federal lawsuit he filed nearly
two years ago seeking surgery that was recommended by a doctor in 2005.
"They're trying to act like it doesn't exist," said Williams, who
is serving 17 years at Vaughn Correctional Center for selling cocaine and
shooting a man in 1997. Sometimes the pain is so severe that Williams
cannot walk or get out of his bed in the maximum-security unit, he said.
The victim of a shooting prior to his incarceration, Williams was left with
a mesh over the portion of his abdomen wall that was damaged, he said. A
series of scars now covers his stomach, as well as a large bulge in the
right side of his abdomen. At times, he claims, he can feel his intestine
flow into the bulge. When that happens, Williams said, he pushes it back
behind the abdomen wall. Williams' claim comes as the Delaware Department
of Correction is being credited by the U.S. Justice Department with showing
significant progress under a three-year mandate to improve prison health
care for its more than 6,900 inmates. When the agreement was extended last
month for another two years, the federal government said the department met
214 of its 217 original health care mandates. As a result, Baylor Women's
Correctional Institution and the medical care portion at Sussex
Correctional Institution were not included under the extended agreement.
Mental health care provided at the Georgetown prison will continue to be
under review. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington and Vaughn
Correctional Center near Smyrna remain entirely under federal scrutiny. For
Vaughn, a ways to go Though there are still problems, Corrections
Commissioner Carl C. Danberg said prison health care is far better than it
was three years ago when a series by The News Journal revealed high inmate
death rates, especially from AIDS and suicides. And the department is now
in a position to argue whether the Vaughn and Young facilities should be
under the new agreement, indicating progress has been made, Danberg said.
"Three years ago, we couldn't have argued about it," he said,
adding that Vaughn is the prison that needs the most work. "The
facility is making progress, but not at the pace I believe it should be
making progress." Despite Danberg's claims, Williams said, inmates
have not seen much improvement. "They're not telling the truth,"
he said. Williams points to problems he has with bowel movements, saying he
uses his hands to push at his stomach. The force has caused bloody stools
and hemorrhoids, he said. "They have me on pain medication since 2005
because of the pain I go through in my stomach," he said. "It's
terrible, man." At least two hernia surgeries and a colonoscopy have
been recommended since 2005, according to documents in Wilmington's U.S
District Court. The same document stated that an abdominal ultrasound
performed in August 2005 found that "a nonreducible hernia is [at]
risk for strangulation -- need to move forward [with] repair." While
Williams has undergone colonoscopies, he has not received hernia surgery.
Doctors changed their opinion on Williams' surgery after he filed his
lawsuit on Oct. 9, 2007, he said. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan, who is
overseeing the suit, said the court has concerns about Williams' care.
"The delay in providing [Williams] the colonoscopy, from the time it
was first medically determined that it was necessary, until it was finally
performed a few months after the filing of the lawsuit, raises concerns of
a constitutional dimension," Farnan said in an opinion filed on June
24, 2009. "Moreover, at the time this lawsuit was filed, hernia
surgery was recommended and approved at least twice, but it was not
performed." Because the suit is pending, state officials and their
contracted medical health provider, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical
Services (CMS), would not comment. CMS is being paid $39.8 million by the
state this budget year. When asked why CMS offered to settle the suit with
Williams in September 2009, company spokesman Ken Fields said they were not
able to comment in detail because of the ongoing litigation. "We can
tell you that companies involved in litigation may choose to resolve such
cases for a variety of reasons, including the potential time and expense
involved in ongoing court proceedings," he said. "In addition, in
the context of your story about progress that has been made in the Delaware
correctional health care system, it is important to point out that this case
involves care that was delivered to one patient between 2005 and
2007." Williams, who initially accepted the settlement, then rejected
it, said he deserves to have his medical condition taken care of even
though he admits he is "no angel."
October 14, 2009 The News Journal
After years of criticism and a federal investigation, state officials
announced today they will let their contract with Correctional Medical
Services expire and try to find a new provider. The Department of
Correction announced it will take bids for a new contract with
modifications it hopes will provide better care, including breaking the
contract into smaller pieces to allow multiple companies to provide more
specialized service. The new contract will also have a “shared risk,” with
the DOC paying for certain costs in order to prevent medical providers from
limiting inmate care in order to maximize their profits. “The Department of
Correction has used the last few months to prepare for and make an informed
decision about this [Request for Proposals],” Commissioner of Correction
Carl Danberg said. “We have reviewed the best practices from other states
and interviewed medical experts from around the country in an effort to
develop a better contracting model for prison health services. In addition,
the department has interviewed correctional health-care professionals to
identify and eliminate the impediments to competition, which existed in
previous contracts.” In January, Danberg extended the contract with CMS
from a 2009 expiration date to June 30, 2010. At the time Danberg said
rebidding the contract would cost the state an additional $4 million on top
of the $39 million it’s already paying for health care. The Department of
Correction has come under scrutiny for its care of inmates in Delaware prisons.
Delaware entered into the agreement with the federal government following a
series of articles in 2005 by The News Journal that pointed to problems
with prison health care and high inmate death rates, especially from AIDS.
Other findings by the newspaper's six-month investigation included an
outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria and an inmate's massive brain tumor –
largely ignored by staff – which led to his death. Independent reports as a
result of the agreement with the federal government repeatedly pointed out
that CMS suffers from a "lack of stable and effective
leadership." Independent monitor Joshua W. Martin III said in his most
recent report that the department made some strides in complying with the
memorandum of agreement, or MOA. Martin found the state failed to comply
with six of 217 provisions, and was in substantial compliance with 64 of
them. The state was said to be in partial compliance with the remaining
requirements. Among the improvements was better organization of health
records, as well as up-to-date filing of health documents. Training for
guards in suicide prevention has expanded and the department created a
Bureau of Correctional Health-Care Services to supervise and audit medical
programs. However, Martin also said it is unlikely that the state will be
in full compliance when the agreement expires. In addition to leadership
problems with the medical contractor, other problems cited include
shortages of mental health counselors and psychiatrists, incomplete annual
staffing plans, poor treatment plans and a continued lack of space that
results in inadequate privacy.
September 30, 2009 The News Journal
After spending more than $130 million over three years, Delaware's prison
system continues to provide health care to inmates that falls short of
federal requirements, according to a report issued Tuesday by an
independent monitor. Because of that, the state Department of Correction is
at risk of remaining under U.S. Justice Department supervision when an
agreement it signed in 2006 expires later this year. While the federal
agency declined to comment Tuesday, it can take the more drastic measure of
suing for control of the state's prison system. When it did that in
California, the penal system was taken over by the federal government, which
ordered the release of prisoners because of overcrowding. In Delaware,
prisoners who cannot get adequate health care could be ordered released if
there is a takeover, said Stephen A. Hampton, a Dover attorney who
represents inmates and their families in lawsuits against the department.
Delaware entered into the agreement with the federal government following a
series of articles in 2005 by The News Journal that pointed to problems
with prison health care and high inmate death rates, especially from AIDS.
Other findings by the newspaper's six-month investigation included an
outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria and an inmate's massive brain tumor --
largely ignored by staff -- which led to his death. "Unfortunately,
I'm beginning to accept that we're not going to be in substantial
compliance by the end of the year," said Carl Danberg, Department of
Correction commissioner. "We are still working very hard to meet that
deadline, but I'm beginning to accept that we'll not make it." The
state has until Dec. 29 to comply with 217 provisions mandated by the
agreement, which was signed by Danberg, who was then Delaware's attorney
general, and former Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor. It called on the
state to revamp its prison health care system and report its progress
regularly to the Justice Department. Independent monitor Joshua W. Martin
III said in his report that the department made some strides in complying
with the memorandum of agreement, or MOA. Martin found the state failed to
comply with six of 217 provisions, and was in substantial compliance with
64 of them. The state was said to be in partial compliance with the
remaining requirements. Among the improvements was better organization of
health records, as well as up-to-date filing of health documents. Training
for guards in suicide prevention has expanded and the department created a
Bureau of Correctional HealthCare Services to supervise and audit medical
programs. However, Martin also said it is unlikely that the state will be
in full compliance when the agreement expires. Problems listed in the
210-page report include a "lack of stable and effective
leadership" by the company contracted by the state to provide medical
services, an ongoing problem Martin listed on previous reports. Other
problems cited include shortages of mental health counselors and
psychiatrists, incomplete annual staffing plans, poor treatment plans and a
continued lack of space that results in inadequate privacy. Danberg, who
previously said there were problems with the medical vendor, St.
Louis-based Correctional Medical Services (CMS), extended the group's $39
million contract for another year because it would cost the state an
additional $4 million to seek a new vendor. Danberg said he has penalized
CMS for not complying with its contract. "Last year alone, we
forfeited over a million dollars from them," Danberg said, adding the
money was used on the prisons' medical facilities." We have improved
the physical plant space at Howard Young [Correctional Institution], Baylor
[Women's Correctional Institution] and [Sussex Correctional
Institution]." CMS officials said in an e-mail they are reviewing the
monitor's findings and recommendations. "While we are proud of the
accomplishments our team has achieved in partnership with the DOC, we remain
fully committed to working with the state to do more to strengthen the
health care program in Delaware prisons," CMS spokesman Tony Zagora
said. 'Lapses in medical treatment' -- Robert Kern, 69, wonders how much
longer the problems will continue and how many lives will be affected.
"I don't see where any major changes have been affected because the
same organization is there," said Kern, whose 41-year-old son, Daniel,
died earlier this month while serving a one-year sentence for drunken driving
at Wilmington's Plummer Community Corrections Center. Kern said the state
Medical Examiner's Office told him his son died of pancreatitis
inflammation or infection of the pancreas. The younger Kern complained to
prison officials, but the illness went undiagnosed until he was taken to
St. Francis Hospital and died, Robert Kern said. "Apparently their
profitability is somewhat related on what they spend" on inmate health
care, Kern said about CMS. "Right there the incentive to treat people
versus having a higher profitability is just in contrast. I'm afraid the
patient will lose nine times out of 10." John Painter, department
spokesman, said that while the state is prohibited under federal law from
disclosing specifics, Daniel Kern's death is "being reviewed in the
same manner that all inmate deaths are addressed. Specifically, the
Delaware Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death and, as of now,
no cause has been determined." He also said the case will be reviewed
by the independent monitor and others. "To the extent lapses in
medical treatment are identified, DOC will be take prompt corrective
action," he said.
September 29, 2009 The News Journal
It does not appear the state’s Department of Correction will be able to
provide proper prison health care like it said it would nearly three years
ago when it signed an agreement with the federal Department of Justice,
according to the fifth report by an independent monitor overseeing the
state prison system. “The state has made progress toward reaching
substantial compliance with the terms of the [Memorandum of Agreement],”
according to the report issued this morning by the independent monitor
Joshua W. Martin III. “But the state still has a great deal more to
accomplish, and it does not appear that the state will have reached
substantial compliance with all of the provisions of the [Memorandum of
Agreement].” Among problems listed in the 210-page report is “the lack of
stable and effective leadership” at the medical provider level. This has
been an ongoing problem that Martin listed on previous reports. Department
of Correction Commissioner Carl Danberg previously said there were problems
with the medical vendor, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services
(CMS). Despite his displeasure, Danberg extended the $39 million contract
with CMS for another year, saying it would cost an additional $4 million to
seek a new vendor. Delaware entered into an agreement with the federal
government following a series of articles in 2005 by The News Journal that
pointed to problems with prison health care and high inmate death rates,
especially from AIDS. In March 2006, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights
Division launched its probe. Then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner tried unsuccessfully
to derail the federal investigation during her second term. Her legal
counsel at the time, Joseph C. Schoell, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales calling The News Journal's series
"misleading." In December 2006, the Justice Department and the
state of Delaware entered into a memorandum of agreement which requires the
state to take measures to ensure that adequate medical and mental health
care is provided to its inmates. Martin, a Wilmington attorney and former
Superior Court judge, was picked to head the monitoring team. Earlier this
year, Gov. Jack Markell appointed him to serve as chairman of the Delaware
Economic and Financial Advisory Council, the state's revenue forecasting
committee. Martin is expected to issue his final report sometime next year.
January 30, 2009 The News Journal
Poor performance by the Department of Correction's medical vendor
continues to “significantly” hamper the department's efforts to get out
from under supervision by the U.S. Justice Department, according to the
fourth report by the independent monitor overseeing the state prison
system. The 236-page report was issued early this morning. “The Monitoring
Team continues to be concerned over the lack of stable and effective
leadership at the vendor-level,” independent monitor Joshua W. Martin III
said in the report. “As the Monitoring Team emphasized in previous reports,
without stable and effective leadership, the state will be significantly
hampered in its attempts to become compliant with the [memorandum of
agreement between the United States Department of Justice and the State of
Delaware].” Since monitoring of Delaware prison health care started, Martin
has been critical of Correctional Medical Services, a private company
Delaware is paying $39 million this year to provide medical care to
inmates. Although Martin found the state to be doing better since his last
report, he still found problems with prison health care. “It should be
noted that, although the State may have received partial compliance ratings
in consecutive reports, that does not indicate that the state has failed to
make any progress,” Martin wrote. “To the contrary, in many situations, the
state has made progress, but still has some work to do before achieving a
substantial compliance rating.” Delaware entered into an agreement with the
federal government following a series of articles in 2005 by The News
Journal that pointed to problems with prison health care and high inmate
death rates, especially from AIDS. In March 2006, the Justice Department's
Civil Rights Division launched its probe. Former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner tried
unsuccessfully to derail the federal investigation. Her legal counsel at
the time, Joseph C. Schoell, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales calling The News Journal's series "misleading." In
December 2006, the Justice Department and the State of Delaware entered
into the memorandum of agreement, which requires the state to take measures
to ensure that adequate medical and mental health care is provided to its
inmates.
October 2, 2008 The News Journal
David L. Kalm, a 58-year-old disabled merchant seaman, has filed suit
against Department of Correction officials and the prison system's contract
medical vendor alleging he was denied care and subjected to a "savage
beating," which included death threats and having a nightstick or
similar object forced down his throat. Department of Correction officials
won't say whether they disciplined any guards over the assault -- none were
fired -- and they sent an internal affairs report about the incident to
Attorney General Beau Biden's office for review. "Results of Internal
Affairs investigations are confidential, but the findings of the Kalm
investigation were shared with Delaware State Police and the Attorney
General's Office," DOC spokesman John Painter said in a written statement.
"Additionally, all personnel matters are also confidential, so I am
unable to elaborate any further than to say that the correctional officers
involved in the incident remain with the Department of Correction. Based
upon the pending litigation, any additional comment would be
inappropriate." Biden, who was not willing to be interviewed for this
story, said through a spokesman that his office declined to prosecute any
guards. He wouldn't say why no charges were filed or elaborate about the case.
"The Delaware Department of Justice reviewed this case in April
2007," said spokesman Jason Miller. "As a result of our review,
we determined that no criminal charges would be filed." As to whether
the type of assault Kalm alleged constitutes a crime in Delaware, Miller
wouldn't say. "That's the extent of our statement," he said. When
Biden's office investigates a state agency, it creates an immediate
conflict of interest, according to Dover attorney Steve Hampton, who filed
Kalm's lawsuit Monday. Hampton has represented several inmates or their
survivors in civil suits against the DOC. "They're investigating the
same people they'll be defending if a civil suit is filed," he
explained. "Every attorney knows it's unethical, but it's what we ask
the AG's office to do all the time. They get an [internal affairs]
complaint, go after the guards, but then defend them during a civil
suit." A 'mental health history' -- According to the complaint, Kalm
was an inmate in the Sussex Correctional Institution in October 2006,
serving a 60-day sentence for DUI. Kalm has struggled with alcohol most of
his adult life. In 2006, he was charged on three separate counts of driving
under the influence. In prison, according to documents filed in Kent County
Superior Court, the medical contractor Correctional Medical Services was on
notice that Kalm had a "mental health history and the likelihood that
he was suffering from alcohol withdrawal." Kalm -- who is legally
disabled -- has a heart condition, high blood pressure, stomach problems
and arthritis in his spine that aggravates his sciatic nerve, causing
intense, shooting pain down his leg, according to his medical records. His
lungs were damaged while serving in the merchant marine, so he uses a
"breathing machine" daily to treat a condition similar to asthma.
He was admitted to the prison's infirmary for this breathing disorder and
hypertension. "While he was in the infirmary, the Plaintiff was
essentially in isolation. His anxiety and depression increased daily,"
the complaint states. "Despite the fact that neither his mental health
issues, nor his alcohol withdrawal, had been adequately addressed or
treated, the CMS medical staff released Plaintiff from the infirmary to the
general population." Suffering from alcohol withdrawal, which was
exacerbated by his mental health issues, Kalm did not fare well in the
general population. Guards and medical staffers noted his peculiar
behavior, but according to the complaint, no one "took appropriate
steps to treat his severe mental health problems and alcohol
withdrawal." "The basic problem is there was no medical protocol
in place for dealing with people suffering from withdrawal or having severe
mental health issues," Hampton told The News Journal, adding that he
has deposed several corrections CMS staffers about conditions at the
prison. "The guards have no training at all in mental health
issues," he said. "And CMS is supposed to have protocols for
mental health and alcohol withdrawal, but they don't have them."
Kalm's condition worsened until the evening of Oct. 6, 2006. Guards noted
in their logs he was "displaying anxiety and paranoia." They
wrote that he was acting funny and saying that "someone was going to
hurt him." Rather than taking the inmate to the infirmary, the guards
ordered Kalm back to his cell. Kalm didn't want to go, and a struggle
ensued. "During the struggle, Plaintiff grabbed a cord from a computer
monitor for support, causing it to fall on C/O Lawson cutting his
temple," the complaint states. Kalm told a reporter that he grabbed
the supervisor's desk to avoid being sent to a cell. "Then the door
flies open and a whole pile of guards run in, spray me with Mace and start
punching me," he said of the incident last year. "I grabbed onto
a computer and the wires. When they're dragging me out of there, the
computer comes off the desk and hits a guard."
July 30, 2008 News Journal
Continued poor performance by the Department of Correction's medical vendor
is harming the department's efforts to get out from under supervision by
the U.S. Justice Department, according to the third report by the
independent monitor overseeing the state prison system. Correctional
Medical Services, a private company Delaware is paying $39 million this
year to provide medical care to inmates, suffers from a "lack of
stable and effective leadership," independent monitor Joshua W. Martin
III wrote in a 221-page report released Tuesday. The findings are similar
to what Martin described in the 229-page report he released in January.
"The Monitoring Team has found that the lack of stable and effective
leadership at the vendor-level remains a concern," Martin wrote.
"As the monitoring team emphasized in the second report, without
stable and effective leadership, the state will be significantly hampered
in its attempts to become compliant with the [Memorandum of Agreement
between the Justice Department and the State of Delaware]." The
leadership at CMS is anything but stable. Martin found that the director of
nursing position at the Vaughn Correctional Center, formerly known as the
Delaware Correctional Center, has "turned over three times in the past
year." Also at Vaughn, 75 percent of sick call records reviewed by the
monitors showed that "patients were either not seen in a timely manner
or at all." When the nurse practitioner at the Young Correctional
Institution -- the sole primary-care provider for 700 inmates -- went on
vacation, there was no coverage for two weeks other than for emergencies.
"This lapse is not acceptable and clearly impacted access to care,"
Martin found. "Specifically, stable and effective leaders will improve
the State's performance by taking responsibility for ensuring that those
staff members that they supervise are performing adequately," he
stated in his report. "Also, stable and effective leadership will
ensure institutional knowledge of appropriate practices according to the
State's policies and procedures." Both reports are replete with horror
stories caused by staffing concerns and ineffective or nonexistent
leadership by the medical vendor. When a licensed practical nurse was
running sick call at the Sussex Correctional Institution -- a practice that
contravenes prison rules and regulations -- she mistakenly recorded an
inmate's complaint of "scrotal pain" on the wrong form, one used
for musculoskeletal assessment. As a result, the nurse "did not
perform an appropriate patient history or physical examination that was
pertinent to the complaint," the report states. No LPN should be
conducting sick call, Martin stated in his report. Assessing inmates'
medical and mental health complaints requires the skills of at least a
registered nurse. Despite the prohibition, LPNs routinely perform sick call
at Delaware prisons, the monitoring team found. Additional vacancies at
Sussex Correctional, Martin found, "have resulted in a waitlist for
inmates for routine mental health referrals, which is approximately 100
inmates long. In addition, routine 30-day visits for mental health caseload
inmates are not occurring." Also at Sussex Correctional, the report
indicates a patient "had requested to be seen by a doctor five times
before he was seen. The day after the physician saw him, he was admitted to
the hospital in acute renal failure and is currently undergoing
dialysis." 'Best interest' to keep vendor -- Martin, a Wilmington
attorney and former judge, was selected by the Department of Correction and
the Justice Department to serve as the state's first independent prison
monitor. Martin oversees efforts by the Department of Correction to satisfy
a settlement agreement with the federal government over "substantial
civil rights violations" in four state prisons. Martin declined to be
interviewed for this story, as did Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and CMS
corporate spokesman Ken Fields. In a written statement, Fields said his
firm "values the substantive feedback provided by the monitoring team
in Delaware. We will continue to collaboratively work with the Delaware
Department of Correction and the monitoring team to evaluate progress as
part of our ongoing efforts to enhance inmate healthcare services."
"CMS looks forward to building on the progress made with DOC to
enhance the healthcare system and deliver quality care to inmates housed in
Delaware facilities," Fields wrote. Department of Correction Commissioner
Carl Danberg has no plans to boot CMS from his prisons. "We've got a
window of opportunity to try to correct the medical problem within the
framework negotiated with the U.S. Department of Justice," Danberg
said. "We believe it's in the best interests of the state of Delaware
to keep CMS in place. Changing vendors now would hinder my ability to
comply with the agreement." He described the results in Martin's
report as "mixed." "The monitors very clearly expressed
pleasure with some progress they saw, particularly at [Young Correctional
Institution], and they expressed concern in other institutions,
particularly at [Vaughn Correctional Center] and [Sussex Correctional
Institution]," he said. "As you would expect when you start out
where we were, as you improve you get mixed results." 'It's been this
way for years' -- Dover attorney Steve Hampton, who has represented inmates
and their families in lawsuits against the Department of Correction, said
the system needs to be fixed, not monitored. "They're monitoring the
constant failure of CMS to provide adequate care, but they're not doing
anything about it," Hampton said. "Everybody in the system knows
it's been this way for years. I don't see the point of monitoring it if
they're not going to do anything about it." Hampton represented the
family of Anthony Pierce, who became known as "the brother with two
heads" as an inmate at Sussex Correctional Institution because of a
large tumor growing on his head. Pierce, who was being treated by CMS staff,
died from the brain tumor in 2002. Hampton regularly receives letters and
calls from inmates about health care concerns. "I'm still getting
complaints of people getting tumors. Everything is just as bad as it ever
was," he said. "There's still not enough staff, and if they get
someone who seems like they want to do a good job, they get run off."
Problems with prison health care and high inmate death rates, especially
from AIDS, were examined by The News Journal in a series published in 2005.
In March 2006, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division launched its
probe. Minner tried unsuccessfully to derail the federal investigation. Her
legal counsel at the time, Joseph C. Schoell, sent a letter to U.S.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales calling The News Journal's series
"misleading." In December 2006, the Justice Department and the
State of Delaware entered into the memorandum of agreement, which requires
the state to take measures to ensure that adequate medical and mental
health care is provided to its inmates. Pleas for help rebuffed -- Several
inmates have written Martin letters describing poor conditions of care
within the state prisons he oversees. The News Journal obtained several
copies of the form letters Martin sends back to the inmates, rejecting
their pleas for help. "Due to my role as independent monitor, I am not
able to offer legal advice or act as an advocate for individual
inmates," the letters state. "Therefore, I am unable to provide
you with any direct assistance in response to your letter." The Rev.
Christopher Alan Bullock helped found the Delaware Coalition for Prison
Reform and Justice. While the prison health care advocacy group has
achieved many of its goals, Bullock said, the group continues to meet when
they need to. He said he is also in contact with Martin. "I'm in full
agreement with Judge Martin and his team," Bullock said. "Though
we are disappointed, this delay does not mean there will be a denial
ultimately for change at the CMS level. We need a new vendor. Until we get a
new vendor, the ultimate change will not happen until CMS is removed."
April 5, 2008 News Journal
Fifteen current and former inmates at Young Correctional Institution
filed a federal lawsuit Friday alleging their medical care while behind
bars was not only negligent but amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
In at least one incident in 2006, a prison health care contractor allegedly
used the same needle on multiple inmates, perhaps all 15, to draw blood and
inject medicine -- exposing all to blood-borne diseases including hepatitis
C and possibly HIV/AIDS. At least three allege they have contracted
hepatitis and possibly other illnesses since that incident. Attorney Joseph
M. Bernstein, who along with attorney Bruce Hudson is representing the 15,
said he didn't know whether the woman identified in the lawsuit as
"Nurse Beth" used the same needle to save money, because the
prison hospital was short on supplies that day, because she made a mistake,
or for some other reason. "Legally, it doesn't matter," said
Bernstein. "They were still entitled to a minimum level of care."
And just because a person is in prison, there is no lower level of
acceptable care, he said. Although inmate Duane J. Williams was not named
in the lawsuit, his family says the exposure led to the 32-year-old's death
last month. Ken Fields, a spokesman for the prison's medical contractor,
St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services, said Friday the company was
aware of the allegations in 2006 but said there was no evidence the nurse
did what the lawsuit charges. He added that even if such a thing happened,
it was unlikely -- and there is no evidence -- that any infection actually
resulted. He acknowledged that the company did contact patients and offer
follow-up blood testing, but said it only did so as a precaution because of
the serious nature of the allegations against the nurse. Department of
Correction officials did not return calls for comment Friday. The Rev.
Christopher Bullock, senior pastor of New Canaan Baptist Church and
co-founder of the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice, said
Friday the acts of the nurse and her employer CMS were potentially
criminal. "We must decry this kind of behavior. It is not
acceptable," he said. Bullock said the situation described in the lawsuit
reminded him of the Tuskegee experiments in which hundreds of poor black
men in Alabama were allowed, without knowing it, to suffer and die from
syphilis by government doctors who were studying the disease's progression.
He said inmates deserve to be treated humanely and their families should
not have to put up with this kind of pain and anguish. The 15 inmates who
filed the lawsuit were at various stages in the criminal justice system
when they were exposed, Bernstein said. Some were being held for probation
violations, some were serving sentences for drug violations or crimes such
as theft, and some were being held pending a trial. Some have since gotten
out of jail, but most remain incarcerated, Bernstein said. Normally, he
said, a lancet is used to test a diabetic's blood, then a separate syringe
is used to administer the insulin. Neither is supposed to be re-used. In
this case, the inmates allege, the nurse used the syringe to test their
blood, then used the same syringe to administer the insulin -- potentially
contaminating the multi-use vial. She then re-used the syringe in the same
way with other inmates, potentially compounding the spread of blood-borne
disease. The 15 inmates say their rights were violated and are seeking
compensatory and punitive damages and changes in prison medical care to
prevent a repeat of the incident. Attorneys for the plaintiffs provided a
copy of a memo given to the inmate patients sometime in the summer of 2006,
which appears to acknowledge some kind of contamination incident. The
"Patient Information Sheet" states a nurse "may have"
used the same hypodermic needle to draw blood and to administer insulin, in
violation of policy. "A few other inmate patients are now making the
same claim," it states, with a handwritten notation adding that some
have tested positive for hepatitis. The memo offers the inmates a blood
screening to check for infection and says the unnamed nurse denied the
charges and had left her job at Young Correctional. Bernstein said some of
his clients who agreed to the blood screening were never told the results.
Harry Williams, the brother of the inmate who died last month at a
Philadelphia hospital, said Friday that his brother Duane, who was a
diabetic and serving a three-year sentence on a drug and a weapons charge,
had received the same Patient Information Sheet and that "Nurse
Beth" was involved in his treatment in 2006 at Young Correctional
Institution, formerly known as Gander Hill. Some 46 other diabetic inmates
were treated from the same multi-use vial. Six subsequently tested positive
for hepatitis, although prison officials said they could not definitively
state that the illness was linked to the allegedly contaminated insulin.
One month before the earliest date of alleged contamination, in March 2006,
the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division launched an investigation of
inmate health care in Delaware. That federal involvement followed a series
of stories published in The News Journal detailing abuses and problems with
inmate health care. The state later signed a settlement agreement with
federal authorities promising to revamp and reform the prison health care
system. In February of this year, a report on the progress of that reform
by former Superior Court Judge Joshua W. Martin III gave the state and CMS
poor grades. Bullock said Friday that CMS and its "incompetent and
unethical" practices have to go. "The coalition will again be
calling for the removal of CMS and we will be doing whatever is necessary
-- demonstrations, protest marches -- to bring justice to an unjust system.
Someone must be held accountable. We are talking about the lives of human
beings," he said.
March 13, 2008 News Journal
An inmate mistakenly exposed to blood-borne diseases died Wednesday,
months after his initial complaints of abdominal pain were ignored, his
family says. "If I die, it's because of the prison," Duane J.
Williams said just before he died, according to his brother. In 2006, a
prison nurse administered a contaminated insulin shot to Williams. Because
he wasn't tested for a variety of diseases and viruses prior to his
incarceration for drug and weapons' offenses, it may never be known whether
exposure to hepatitis, HIV and other infections contributed to his liver
problems. But the prison medical staff's failure to act quickly when pain
first developed, his family says, was a deadly mistake. "When I came
into his room for the last time, I actually saw his breath leave his
body," said Harry Williams Jr., Duane's brother. "I told him it
was OK to let go. I saw the life go out of him. He's at peace. He is free
now. He is definitely free." Four days before he died, Duane Williams,
32, told The News Journal that he first felt a pain in his gut over four
months ago but the pain wasn't taken seriously until this month when a
prison guard noticed Williams' eyes were turning yellow. The officer
demanded that a nurse or doctor provide treatment or transfer the inmate to
a hospital. Williams was taken to Wilmington Hospital and then
Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he died at
approximately 1:30 a.m. His family requested an autopsy, but the exact
cause of death remains unknown. "One of the doctors said he had acute
hepatitis," his brother said. "But no one is telling us anything
official." "He didn't deserve this," wife Megan Williams
said through tears. "I will miss him very, very much."
March 9, 2008 News Journal
Gander Hill inmate Duane J. Williams is clinging to life in a
Pennsylvania hospital, his eyes bright yellow from near-total liver
failure. Severe abdominal pain, which he first reported over four months
ago, wasn't taken seriously by the prison's medical contractor,
Correctional Medical Services, until last week, he says. When a corrections
sergeant noticed Williams' eyes, the officer demanded that CMS staff
provide treatment or transfer the inmate to a hospital. Ten days ago, the
inmate was taken to Wilmington Hospital, where he waited for a week before
being transferred to Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Medical Center on
Thursday night for specialized treatment. A diabetic, Williams was exposed
to blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis in July 2006, when a former
prison nurse drew insulin from a multidose vial with a syringe she had
earlier used to obtain a blood sample from another inmate. The nurse, who
resigned after the mistake was discovered, delivered insulin from that vial
to Williams and 46 other diabetic inmates. Six have since tested positive
for hepatitis, although prison officials can't definitively link their
illnesses to the contaminated insulin. Most of the inmates, including
Williams, were not tested for hepatitis before the exposure. To Williams,
none of this matters. "My liver's failing me," he said. He
doesn't know how long he will live if he doesn't get a transplant. "They
won't tell me straight out," he said. Like the other exposed inmates,
Williams has lived with the possibility he contracted hepatitis or HIV from
the insulin shot. Because viral infections can take months to appear,
nurses conducted a series of blood tests in 2006 to monitor the inmates'
health. Williams, 32, was retested last week at Wilmington Hospital, but he
says doctors tell him they don't know what caused his liver to fail. While
hepatitis C can cause liver failure, it typically takes longer between
exposure and failure than what Williams has experienced, according to Dr.
Robert Fontana, an associate professor of internal medicine and medical
director for liver transplant at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The rarer former of hepatitis B, also can lead to liver failure, and
progresses much quicker. Other medical circumstances can shorten or
lengthen the progression of either strain. Sentenced to three years for
drug and weapons offenses, Williams is dying six months before his
scheduled September release. "He wasn't sentenced to death," said
his mother, Teri Williams.
February 1, 2008 News Journal
Continued poor performance by the Department of Correction's medical
vendor could hamper the department's efforts to get out from under
supervision by the U.S. Justice Department, according to a new report by an
independent monitor overseeing the state prison system. Correctional
Medical Services, a private company Delaware pays millions of dollars a
year to provide medical care to inmates, suffers from a "lack of stable
and effective leadership," independent monitor Joshua W. Martin III
wrote in a 229-page report released Thursday. "Moreover, there has
been consistent turnover at staff-level positions, and, at [Young
Correctional Institution] in particular, there is a problem with staff
insubordination that needs to be addressed because it affects inmate
medical and mental health services negatively," Martin wrote in his
report. "The Monitoring Team has also faced difficulty in receiving
consistent and accurate information from CMS." While Martin found that
the DOC has made some improvements, he concluded that many CMS staff lacked
proper credentials or were working outside their areas of expertise: At the
Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna, a pathologist is practicing
general medicine. The monitoring team also found that for three months last
year, no inmate at the Smyrna prison received a referral to an outside
specialist because "the person who was assigned to schedule
appointments for inmates was on sick leave, and CMS had failed to find a
temporary replacement." Inmate medical files were found stashed in
boxes, while others were out of date, doctored or missing. At the Baylor
Women's Correctional Institution, a book used to keep track of inmates
suffering from highly contagious flesh-eating bacteria was lost, the data
irretrievable. Lisa Williams got out of the women's prison two weeks ago
after spending six days there awaiting extradition to Maryland on a theft
charge. Williams was burned over 60 percent of her body when she was a
child, after a lighter she was playing with set her dress on fire. Now 31,
she dehydrates easily because of the burns. When she overheated in a
holding cell with 13 other women, just getting to the prison infirmary was
difficult. "I put in a sick call slip, but it was four days before it
was addressed," she said. The CMS nurse gave her an ice pack.
"She said I was just a crackhead withdrawing," Williams said.
"I'm not on drugs. I was very sick. They assume everyone's a
crackhead. I saw a girl have a seizure in the cell. They made her walk to
the infirmary, once she stopped." 'Lack of supervision' -- According
to Martin's report, on several occasions the monitors were told about a
practice or procedure staff believed was being adhered to, but "it
often turns out that such practice or procedure is not, in fact, being
followed in spite of the belief of the individual providing information.
This is symptomatic of a lack of supervision of staff, and poor or
nonexistent self-monitoring. The Monitoring Team recommends that CMS begin
to self-monitor for compliance with DOC policies as soon as possible so as
to be able to assess its own compliance, and provide the Monitoring Team
with reliable information." CMS corporate spokesman Ken Fields refused
to be interviewed for this story. "I am not going to respond to any
specifics," he said. Fields also refused to allow CMS employees
working in Delaware to be interviewed. "Our healthcare staff are
focused on patient care rather than dealing with news media," he said
in an e-mail. The "report shows clearly that, working together, the
Delaware Department of Correction and CMS have made a great deal of
progress enhancing the inmate healthcare system. The report also notes
there is more to be done." Department of Correction Commissioner Carl
Danberg said the monitor's report was "fair and balanced."
"I've made it clear to CMS that I am not satisfied with the pace of
progress, but CMS has been working cooperatively with us, and I will continue
to hold them to the terms of the contract, and push for total
compliance," Danberg said. Danberg's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal
includes $40 million for inmate medical care -- $38 million for CMS. A call
for change -- Inmate advocates have urged Minner and other state leaders to
sever the state's contract with CMS. Danberg would not say if that is an
option. "I will consider any change that I believe will lead to
improvement of medical care, but at the moment, I'm not prepared to discuss
the potential for changing vendors," Danberg said. Martin, a
Wilmington attorney and former judge, was selected in May by the Department
of Correction and the Justice Department to serve as the state's first
independent prison monitor. Martin oversees efforts by the Department of
Correction to satisfy a settlement agreement with the federal government
over "substantial civil rights violations" in four state prisons.
Martin declined to be interviewed for this story, as did Delaware Gov. Ruth
Ann Minner. In preparing his report, Martin, together with a team of
medical and mental health professionals, reviewed Department of Correction
policies and procedures, record-keeping, medication and laboratory orders,
staffing and training, screening and treatment, access to care, chronic
disease care, medication management, emergency care, mental health care,
suicide prevention and quality assurance. According to the mandates of the
settlement agreement, the monitors must gauge compliance with 217
provisions. The settlement agreement, signed by Danberg, who at the time
was Delaware's attorney general, and former Correction Commissioner Stan
Taylor, called on the state to revamp its prison health care system and to
report its progress regularly to the Justice Department. The agreement
remains in effect for three years, although the state can get off earlier
if it achieves "substantial compliance" with each portion of the
agreement. Martin found the state failed to comply with 17 of 217 total
provisions, and was in substantial compliance with 31 of the 217. The state
was said to be in partial compliance with the remainder of the
requirements. "The assessment of partial compliance that the
Monitoring Team has used is a very broad designation and in some instances
reflects minimal progress that the State has made in eliminating the
constitutional deficiencies that motivated the parties to enter into [the
settlement]," Martin wrote. Advocates, families dismayed -- Prison
reform advocates, former inmates and their families didn't need Martin's
report to reinforce their belief that inmate medical care in Delaware is
poor. Francine Wright, whose son died while an inmate, said she continues
to hear complaints from families who have imprisoned family members.
"The medical care is not up to par," Wright said. "People
are still not getting their medical treatment." Wright's son, Darnell
Anderson, was serving a four-year sentence when he was taken to
Wilmington's St. Francis Hospital in 2004. During his hospitalization,
doctors learned Anderson had pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an
AIDS-related infection that is usually preventable and treatable when
caught early. He died at St. Francis. "They need to fire the people
over there who are not doing their job," Wright said. Dover attorney
Steve Hampton, who has represented inmates and their families in lawsuits
against the Department of Correction, said the problems outlined in
Martin's report should come as no surprise to DOC officials. "Even
with the monitor in place, very little real improvement is taking place,"
Hampton said. "Our state government officials have turned a blind eye
to widespread human rights violations in a program for which they have
oversight. It seems that they are not going to seriously address the
problems at DOC unless forced to by the Justice Department." Hampton
represented the family of Anthony Pierce, who became known as "the
brother with two heads" as an inmate at Sussex Correctional
Institution because of a large tumor growing on his head. Pierce, who was
being treated by CMS staff, died from the brain tumor in 2002. The state
settled a wrongful-death lawsuit in a confidential agreement last year.
Public health at risk -- "This report tells me that the state is
continuing to pay tens of millions of dollars for a health care program
that routinely breaches the applicable standards of medicine, violates the
human rights of inmates and puts us all at risk of serious infectious
diseases," Hampton said. "The prisons have become incubators for
all sorts of diseases such as MRSA, TB and hepatitis. These diseases are
not stopped by prison walls. Allowing them to flourish in prison means they
will eventually flourish on the outside." Problems with prison health
care and high inmate death rates, especially from AIDS, were examined by
The News Journal in a series published in 2005. In March 2006, the Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division launched its probe. Minner tried
unsuccessfully to derail the federal investigation. Her legal counsel at
the time, Joseph C. Schoell, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales calling The News Journal's series "misleading." The Rev.
Christopher Bullock, a founder of the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform
and Justice, said it was time for the state to terminate its contract with
CMS. "Until CMS is replaced with a Delaware group -- for Delaware from
Delaware -- there will be no significant or sustainable change," he
said. "It's now time for the state to act in the best interest of
Delaware and our reputation in this country."
January 4, 2008 News Journal
A former inmate who successfully sued the medical contractor for the
state's prison system, without an attorney, has resolved his case out of
court. Richard Mark Turner, 52, charged that Correctional Medical Services
failed to provide him with adequate care in 2001 and 2002 to treat his
hepatitis C. Attorney Jeffrey K. Martin, who is now representing Turner,
said the resolution with CMS was "amicable" but confidential. He
said Turner was pleased with the result. CMS spokesman Ken Fields said the
case was settled to "to avoid further litigation." Neither side
would say if Turner received money as part of the resolution. In March,
District Judge Sue L. Robinson ruled in Turner's favor before his civil
case went to trial, stating the undisputed evidence showed Turner's care
was "obviously inadequate" and violated his rights. The result
stunned legal observers because Turner won the case without formal legal
assistance. At the time he filed the case, in 2003, Turner demanded $14.9
million. Martin joined the case several weeks after Robinson's ruling. The
two sides agreed to settle the case following mediation sessions with
Magistrate Judge Leonard Stark in late November and Tuesday entered a
stipulation with the court to drop the case. In her March ruling, Robinson said
CMS employees did not adequately instruct Turner on how to give himself
injections of Interferon -- a form of chemotherapy -- and then "turned
a blind eye" when they saw him improperly injecting himself three
times a week for seven months. According to court papers, Turner injected
himself in the same spot rather than in different locations -- as medically
recommended -- resulting in serious infections. Martin said his client
continues to suffer significant health problems as a result. Turner had been
in prison on assault and reckless endangerment charges. He was released in
2006 but several months later ended up in a Pennsylvania prison on assault
charges. Martin said Turner was released on the Pennsylvania charges in
September and now lives in Sussex County. Turner has a second civil case
pending in federal courts -- filed in 2006 -- alleging subsequent medical
negligence by the state and CMS related to the infections. Turner also
filed that case on his own, but Martin has agreed to now represent him in
that matter as well.
July 6, 2007 News Journal
The state’s new prison monitor released his first semi-annual report
today, which is highly critical of Correctional Medical Services, the
Department of Correction’s medical contractor. In May, Joshua W. Martin
III, a Wilmington attorney and former judge, was selected by the Department
of Correction and the U. S. Department of Justice to serve as the state’s
first independent prison monitor. As such, Martin will oversee the efforts
made by the DOC in satisfying a settlement agreement with the federal
government following an investigation that revealed “substantial civil
rights violations” in four state prisons. Martin, together with a team of
medical and mental health professionals, is monitoring Department of
Correction policies and procedures, record keeping, medication and
laboratory orders, staffing and training, screening and treatment, access
to care, chronic disease care, medication management, emergency care,
mental health care, suicide prevention, and quality assurance. In addition,
the team is providing technical assistance to assist the department with
reaching or sustaining compliance with certain of the requirements under
the memorandum of understanding. Martin spells out that his team’s
compliance checks are in their initial stages, with more detail to come in
subsequent reports. “This report primarily summarizes the obligations of
the state under the MOA, the preliminary observations and recommendations
the Monitoring Team has regarding the state's compliance with the MOA, and
the monitoring team's plan of action for the coming months,” Martin stated
in his report. However, the team did identify several problem areas, such
as poor sanitation and chronic understaffing by Correctional Medical Services.
“Staffing by the state's medical vendor, Correctional Medical Services, of
its leadership positions is a serious concern,” the report states. “Without
adequate and consistent leadership, it is very difficult for the state to
implement and maintain the changes necessary to comply with the MOA.” The
reason for the understaffing, Martin’s team discovered, was an
unwillingness by Correctional Medical Services to spend money. “It is the
monitoring team's understanding that CMS has had difficulty finding appropriate
individuals to fill leadership positions. The monitoring team also has
received information that tends to indicate that CMS' regional or national
management has not been willing to take such measures as offering
relatively small increases in pay in order to attract and retain
individuals that would be qualified to fill the vacant positions, nor has
CMS' regional or national management been particularly supportive of
facility-level CMS management regarding staffing concerns.” Dover lawyer
Steve Hampton represents several inmates and their families, including the
young daughter of Anthony Pierce, who became known as "the brother
with two heads" as an inmate at Sussex Correctional Institution.
Pierce, who was profiled in a series of articles by The News Journal, was
serving a 14-month sentence from an attempted burglary. “They’ve identified
some problems such as horrible sanitation and understaffing, which are well
known to anyone in the system,” Hampton said. “The question is, what’s
being done about it. I don’t see any details. It’s just another report that
describes deficiencies.” For six months in 2005, The News Journal examined
conditions of care within the state’s prisons. In late September that year,
the newspaper published a series of stories highlighting the findings in a
special report.
March 31, 2007 News Journal
The contractor handling medical services for state prisons violated an
inmate's constitutional rights in 2001 and 2002 through "obviously
inadequate" care, according to a federal judge. Chief Judge Sue L.
Robinson further found the evidence was so overwhelming that she granted
inmate Richard Mark Turner's motion for summary judgment, meaning he has
won his case without a trial. What makes the ruling even more remarkable,
according to legal experts, is that Turner, 51, got the ruling in a lawsuit
that he filed and argued without an attorney. "This is a very rare
event," said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the American Civil
Liberties Union's National Prison Project. Turner, who is now incarcerated
in Bellefonte, Pa., could not be reached for comment. Prison officials and
officials with Correctional Medical Services said Friday they had not read
the ruling, handed down late Wednesday, and therefore could not respond
directly to it. "We intend to review the judge's ruling in detail
before taking any additional action," CMS spokesman Ken Fields wrote
in an e-mail Friday. He also noted the case involves events that are more
than five years old, a time when less was known about the treatment of hepatitis
C, which Turner had. The U.S. Department of Justice found "substantial
civil rights violations" in Delaware prisons last year, following a
2005 News Journal series on prison medical care documenting abuses in the
prison. In December, the state signed a settlement agreement with federal
investigators, promising to correct the problems. On Friday, Corrections
spokeswoman Gail Stallings Minor said the department is continuing to
address every issue identified in the report. According to Robinson's ruling,
Correctional Medical Services violated Turner's rights when its employees
failed to adequately train him in how to use a syringe to inject himself
with Interferon -- a form of chemotherapy -- to treat his hepatitis C and
"turned a blind eye" when they observed him improperly injecting
himself three times a week for seven months. Turner injected himself in the
same spot rather than in several different locations as recommended by the
information sheet included with the medicine. As a result of the improper
injections, Turner developed a serious infection, according to court
papers.
January 16, 2007 News Journal
Legislation that would guarantee public access to any state agency
report that was paid for with public money was released from a House
committee today, on track for possible action by the full house this month.
House Bill 5, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Wagner, R-Dover North, is virtually
identical to legislation that passed the House unanimously last year but
died in the Senate for lack of action. It was prompted by the Department of
Correction’s refusal to release a performance audit of Correctional Medical
Services, the contractor that provided medical services to the state’s
prisons. State officials refused to release the audit saying to do so would
reveal private medical information that federal privacy laws preclude from
disclosure. The state also refused to release a redacted version of the
audit that would have removed patient identities while retaining the
audit's conclusions regarding CMS' performance. John Flaherty, lobbyist for
Delaware Common Cause, told the House Sunset/Policy Analysis &
Government Accountability Committee that House Bill 5 “essentially makes
public what is already public.”
January 13, 2007 The News Journal
Demetrius Caldwell, a 24-year-old drug dealer, had been undergoing
unspecified treatment for a month in the state's newest prison infirmary
before he was found dead this week, laying on a mattress on the floor of
his infirmary cell. A medical staffer had checked on him 25 minutes before
he died. Prison officials ruled out meningococcal meningitis as the cause
of death Friday, after naming it as a possibility Thursday evening. A less
virulent strain of meningitis remains a slight possibility.
"Everything's negative," said James Welch, the Department of
Correction's health services administrator. "There's no trauma, no
heart problems, no brain tumor. We're still waiting on toxicology. We can't
find anything. We're as concerned as anyone else is." The length of
time Caldwell spent in the state's prison infirmary and the lack of an
explanation for his death point to the same medical deficiencies that
prompted the U.S. Justice Department last month to find "substantial
civil rights violations" in four Delaware prisons, said Senate
Minority Leader Charles L. Copeland, R-West Farms. The federal
investigation was prompted by a series of articles in The News Journal that
revealed inadequate health care and questionable treatment within the
prisons. In their report, federal prison regulators found "consistent
backlogs with the respect to the treatment of chronic care inmates."
Any inmate who has been in the infirmary for a month meets the
"chronic care" definition and should have been taken to a private
hospital, said Copeland, one of the co-founders of the Delaware Coalition
for Prison Reform and Justice. "Someone should have recognized that
the prison infirmary was not the place for him to be," he said.
"The fact they failed to identify that re-emphasizes the legitimacy of
the constitutional violations of prison health care performance."
Federal investigators, who negotiated an 87-point settlement with the state
to improve prison medical care, declined to comment about Caldwell's death.
Correction commissioner nominee Carl Danberg said Friday that doctors from
Correctional Medical Service, or CMS, the prison's contract medical
provider, along with the Department of Correction's medical team, the Chief
Medical Examiner's Office and Public Health are reviewing the case.
"Additional outside expertise might be sought, depending upon what we
find in the tests that are still pending," Danberg said. "We are
following Department of Correction procedures and following Delaware law
for a death in custody. All information is being turned over to the Medical
Examiner."
December 31, 2006 The News Journal
Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna is among the Delaware prisons
looking at major changes in inmate health care after an investigation by
the U.S. Department of Justice found the prison system guilty of civil
rights violations. It's been more than a year since a coalition of
concerned citizens, lawmakers and clergy marched on the governor's mansion
and knelt in prayer asking for better health care for inmates in Delaware's
prisons. They were galvanized by horrific conditions outlined in a series
of stories in The News Journal, the first of which appeared in late
September 2005 -- a series Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor charged was
"sloppy reporting" in a five-page response the newspaper published.
What's happened since will bring groundbreaking changes to Delaware's
prison system: • On Friday, following a nine-month investigation, the U.S.
Department of Justice announced that federal investigators found
"substantial civil rights violations" inside four Delaware
prisons. For example, the report noted, flesh-eating bacteria inside Gander
Hill prison went undiagnosed and untreated, placing "inmates and staff
at risk of acquiring the infection and passing it to others in the
community." • Taylor and Attorney General Carl Danberg signed an
87-point agreement with the federal government that calls for sweeping
changes in Delaware's penal institutions. The state promised to correct the
deficiencies and "meet generally accepted professional standards."
However, the state did not admit to violating any inmate's civil rights or
breaking any other federal law. • The 55-year-old Taylor, who's served the
past 11 years as commissioner, announced this month that he will retire on
Feb. 1. On Saturday a prison spokeswoman announced that Paul Howard,
Taylor's longtime bureau chief of prisons, is retiring the same day. Prison
spokeswoman Gail Minor Stallings said Howard's departure had nothing to do
with the federal report that orders the state to completely renovate its
prison health care system. • Trial lawyers say the damning federal findings
will serve as a road map for inmate lawsuits against the state. • Senate
Minority Leader Charles Copeland, R-West Farms, said Saturday the federal
government might have taken a "wait and see" approach, if the
state had reacted once concerns about inmate care were first raised by the
newspaper, and by the citizen coalition he co-founded. "If there had
been a positive response from the state, the feds might have not felt the
need to be the hammer," said Copeland, who estimates that changes
ordered by the Justice Department will cost $20 million to $30 million more
than the state already spends annually on prisons. • House Majority Leader
Wayne Smith, R-Clair Manor, said he was disturbed about the agreement being
signed in secret. "I am troubled that we (lawmakers) were not
consulted about something this important. By signing this, the governor and
the attorney general have obligated the state to spending money without the
General Assembly's consent -- and I think we should have learned about this
from them, rather than from a reporter." Copeland wasn't alone in
suggesting that had state officials acknowledged serious problems existed,
rather than denying their existence, the pain and suffering among inmates
and their families -- as well as the final cost of taxpayer dollars --
would not have been as high. Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, an early
backer of the federal probe who wrote a letter in support of the
investigation to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, said it's not as
though the state pleaded no-contest to the federal charges of poor inmate
health care. "It's worse than that," Peterson said. "They
don't think they did anything wrong."
October 20, 2006 Wilmington News-Journal
Seven months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice opened an
investigation of the prison health care system in Delaware -- where the
rates of inmates dying of AIDS and suicide have been among the highest in
the nation, and where hepatitis and skin infections are constant problems.
Eleven months ago, a former inmate's breast cancer went undetected while
she was forced to wait five months for a mammogram inside Baylor Women's
Correctional Institution, near New Castle. Twelve months ago, an outbreak
of Legionnaires' disease hit Sussex Correctional Institution, in
Georgetown. And yet little has changed for the inmates, a coalition of
prison advocates said Thursday. On the anniversary of the coalition's
founding, leaders of the group gathered in Wilmington's Rodney Square to
lament a year's worth of what they called inaction by the leaders of
Delaware. There has been only "silence" from Gov. Ruth Ann Minner
and "stonewalling" from the General Assembly, said co-founders of
the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice. "We are here
today to continue to raise the issue in the consciousness of prison crisis
in our state," said the Rev. Christopher Bullock, pastor of Canaan
Baptist Church. "We are going to continue to fight on behalf of the voiceless,
those incarcerated and their families." For six months in 2005, The
News Journal examined conditions of care within the state's prisons. In
late September 2005, the newspaper published a series of articles
highlighting AIDS-related inmate deaths and suicides during the past four
years; allegations by inmates of poor medical treatment for cancer,
meningitis and hepatitis; and a no-bid $25.9 million contract awarded to
St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services to manage health care in the
state's prisons. The series revealed: •Dr. Janet Kramer, of Wilmington, an
expert in prison health care, said inmates should be screened for hepatitis
C and HIV. But pretrial and convicted inmates in Delaware are not routinely
screened when they are sent to prison or when they leave. Delaware prisons
have become incubators for new strains of the AIDS virus, creating a public
health crisis, experts say. •Former prison doctor Ramesh Vemulapalli said a
private medical company ordered him to treat inmates for HIV or hepatitis
C, but not both. •The state does not routinely conduct autopsies on inmates
who die in prison or those hospitalized at the time of their death, a
policy the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners
believes prevents evaluation of the quality of prison medical treatment.
And if it does conduct autopsies, the results are sent to the medical
vendor, not the prison. •Dr. Robert Cohen, an expert in prison health care
whom state and federal courts have appointed to monitor prisons in five
states, said Delaware should investigate medical malpractice claims.
Instead, the state's medical board occasionally takes complaints from
inmates and their families about prison health care professionals, but it
is only an advisory panel.
August 8, 2006 News Journal
The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware filed a civil lawsuit
today charging the state Department of Correction with refusing to provide
information about how it treats prisoners for with illnesses such as HIV,
hepatitis and high blood pressure. The ACLU, represented by Public Citizen,
filed the suit in New Castle County Superior Court when the prison
department denied its records request. According to the suit, prison
officials claimed some information about treatment is “a trade secret” and
“privileged or confidential” property of the prison’s medical contractor,
St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services, Inc. The lawsuit maintains
that the withholding of documents relating to the correctional facility’s
treatment protocols for certain illnesses and operating procedures for
wellness visits is in direct violation of the Delaware Freedom of
Information Act. The ACLU also said that corrections departments in other
states have provided similar prison health care policy information to the
public. The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division started
investigating prison health care in Delaware on March 8 -- a probe
Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor Jr. and Gov. Ruth Ann Minner
opposed and lobbied to stop. Last year, The News Journal published a series
of articles documenting inadequate medical care in Delaware prisons.
July 21, 2006 News Journal
As many as four dozen current and former inmates at the Young Correctional
Institution may have been exposed to blood-borne diseases, including AIDS
and hepatitis, by a former nurse accused of improper needle use. "This
is a potential crisis in our community," said the Rev. Christopher
Bullock, a founder of the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice.
"It goes to our original point, that when there is incompetent medical
services provided to those who are incarcerated, it opens up Pandora's Box
for things to happen of this nature." According to the Department of
Correction, a licensed practical nurse who was hired April 10 used a diabetic
needle and syringe instead of an individual lancet to obtain a blood sample
from an inmate earlier this month. The nurse later used the same needle to
draw insulin from a multiple-dose vial -- potentially contaminating the
vial -- then used the vial to provide insulin to other inmates. Department
of Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor said the procedure was completely
inappropriate and something any health practitioner would be taught early
not to do. "It is alarming because it is very basic medical protocol,"
he said. Taylor would not name the nurse but said she had resigned. The
nurse was hired by St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services, or CMS,
the state prison's health care provider. A News Journal investigation of
the state prison health care last year pointed out high rates of
AIDS-related inmate deaths. The series, which looked at the quality of
medical and mental health services, is central to an ongoing investigation
of the Delaware prison system by a special civil rights team from the U.S.
Justice Department. United States Attorney Colm F. Connolly refrained from
commenting about the new allegations because of the ongoing Justice
Department investigation. 'More of the ongoing tragedy' Dover Attorney
Stephen A. Hampton, who has successfully sued the Department of Correction
on behalf of inmates or their survivors who alleged improper care, said
"this is more of the ongoing tragedy that is CMS and the DOC."
Bullock said the investigation should be comprehensive and that all 48
people involved, as well as those with whom they have had contact, should
be tested. "There needs to be a health alert within the prison and
also in the community due to this unprofessional behavior by this
particular nurse," he said.
June 11, 2006 News Journal
A 56-year-old Hockessin man hanged himself last month hours after he
was taken off a suicide watch by the Department of Correction -- and
despite warnings from family and mental health advocates of a recent
suicide attempt. At 4:52 a.m. on May 30, prison guards found Thomas J.
Burns hanging from a bedsheet in his cell. Burns had arrived at Young
Correctional Institution on a forgery warrant. Only days before the prison
suicide, Burns was released from Christiana Hospital, where he nearly died
after trying to kill himself by mixing medication and liquor. Mental health
advocates flooded the prison with phone calls, trying to alert the jailers
that Burns would try to kill himself in the prison. Prison officials
initially placed Burns on suicide watch -- a restrictive status involving
constant surveillance during which Burns was allowed only a paper gown in
his cell. But on Memorial Day, a counselor employed by the prison's private
medical contractor, Correctional Medical Services, conducted a mental
health evaluation and ordered Burns placed on the less-restrictive
psychiatric observation. Burns was given several personal items --
including bedsheets -- and guards were supposed to check on him every 15
minutes. Hours later, he was dead. Suicide is the third-leading cause of
death in prisons nationally -- behind natural causes and AIDS-related
deaths, which are recorded separately from natural causes by the U.S.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. According to the bureau's latest report,
issued last month, Delaware's prisoner suicide rate for 2001 and 2002 was
double the national average of 14 per 100,000 inmates. The quality of
medical and mental health services inside Delaware prisons is central to an
ongoing investigation of the Delaware Department of Correction by a special
civil rights team from the U.S. Justice Department. High rates of inmate
deaths from HIV/AIDS, mistreatment of cancerous tumors and the spread of
flesh-eating bacteria are just some of the factors attracting federal
scrutiny. Burns' death will be reviewed internally, said Correction
Commissioner Stan Taylor, and the findings will be closed to the public.
Burns' suicide is similar to previous deaths in Delaware prisons. As he was
booked into Howard Young (then called Gander Hill prison) in 2004,
Christopher Barkes told a mental health screener that he had attempted
suicide before -- when he had earlier served time in Gander Hill. Barkes
provided a list of drugs he was taking for depression, post-traumatic
stress disorder and other forms of mental illness. Instead of placing
Barkes on suicide watch, prison officials put him in a cell, alone and
unsupervised. Hours later, Barkes hanged himself with a bedsheet. His
widow, Karen, has sued the state over the death. "It is very
disturbing that after Chris's suicide, they still aren't going to change
anything," she said. "Chris died and nothing changes."
According to the Department of Correction, 11 inmates have killed
themselves since January 2000 -- most by hanging. Experts say effective
mental health care can reduce the number of suicides in the state's nine
prison facilities. In Delaware, Correctional Medical Services provides
medical and mental health treatment. When an inmate arrives in prison,
these CMS counselors use a form that has a series of yes/no questions to
determine suicide risk. If the risk of suicide is high, they may require
the inmate to sign a "suicide contract" promising not to kill
themselves. Mental health experts have described these practices as
antiquated and ineffective. Level of expertise. Neither prison nor
Correctional Medical Services officials would name the counselor who
evaluated Burns. They described the counselor as a "master's-level
clinician." "You do not evaluate a person for suicide without a
psychiatrist," said Rita Marocco, executive director of the National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Delaware. "If a person has made a
suicide attempt, it certainly must be a psychiatrist who makes the
decisions. I believe they do not have qualified people doing these
evaluations." Dr. Carol A. Tavani, a board-certified neuropsychiatrist
and executive director of Christiana Psychiatric Services, agrees that a
psychiatrist -- not a counselor -- should have conducted the evaluation.
"When you have something of this seriousness, with this kind of history,
especially when there's a prior attempt, that ratchets up the seriousness
of the risk," Tavani said. "Evaluation of suicidality has to be
done very carefully, and it's always the better part of valor to err on the
safe side, particularly if there's previous history. Those calls are always
safest when made by a psychiatrist, and I know they do have them."
Patricia McDowell, Delaware's director of support and outreach services for
the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, told prison officials about Burns'
recent suicide attempt and warned them he would try it again. After Burns'
death, these officials stopped taking her calls. "We worked very
carefully to get to the right people, to help someone at a very critical
point in his life, and the very people we turned to let us down,"
McDowell said. "The system failed. His life ended."
May 19, 2006 Delaware State News
The General Assembly's budget committee approved creating three
positions Thursday to provide additional oversight of the Department of
Correction's inmate medical care system. The agency's handling of prisoner
health care has come into question in the past year amid newspaper accounts
and lawsuits questioning the quality. The positions, which will pay a
combined $238,900 in salary, were created by the Joint Finance Committee as
it approved the DOC's operating budget for fiscal 2007, which begins July
1. "We just want more oversight and supervision," said Sen. Nancy
W. Cook, D-Kenton, a JFC co-chair.
May 19, 2006 News Journal
A bill that would require wholesale improvements in Delaware's prison
medical system is dead for this year, crushed by a $30 million annual price
tag attached to it by the General Assembly's staff. The demise of Sen.
Margaret Rose Henry's reform bill, Senate Bill 291, came Thursday when the
Joint Finance Committee included no money in the Department of Correction's
budget for next year to pay for the improvements. The bill has been mired
in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. James Vaughn, D-Clayton,
for months. Henry and Vaughn said the bill would not be considered this
year, in large part because of the fiscal-impact report from the Controller
General's Office. The committee, which is amending Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's
proposed $3 billion budget for the year that begins July 1, did add some
extra money for prison health care. The panel agreed to pay the state's
private health care provider more for existing services, and for several
positions to better oversee Correctional Medical Services. The panel added
$2.9 million as an "inflation adjustment" for the CMS contract,
raising the annual cost by 11 percent to more than $28.8 million. The
multiyear contract was transferred to CMS without bidding last July on an
emergency basis. The committee shifted $238,900 to Corrections for prison
health care oversight by the Division of Public Health, and prison care
reviewers. That extends changes begun last fall by Minner and Correction
Commissioner Stan Taylor to address substandard prison care. Those steps
followed the reports in The News Journal. This spring, articles detailed
how a female inmate gave birth to twins in a toilet stall at Baylor Women's
Correctional Institution in March. She said a prison nurse employed by CMS
ignored her complaints of powerful contractions, which began 24 hours prior
to the births. The reform bill also would require CMS to deliver records of
inmate deaths within three days to the Medical Society of Delaware's Prison
Health Committee for review, and make other records available to the state
for audit. Inmate medical grievances would have to be sent to the
Department of Correction, not to the medical service provider. But all of
that would be costly, according to the fiscal analysis. Legislation that
would make publicly funded reports open to public scrutiny -- including an
audit of prison health care -- passed the state House this month without a
vote against it. House Bill 320, sponsored by North Dover Republican state
Rep. Nancy H. Wagner, would require the state to release the audit and
other such reports, provided that personal information such as medical
records is withheld. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
April 9, 2006 News-Journal
Kimwayna "Kim" Allen gave birth to twins in a toilet stall at
Baylor Women's Correctional Institution last month, after she says a prison
nurse employed by Correctional Medical Services ignored her complaints of
powerful contractions, which began 24 hours prior to the births. Each of
the babies -- son Ny-Aire and daughter Ny-Bree -- weighed barely a pound. They
are clinging to life in intensive care at Christiana Hospital, swaddled in
tiny blankets inside incubators monitored around-the-clock by nurses. Even
if Kim's daughter survives, her prognosis is poor. The likelihood of brain
damage and mental retardation is high. Ny-Bree had no pulse and was barely
breathing after delivery. Her tiny brain was starved of oxygen for about
eight minutes, until two paramedic units and three ambulances raced into
the prison grounds after the nurse called 911. The paramedics began CPR in
the prison and continued all the way to Christiana, but Ny-Bree was still
in very rough shape by the time they got her to the hospital. Kim, a
19-year-old who lives with her mother, has had to make monstrous decisions
about her children's future. "They told me I should pull the plug on
my daughter because she wasn't doing too well," Kim said. "I
couldn't do it." The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division
launched a federal investigation into prison health care in Delaware on
March 8 -- a probe Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor Jr. and Gov.
Ruth Ann Minner opposed and lobbied to stop. Although Minner agreed to
cooperate with the Justice Department, the governor told U.S. Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales that the federal probe was not necessary. The
bathroom prison deliveries occurred four days before the investigation was
launched. Last year, The News Journal published a series of articles
documenting inadequate medical care -- including prenatal -- in Delaware
prisons. Neither Taylor nor Minner returned e-mail or telephone requests to
talk about Kim or her twins, or the care she received before giving birth
in the women's prison bathroom. On March 30, The News Journal made a
request under the Delaware Freedom of Information Act for a copy of the
policy and the lists required as part of the department's health care
accreditation. Welch, in an e-mail response, wrote, "The DOC does not
have a specific policy regarding the care of pregnant inmates." She
couldn't explain why. Correctional Medical Services spokesman Ken Fields
couldn't say how CMS staff should respond if a pregnant inmate complains of
contractions. And he declined to provide a copy of the CMS policy regarding
pregnant inmates. Fields said CMS employees make their own decisions.
"Correction health care professionals are trained to address these
types of issues using their own training and judgment, in their own
assessment of each patient's condition to make decisions about the next
step for treatment," he said.
March 9, 2006 News Journal
After years of high inmate death rates due to HIV/AIDS, suicide and
poor medical care, federal civil rights regulators have launched an
investigation of Delaware's prison medical system -- a process that could
take years to complete and forever change the way the state treats its
6,800 inmates. The investigation comes on the heels of a five-month
preliminary inquiry by the Justice Department during which federal
regulators interviewed many of the same medical experts, inmates and families
of dead inmates who spoke to The News Journal late last year during the
newspaper's six-month investigation of prison health care. As with the
newspaper's investigation, the Justice Department uncovered significant
problems at the Delaware Department of Correction. The federal
investigation now may involve FBI agents and grand juries with subpoena
power."Thank you, Jesus. I've been praying for this so hard,"
said Susie Wilson, whose son, Jermaine Lamar Wilson, was found hanging in
his cell with blood-stained clothes and a gash on his head. It was Feb. 18,
2005 -- the day his family says he was scheduled to be released after
serving time for robbery. Wilson's death is now the focus of a federal
wrongful death lawsuit, which claims Jermaine Lamar Wilson was murdered
while being held at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna. The
federal investigation will be conducted by the Special Litigation Section
of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. A News Journal special
report on inmate health care published in September revealed sometimes
gruesome details of neglect, such as an inmate's massive brain tumor --
largely ignored by staff -- which led to his death, and an outbreak of
flesh-eating bacteria. Other findings of the newspaper's six-month
investigation were inmate death rates -- specifically AIDS-related and
suicide -- far above the national norm. During the newspaper's
investigation, reporters discovered that Minner and Taylor awarded a $25.9
million no-bid contract for inmate health care to Correctional Medical
Services -- a private medical contractor with a history of litigation over
how the company provides medical care. Minner and Taylor also refused to
release -- publicly or to lawmakers -- an audit of prison health care they
say prompted the emergency hiring of CMS. Former prison doctor Ramesh
Vemulapalli, an AIDS specialist practicing in Dover, said the investigation
is long overdue. Vemulapalli said he quit working in Delaware prisons
because he was not allowed to provide adequate care. "I think the
investigation will help make reforms in the prison system,"
Vemulapalli said. "It's a good thing. It will benefit the people of
Delaware."
February 18, 2006 News Journal
Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor Jr.'s failure to properly
train his staff to recognize suicidal inmates and properly care for them
allowed Christopher Barkes to hang himself in his prison cell in November
2004, a federal lawsuit contends. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court
in Wilmington by his family members, said the prison's former medical
provider also failed to properly train staff to recognize and properly care
for inmates who had made previous attempts on their lives. That medical
provider, Arizona-based First Correctional Medical, or FCM, pulled out of
its contract last year. During his time at the Young Correctional
Institution in Wilmington, the suit said, Barkes told prison officials he
had attempted suicide before. Prison staff placed him in a cell alone,
though, with no suicide watch, the suit said. Barkes, 37, was found
unconscious the following morning and taken to Christiana Hospital, where
he died. Prison officials determined Barkes used his bedsheet to hang
himself. Taylor often defends his department by noting it is accredited by
the national commission, a process that cost taxpayers $12,400. Taylor,
though, has declined to make public an audit by the commission on prison
health care, saying it contains inmate medical information and peer reviews
of doctors. Lawmakers, who have repeatedly asked for the report, even if
elements are blacked out, are considering legislation to make it public.
Barkes' case came to light during an investigation by The News Journal last
year. The six-month investigation highlighted allegations by inmates of
poor medical treatment for cancer, meningitis and hepatitis; a no-bid $25.9
million contract awarded to the current health care provider, Correctional
Medical Services, based in St. Louis; and a comparatively high rate of
AIDS-related inmate deaths and suicides over a four-year period. Another
lawsuit filed by a prisoner highlighted in the newspaper articles was
settled out of court in October. Anthony Pierce, also known to inmates as
"the brother with two heads," was serving a 14-month sentence for
a parole violation when a small lump appeared on the back of his head. At
the time, a prison doctor employed by Correctional Medical Services said
the marble-size lump was a cyst or an ingrown hair. The tumor kept growing,
and on March 22, 2002, Pierce died from a "brain tumor, due to
osteosarcoma of the skull," according to an autopsy report. The
conditions revealed in the articles are the subject of an inquiry by the
U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. "Stan Taylor said
that they follow the guidelines, and it is clear that they didn't,"
said Barkes' wife, Karen. She also said "it is discouraging that the
lawmakers aren't doing anything to change the problems in the
prisons." The lawsuit targets Taylor and FCM, along with prison warden
Raphael Williams, the Department of Correction and unknown Correction
Department and FCM employees. The suit, which alleges wrongful death and
cruel and unusual punishment, seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be
set by the court. Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at 324-2362 or
lwilliams@delawareonline.com.
January 26, 2006 Wilmington News Journal
Lee McMillan, whose husband nearly died in prison after flesh-eating
bacteria attacked his body, wants to know why the state won't release an
audit of Delaware's prison health care system. So do some legislators, who
are backing a bill that would require the state to release the audit and
similar reports -- as long as confidential information such as personal
medical records is withheld. House Bill 320, sponsored by Rep. Nancy
Wagner, R-Dover North, would make reports that are paid for with public
funds open to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. The News
Journal requested the audit, which cost taxpayers $12,400, while
investigating AIDS-related inmate deaths and suicides of Delaware prisoners
as well as reports of poor medical treatment for cancer, meningitis and
hepatitis. Prompted in part by a series of News Journal stories, the U.S.
Department of Justice is conducting an inquiry into the Department of
Correction's management and inmate health care. In defending his record,
Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor pointed to the audit, prepared by the
National Commission on Correctional Health Care, but denied a Freedom of
Information request for the report by the newspaper. Taylor and former
Attorney General M. Jane Brady ruled the accreditation report was not a
public document. Taylor, though, said the audit was critical of the work of
First Correctional Medical, a Tucson, Ariz., company. In July, Gov. Ruth
Ann Minner and Taylor awarded a $25.9 million no-bid contract to
Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis to pick up the provision of
medical care in Delaware's prisons. Rep. Pamela S. Maier, R-Drummond Hill,
is a House co-sponsor who said she believes that "sunshine helps"
in governmental affairs. "I think the public needs to know, and if
they're not satisfied, we need to keep the pressure on the Department of
Correction and [prison health care provider Correctional Medical Services]
to improve the health of our prisoners."
November 16, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
The Delaware Department of Correction has hired longtime HIV/AIDS educator
and advocate James Welch from the Department of Public Health, to serve as
the health services administrator for the state's prison system. Welch, a
registered nurse, currently serves as the Department of Public Health's
HIV/ AIDS/STD director in a program he created 20 years ago to coordinate
prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. "Jim will
oversee the DOC's day-to-day medical operation," said Ed Synoski, the
Department of Correction's deputy chief of the Bureau of Management
Services, which oversees the department's medical services contracts.
Taylor announced the creation of Welch's position during a public hearing
last week called by lawmakers to examine a series of articles in The News
Journal highlighting AIDS-related inmate deaths and suicides during the
past four years, and allegations by inmates of poor medical treatment for
cancer, meningitis and hepatitis. Prompted in part by the series, the U.S.
Department of Justice has launched a preliminary inquiry into the
Department of Correction's management and inmate health care. Welch previously
has played a behind-the-scenes role in the inmate health care debate --
lobbying in 2002 against allowing Dr. Keith Ivens to remain as the prison
system's medical director when Correctional Medical Services (CMS) of St.
Louis, Ivens' employer, was replaced by another medical contractor. In
July, Taylor brought CMS back to Delaware with a $25.9 million no-bid
contract to manage inmate health care. In a sworn deposition, Kathy
English, the former deputy bureau chief of management services for the Department
of Correction, said Ivens was a frequent source of inmate complaints.
English testified that Welch expressed "informal concerns" about
the physician and told the incoming contractor to not allow Ivens to
continue as medical director. The Rev. Christopher Bullock, pastor of
Canaan Baptist Church in Wilmington, is one of the founding members of the
Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice. "The DOC doesn't
need to be hiring new people," Bullock said. "They need to be
firing people. This appears to be another effort to cover up and conceal
the real issue."
November 8, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
Family members of dead, dying or grievously ill inmates lashed out at
Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor on Monday night, accusing Taylor and
the prison's medical vendor of causing illnesses and deaths by providing
inadequate medical care to the state's 6,800 inmates. Some of those who
testified said the state treats its inmates worse than animals. The public
scolding occurred at an "informational" hearing called by Speaker
of the House Terry Spence, R-Stratford, and Rep. Pamela S. Maier,
R-Drummond Hill, who sought to educate lawmakers about prison conditions
before the upcoming legislative session. "It's your facility -- clean
it up," Matilda Carello, whose son is an inmate with Grave's disease,
yelled at Taylor, who was sitting by her side. Also in the audience were
representatives from Correctional Medical Services, the company Taylor
recently awarded a controversial $25.9 million no-bid contract to run
inmate health care. "CMS -- you're a liar," Carello said.
"Stan Taylor -- you are a liar!" After about 50 witnesses from
the public testified at the hearing, Spence said "it's time for a gut
check." "We've lost confidence in the department," he said.
"We've lost confidence in CMS." Spence called for an independent
oversight panel for the department and CMS. Ann Mac, a nurse practitioner
and CMS vice president of operations, told lawmakers and inmate family
members that "delivering health care in prisons is a uniquely
challenging but very rewarding field." Her message was not well
received. "I am sorry, but the things being said from this lady --
this is not what's really going on inside," said Lee McMillan, who
says her husband, an inmate, nearly died when flesh-eating bacteria ravaged
his body. Monday night's hearing was scheduled after a six-month
investigation by The News Journal found a high rate of AIDS-related inmate
deaths and suicides over the past four years, and uncovered allegations of
poor medical treatment for cancer, meningitis, hepatitis and other
communicable diseases and bacterial infections. Prompted in part by the
newspaper's series, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a
preliminary inquiry into the Department of Correction's management and
inmate health care. Maryanne McGonegal, secretary of Common Cause,
criticized Gov. Ruth Ann Minner for failing to address evidence of
negligent inmate care. On Oct. 3, Common Cause of Delaware asked U.S.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to open a federal investigation.
"The lack of response by our governor is the strongest indication of
the need for outside oversight of prison conditions," McGonegal said
Monday night. Several of those who testified said after the hearing that
Taylor should release a recent audit of inmate health care under the
state's former prison medical vendor, First Correctional Medical.
Performance audited: Taylor asked a medical accreditation firm to audit
FCM's performance from December 2004 to January 2005. According to documents
Taylor provided to lawmakers, the audit showed "several problems with
medical administration and clinical practices including record keeping,
utilization management, medical history and sick call follow-up." The
News Journal submitted a request under Delaware's Freedom of Information
Act for the audit, which cost Delaware taxpayers $12,400, but Attorney
General M. Jane Brady denied the newspaper's request. Former CMS substance
abuse counselor Denise Rodriguez said she supports punishment for those who
break the law. "But that punishment should not be neglect, humiliation
or death," Rodriguez said. Rodriguez, who worked for CMS at Gander
Hill from 1999 to 2002, told The News Journal in a previously published
story that a CMS official ordered her to falsify documents so state
inspectors would not pull the company's license to run a prison treatment
program. "Stan Taylor, I always told my clients that in order to make
changes in your life, you have to hold yourself accountable," she told
Taylor at Monday's hearing. "Someone needs to hold you
accountable."
November 7, 2005 Delaware State News
The state's correction chief and the medical company hired by the agency
defended the level of medical care inmates receive Monday during a hearing at
Legislative Hall. Commissioner of Correction Stanley W. Taylor and Ann
Mack, vice president of operations for Correctional Medical Services, made
their presentation to a hearing called by the House of Representatives'
Health and Human Development Committee. Mr. Taylor and CMS have come under
heavy criticism recently after news reports questioned the quality of care
in prisons based on lawsuits and anecdotes from prisoners and their
families alleging poor medical treatment. Scores of members of the public
spoke at the hearing and ripped into Mr. Taylor and CMS. "I believe a
person needs to be punished when they break the law of the land, but the
punishment does not include neglect, humiliation and death," said
Denise Rodriguez, a former CMS employee who worked at Gander Hill Prison in
Wilmington. "Stan Taylor, I always told my clients that to make
changes in your life, you have to hold yourself accountable. Someone needs
to be held accountable." Dover residents Lynn and Robert Sadusky, who
mentor a Delaware inmate, said the prisoner has relayed a series of
complaints about health care inside the walls. The issues include, Mrs.
Sadusky said, prisoners being overcharged for care, having their requests
for medical attention ignored and misdiagnosis of conditions. The inmate
she mentors has been waiting two weeks to be seen by a doctor to determine
whether he is suffering from lung cancer, she said. "I understand this
is a difficult population to serve, but I hope those at the top will fix
these problems," Mrs. Sadusky told the committee. "Denial will
not fix these problems, but that is what I am hearing tonight." The
Rev. Christopher A. Bullock, chair of the Delaware Coalition for Prison
Reform and Justice, said DOC should stop using out-of-state companies to
provide medical care. CMS is based in St. Louis. Its predecessor, First
Correctional Medical, is based in Arizona. Mr. Bullock advocated state
support for creating a Delaware-based business to handle prison medical
care. "Let us do what is right and what is just," said Mr.
Bullock, who is the pastor at Wilmington's Canaan Baptist Church.
November 6, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
Sharon Wall, a waitress and bartender from Claymont, was arrested on
Lancaster Pike in Hockessin around dusk 4 1/2 years ago. She had been
involved in a minor accident, and a state trooper suspected Wall had been
drinking. A breath test administered at the scene confirmed Wall was drunk
and she was booked into Baylor Women's Correctional Institution, a 380-bed
facility near New Castle that houses adult female inmates in Delaware.
About a week after the arrest, Wall complained of pain near her breast.
Suspecting she might have broken a rib and worried about a pea-size bump in
her right breast, she was examined by a prison nurse employed by
Correctional Medical Services (CMS), one of the largest prison health care
companies in the country. In a record of the visit, on May 22, 2001, the
nurse notes a "mass" of the right breast and suggests Wall be
scheduled for a mammogram. In the days and weeks that followed, Wall
repeatedly asked prison officials when the procedure would take place. Five
months later, she rolled over in her cell bunk and was frightened by the
size of the expanding mass. On Oct. 16, 2001, Wall sent a note to the
prison's medical staff. "I am writing again to ask when I will be
given a mammogram. ... It is a very big concern and I would like to know
when it will be done. Please let me know something." According to CMS
spokesman Ken Fields, mammograms for female inmates in Delaware are
routinely scheduled within two weeks after an examination determines a test
is necessary. The tests are performed in a mobile laboratory owned by the
Division of Public Health. State records indicate that in 2001, the mobile
mammography unit stopped at the Baylor prison three times -- Jan. 24, Feb.
20 and Oct. 19, the day Wall finally received the mammogram ordered by a
nurse five months earlier. Fields would not comment on why it took so long.
'A fairly aggressive tumor" By the time Wall's test results were
returned, and a diagnosis of cancer was determined to be likely, it was too
late to save Wall's breast, says Dr. Irving M. Berkowitz. "It was a
fairly aggressive tumor." The delay was inexcusable, said Berkowitz,
Wall's oncologist. "That's wrong. That's bad medicine. No matter who
it is, whether the person is 25 or 75, that's a little long." After
weeks of requests from The News Journal to comment on Wall's care,
Department of Correction spokeswoman Beth Welch said late Friday the prison
is reviewing the case. "The care received by Miss Wall has raised some
questions," Welch wrote in an e-mail. "We are discussing this
issue with CMS." Treatment delays similar to Wall's have plagued
Delaware's prison health care system over at least the past five years,
according to inmates, civil rights advocates and a growing number of
Delaware lawmakers. One of the key issues for lawmakers has been a $25.9
million no-bid contract awarded in July to CMS, the St. Louis-based company
that held the prison's health care contract from 2000-2002, the period of
Wall's incarceration and treatment. Corrections Commissioner Stan Taylor
negotiated the current contract with CMS outside of the normally required
competitive bid process and contract review, citing a national accreditation
team report on "problems with medical administration and clinical
practice" at First Correction Medical (FCM), a Tucson, Ariz.-based
company that provided inmate care in Delaware from 2002-2005. Before Taylor
brought CMS back to Delaware to replace FCM, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner approved
the no-bid contract. Questions surrounding the contract, as well as reports
of misdiagnosed tumors, Legionnaire's disease, high rates of inmate deaths
due to AIDS and suicide and the unchecked spread of flesh-eating bacteria
in Delaware prisons, convinced the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil
Rights Division to launch an ongoing inquiry into the state's prison
system. Six days before Christmas 2001, Wall -- destitute and in need of
thousands of dollars of life-saving procedures -- was released from prison,
put on a bus to Wilmington and ordered into home confinement. She moved in
with friends. "I feel like my life was put in jeopardy," said
Wall. "I did something wrong and should be punished. But I shouldn't
have to pay with my life." On her first day out of prison in 2001,
Wall contacted the American Cancer Society. She also wrote a will,
believing she was going to die. The Cancer Society directed her to a
Wilmington physician, Dr. Christopher J. Whitney. During an early
examination, Whitney discovered portions of the tumor remained, a common
complication. A second surgical procedure also failed to eliminate the
tumor. A mastectomy was scheduled. On Feb. 5, 2002, Wall's right breast was
removed during an operation that combined a mastectomy with reconstruction.
Tissue from Wall's lower abdomen was used to form a new breast in a
procedure called a TRAM flap, or transverse rectus abdominis muscle
reconstruction. Today, Wall visits the doctor every three months to check
for a relapse. So far, the cancer has not returned.
November 3, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
In a two-hour meeting Wednesday with the House Democratic Caucus,
Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor said he had solutions to improve inmate
health care in the state's prisons. Those solutions include seeking an
additional $150,000 for contract medical consultants, two more full-time
medical employees and a peer review by the Department of Public Health of
50 to 100 cases a year. Taylor answered questions about prison health care
from the 15-member caucus for nearly two hours behind closed doors. He
explained how St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services was awarded a
$25.9 million contract to replace First Correctional Medical of Tucson,
Ariz., without the need for a competitive bidding process. According to the
presentation, First Correctional Medical was awarded the Department of
Correction contract in June 2002, but two years later, the prison's Medical
Review Committee identified "problems with First Correctional
Medical's performance." The Department of Correction asked its medical
accreditation firm to audit First Correctional Medical's performance from
December 2004 to January 2005. According to documents Taylor provided to
the caucus, the audit showed "several problems with medical
administration and clinical practices including record keeping, utilization
management, medical history and sick call follow-up." The News Journal
submitted a request under Delaware's Freedom of Information Act for this
audit, but Attorney General M. Jane Brady denied the newspaper's request.
Prompted in part by the newspaper's series, the U.S. Department of Justice
has launched a preliminary inquiry into the Department of Correction's
management and inmate health care. Taylor was accompanied by Mark Brainard,
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's chief of staff, and Robert Byrd of Wood-Byrd
Government Relations, a Wilmington lobbyist firm. Bird said his firm was
hired by Correctional Medical Services. Wood-Byrd has also lobbied for The
News Journal.
October 30, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
A former drug and alcohol counselor who worked for Correctional Medical
Services at Gander Hill prison claims company officials ordered her to
falsify documents so state inspectors would not pull the company's license
to run a prison treatment program. Denise Rodriguez, who worked for
Correctional Medical Services at the prison's drug and alcohol treatment
program from 1999 to 2002, said she would have been fired if she refused
orders to fabricate entries contained in inmate files. "I was told to
do progress notes on people who were not my clients," said Rodriguez,
now a substance abuse counselor at the Latin American Community Center in
Wilmington. "I told them I didn't want to falsify the charts."
The order, she said, came from a supervisor at CMS, one of the largest
correctional health care companies in the country. "I received a chart
that wasn't touched for four months," Rodriguez said. "I was told
to 'catch the chart up' using previous statements from the client." If
an inmate had admitted a cocaine addiction, for example, Rodriguez said she
was told to write that the client was making progress overcoming the
problem -- without ever talking to the inmate about the addiction. Other
documents were back-dated or altered with correction fluid, she claims.
Rodriguez, a 37-year-old mother of three, said she decided to talk about
her work at Gander Hill after reading a series of News Journal stories
detailing problems with the delivery of health care to inmates in Delaware.
The St. Louis-based CMS no longer runs the drug and alcohol program, called
Key, but last July received a $25.9 million no-bid contract to provide
health care for the more than 6,600 inmates in Delaware's prison system.
Lucian Gambino, Rodriguez's former supervisor, said when he worked in the
prison he was aware counselors were updating records at a furious pace and
that other supervisors ordered the changes. Gambino worked in the Key
program from December 2001 to December 2002. "I knew our people were
trying to update records that were very delinquent, that had not gotten
through the previous state licensure, or for some reason were just not
completed at all," Gambino said. "The pressure on all of us was
really great. We had lots of catch-up work to do. We had work that had not
been done by folks from previous years." Gambino, however, said he
never personally ordered anyone to do anything wrong. He, too, was acting
under orders from the same CMS official named by Rodriguez, he said. When
contacted by The News Journal, that official declined to comment. CMS
administered the Key program from 1987 through June 2002 under a contract,
worth as much as $1.6 million annually, that required a valid state
license. If Delaware regulators uncovered falsified information, the
contract would have been at risk. Rodriguez said she never received
personal security or self-defense training. Despite the rigors of the
treatment program, inmates with AIDS and other medical problems were forced
to participate. "The AIDS patients had it the worst," Rodriguez
said. "There were times they couldn't get out of bed, and the guards
wouldn't let them go to medical. The guards made the decisions about who
was sick. They decided who went to medical." "We were told to
change the files when the inspectors were coming, or if we even thought
they were coming," Rodriguez said. Reports over a period of five
years, obtained by The News Journal, demonstrate a recurrence of either
conflicting or missing information in patient charts. A sampling of the
problems includes: oOn June 15, 1999: "The progress notes often did
not include the actual date services were provided or the length of time
the group was held. Notes frequently included non-clinical jargon, i.e.
'Client appears plugged into the process.' and anticipated treatment that
is expected, i.e. 'I will continue to work with this client on his
problems.'" oOn Nov. 28, 2000: "In one chart the notes were
conflicting. The assessment section of the progress note summarized self
disclosure statements made by the client, but the plan section of the same
note stated that the client was not sharing and unwilling to do so. In one
chart there were four weeks of progress notes that were blank except for
dates that had been written at the top." oOn Jan. 25, 2001: "In
ten charts the progress notes did not contain facts, impressions and
anticipated treatment and at times reflected a lack of clinical knowledge
and experience. For example, one note indicated, 'Being that I just started
the caseload with this client I will need more time because I believe that
he is mental.'" oOn Nov. 12, 2001: "In thirty charts (of the 33
examined) the progress notes did not reflect the progress being made in
meeting current treatment plan goals." oOn Feb. 22, 2002: "In one
chart the entire note for one week of services, over 13.5 hours of
treatment, stated, 'Client attended participated in staff seminars and
attended and participated in Encounter group to confront and address
negative behavior and attitudes.'" oOn March 9, 2004: "In 21
charts (of 22 examined) progress notes were missing."
October 22, 2005 Delaware State News
The Medical Society of Delaware on Saturday urged lawmakers to create a
prison health care oversight committee and implement mandatory HIV and
hepatitis C testing for inmates. The medical society's voting body, the
House of Delegates, approved the two prison health resolutions unanimously
at the society's annual meeting, which about 240 physicians attended.
Delaware's prison health care system has come under fire of late, with
accusations of inadequate care prompting an inquiry by the U.S. Department
of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The St. Louis-based Correctional
Medical Services has a contract with the state to provide health care to
inmates. Delaware physicians currently serve in an advisory capacity, but
Dr. James P. Marvel Jr., president of the medical society and an orthopedic
surgeon in Lewes, said they need actual authority to oversee the care
provided behind bars. Physicians on the society's Prison Health Committee
are responsible for reviewing the medical records of inmates who have died
while incarcerated, Dr. Marvel said. "We're supposed to review the
deaths. But we often don't have all the records available to us.
"We're sort of working with one hand tied behind our back." The
resolution calls for an independent oversight committee authorized to
review the quality of health care services. The committee would consist of
doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, lawyers, pharmacists, members of the Delaware
Center for Justice, and representatives from the prison care provider,
according to the resolution. Dr. Joseph F. Hacker III, chairman of the
society's legislative committee and an upstate gastroenterologist, said the
oversight body should report to the legislature, rather than the governor.
October 23, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
Democratic lawmakers want Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor to answer
lingering questions about health care in his prisons. In a letter sent
Thursday to Taylor -- signed by 16 senators and representatives -- the
lawmakers requested both answers and a personal briefing by the
commissioner "as soon as you are able to gather this
information." "It is not intended as criticism of the
administration," said Sen. Patricia M. Blevins, D-Elsmere, who signed
the letter. "At this point, we are seeking information on policy and
procedure." Attached to the letter were 21 questions, including what
criteria are used to approve or deny an inmate's request for health care
and policies regarding HIV testing and treatment. They also want to know
what continuing medical responsibility the Department of Correction takes
after a prisoner is released. The letter was sent after a series of News
Journal articles highlighting AIDS-related inmate deaths and suicides over
the past four years; a no-bid $25.9 million contract awarded this year to
St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services to manage health care in the
state's prisons; and allegations by inmates of poor medical treatment for
cancer, meningitis and hepatitis.
October 21, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
The Department of Correction's former medical provider owes nearly $1
million to St. Francis Hospital and late last month other state health care
providers were boycotting the department's current provider because of
past-due bills, according to documents obtained by The News Journal. The
unpaid medical expenses were run up by First Correctional Medical of
Arizona, which held the contract to provide inmate health care in Delaware
prisons from 2002 until July. The firm's owner and founder, Dr. Tammy
Kastre, did not return calls for comment. Delaware taxpayers may be asked
to pay the prison's delinquent bills, state Auditor R. Thomas Wagner Jr.
said. "The fact that the government is stiffing the public bothers me
greatly," said Wagner, who is considering an audit of medical spending
by the DOC. The $1 million owed to Wilmington's St. Francis was disclosed
in the minutes of the DOC's Medical Review Committee, which is composed of
correction officials and private medical providers. According to the
minutes, CMS regional manager Mike Hooper told members of the committee the
company is having difficulty contracting "with a number of providers
in the community ... [and would] provide an updated list of vendors refusing
to sign with CMS due to FCM."
October 5, 2005 Delaware State News
The U.S. Department of Justice will review claims that the state Department
of Correction has exhibited a pattern of providing inadequate medical care
to inmates. U.S. Attorney for Delaware Colm F. Connolly said Wednesday that
the justice department's Civil Rights Division has opened a preliminary
inquiry into the allegations. Mr. Connolly said the division would collect
information and "see if it warrants a full-blown investigation."
The inquiry, Mr. Connolly said, stems from a series of articles in a
Wilmington newspaper, which he forwarded to the Civil Rights Division in
Washington. Articles in The News Journal highlighted inmate suicides and
AIDS-related deaths over the last four years, allegations by inmates of
poor medical treatment and a no-bid $25.9 million contract awarded this
year to St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services to provide medical
care to inmates.
October 5, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has opened
a "formal inquiry" into medical care and other systemic issues
inside Delaware prisons, U.S. Attorney Colm Connolly said Tuesday. A formal
inquiry is a precursor to an investigation by the Justice Department.
During an inquiry, the Civil Rights Division reviews allegations to
determine merit. Depending on the findings, a formal investigation can be
launched. The newspaper's six-month investigation highlighted AIDS-related
inmate deaths and suicides over the past four years; allegations by inmates
of poor medical treatment for cancer, meningitis and hepatitis; and a
no-bid $25.9 million contract awarded this year to St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services to manage health care in the state's prisons.
Susie Wilson, whose son Jermaine died in a Smyrna prison, said a federal
investigation is needed because the state is not capable of impartially
investigating itself. "I believe it will make the [Minner]
administration shape up or ship out," Wilson said. Wilson's son was
found Feb. 18 hanging from a bedsheet in the Delaware Correctional Center
eight days after court documents indicate he was supposed to have been
released. Most inquiries focus on medical care. However, complaints about
excessive force, mental health care, safety, AIDS care and screening,
environmental health and safety, sanitation and food service also are
covered. When problems are found, the Justice Department can sue the prison
in federal court for relief. The Special Litigation Section, the arm of the
Justice Department's Civil Rights Division responsible for enforcing CRIPA,
has never lost a case.
October 4, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
A private medical company running health care in Delaware's prisons has
settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Anthony Pierce, a
21-year-old inmate known by cellmates as "the brother with two
heads." Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Pierce was serving
14 months for a parole violation stemming from a burglary charge when a
small lump appeared on the back of his head. At the time, a prison doctor
employed by St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services said the
marble-size lump was most likely a cyst or an ingrown hair. The tumor kept
growing, though, and on March 22, 2002, Pierce died from a "brain
tumor, due to osteosarcoma of the skull," according to an autopsy
report. On behalf of Pierce's estate and his daughter Sardia, Dover
attorney Steve Hampton filed suit against CMS on Sept. 29, 2004. The
lawsuit had been scheduled for a jury trial next month. Hampton said Monday
the case was "resolved to the satisfaction of all parties."
Earlier this year, Delaware Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor awarded CMS
a no-bid $25.9 million contract to replace outgoing prison medical
contractor First Correctional Medical of Tucson, Ariz. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner
approved the deal, although she called the CMS deal an extension of the old
contract. Pierce's death was never reported to the public or to federal
prison regulators by the Department of Correction because he was released
to his family before brain cancer killed him.
September 30, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
A day after four Delaware lawmakers called for independent
investigations of medical care in the state's prisons, Department of
Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor admitted there were problems and
promised to cooperate with any inquiry. "I am not saying that nothing
is wrong," said Taylor, who met with some of Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's
senior staff Thursday. "We take our responsibility seriously."
Minner declined to specifically address a series of News Journal articles
published this week that examine the state's AIDS-related inmate death
rates -- the highest in the nation in 2001 and 2003; an inmate suicide rate
in 2000 and 2001 that was twice the national average; reports of
undiagnosed flesh-eating bacteria, poorly treated cancer, hepatitis,
meningitis and pneumonia; and a no-bid $25.9 million contract awarded this
year to St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services to manage health care
in the state's prisons. Outrage about the stories spread Thursday from
Delaware's capital to community leaders. The Rev. Christopher Bullock of
Wilmington's Canaan Baptist church said his congregation and other clergy
plan to march outside the governor's mansion Monday, calling their protest
the "March for Justice and Prison Reform in Delaware." "I'm
doing this because it's a moral outrage that the Delaware prison system is
sick, in need of healing and repentance," Bullock said. "And I'm
concerned about the reputation of the state as it relates to how we treat
these people." Sen. Robert L. Venables, D-Laurel, said the images of
inmate mistreatment were hard to ignore. There have been similar problems
with contract medical services in other state prison systems, Venables
said. "I'd like to know how much those companies are making this
year," he said. "I'd like to know how well the shareholders are
sleeping, if they know what's being done to save money." Calling for
investigations of prison medical care are Smith, Rep. Hazel D. Plant,
D-Wilmington Central, Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, and Sen.
Charles L. Copeland, R-West Farms. U.S. Attorney for Delaware Colm F.
Connolly said he has forwarded allegations of inmate abuse to the U.S.
Department of Justice to review. Sen. James T. Vaughn, D-Clayton, is
comparing contracts Maryland and Delaware have with Correctional Medical
Services. Forming an independent committee to examine prison health care
may be the smartest option, said Delaware Public Defender Larry Sullivan.
He said the panel should include doctors and medical malpractice lawyers so
the consequences of this kind of treatment are stated as strongly as
possible in any report. "I believe that some of the decision makers
may have no idea as to the extent of liability exposure the state may have,
if this kind of practice is permitted to continue," Sullivan said.
"Unless the possible and probable consequences of all of these events
are fully understood, there may be an inclination on the part of some
decision makers to remedy this 'on the cheap.' " During its six-month
investigation of prison medical care, The News Journal submitted a Freedom
of Information request to Taylor for the most recent audit report by the
commission, which was completed in February. The request was refused.
Taylor and Minner have pointed out that prison medical care is scrutinized
by the Medical Society of Delaware. But Dr. James Marvel, president of the
Medical Society of Delaware, said the state's account of his group's prison
work may be overblown. "We don't have any plans to do anything,"
Marvel said. "We do not have an investigative body. Our prison health
committee is simply advisory.
September 25, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
Some inmate deaths are harder than others for Drewry Fennell to discuss.
Charles Blake's is the worst. Blake pleaded guilty in November 2000 to
possessing cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school. Three years later, while
at the Delaware Correctional Center in Smyrna, Blake became sick. "He
had an operation on a kidney. They put a stent in the kidney to hold the
ureter open. He was released back to the prison," said Fennell,
executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware.
"He started calling his mom. He was in intense pain. He later passed
the stent through his penis and died ... from that and other complications.
They were treating him with an analgesic -- Motrin. They wouldn't send him
back to the doctor. He lingered for weeks in the infirmary, before they
sent him to the hospital." Blake died Sept. 7, 2003, at St. Francis
Hospital in Wilmington. He was 36. Some seriously ill inmates are granted a
medical discharge by the Delaware Department of Correction, a move that can
shift the cost of mounting hospital bills to family members or Medicaid. In
its former contract with First Correctional Medical (FCM), the state agreed
to provide Medicaid to inmates who are hospitalized for more than 24 hours.
But when this happened, the state was allowed to reduce its monthly payment
to the medical vendor, so the state's overall expense remained the same.
Shortly before her son died, Francine Anderson said, a friendly guard told
her prison officials wanted to release Darnell to the family so his death
would go unreported to federal prison regulators -- and so the family would
be responsible for some of the medical bills. Anderson considered taking
her son home from St. Francis Hospital, in Wilmington, but he died before
she could arrange it. After an inmate dies, the medical vendors conduct an
internal "peer review" led by the contract medical director --
not by an independent board. Occasionally, the vendor will bring in outside
physicians to look at the patient's medical records, Taylor said. Under
Delaware law, the entire process is confidential. Not even the inmate's
family can see the findings. When the peer review is completed, the results
stay with the medical vendor. It's not known what, if anything, the vendor
does with the findings. When an inmate is autopsied, which happens in
roughly 15 percent of prison deaths, the medical examiner's office does not
send the report to Taylor or the warden. The autopsy reports go straight to
the medical vendor.
September 25, 2005 Wilmington News Journal
Pierce was serving 14 months for a parole violation stemming from a
burglary charge at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown when a
small lump appeared on the back of his head. It was January 2001 and a
prison doctor employed by a private medical contractor said the marble-size
lump was most likely a cyst or an ingrown hair. Seven months later, when
the growth had become like a second head, Delaware's contract prison
medical director, Dr. Keith Ivens of Correctional Medical Services, stabbed
the bulging tumor five times with an 18-gauge needle, withdrawing a bloody
fluid. Rather than keeping the sample for analysis, Ivens emptied the
syringe into a trash can, according to Michelle Thomas, a former prison
counselor who was holding Pierce's hand during the examination. The News
Journal gained access to Pierce's medical file through his family, and
there was no record of a biopsy performed before cancer ate into the
21-year-old's skull. Asked about the case in a telephone interview, Ivens
said, "I'm trying to remember who Anthony Pierce is." He declined
to comment further. Near the end of Pierce's life, the tumor stretched the
skin around his face, pulling his right eye closed, causing muscle spasms
and crippling pain. The medical staff still ordered no tests or treatments,
claims a lawsuit that Pierce's family filed against Ivens, CMS and the
state of Delaware. On March 22, 2002, Pierce died from a "brain tumor,
due to osteosarcoma of the skull," an autopsy report stated. A
six-month investigation by The News Journal shows that the lack of care
suffered by Pierce is all too common inside Delaware prisons. AIDS,
hepatitis, flesh-eating bacteria and other communicable diseases percolate
behind the wire. Inmates in their 20s and 30s die from diseases that people
outside prison routinely survive. Like other states, Delaware has turned
over health care inside its prisons to private companies specializing in
inmate medical care. There are two significant differences, however:
•Whether they have been convicted or are awaiting trial, inmates in
Delaware depend on the state for medical care. In states with county and
city jails, care in smaller facilities usually is provided through a local
hospital or physicians' group. •National experts say most states employ a
medically trained staff to monitor the medical vendors. Delaware does not.
Here, the medical vendors oversee death investigations, regulate access to
care, and control any complaints that arise over their work. Dr. Robert
Cohen, an expert in prison health care whom state and federal courts have
appointed to monitor prisons in five states, said all states are
constitutionally required to provide adequate medical care for inmates. If
Delaware "outsources" that responsibility, it is still obligated
to monitor its medical vendors, Cohen said. That doesn't happen. The
Medical Society of Delaware, a physicians group, is occasionally called --
at the warden's discretion -- to investigate an inmate death. Yet its
investigation is led by the vendor's medical director. And the society's
report is confidential under Delaware law; it remains in the custody of the
medical vendor. "It's surprising to me that Delaware just lets the
vendor do it by themselves," Cohen said. Under the current $25.9
million annual contract with Correctional Medical Services, state prison
officials are indemnified against wrongful death and medical malpractice
lawsuits. If an inmate or survivor sues the state, the medical vendor pays
the state's attorney fees and any settlement. However, Cohen said, the
indemnification will not protect the state from federal civil rights
lawsuits filed by inmates or their survivors. "It's going to cost the
state a lot of money in the long run," Cohen said. Correctional
Medical Services of St. Louis held Delaware's $12.45 million annual
contract from 2000 to 2002, when it asked to be released from its
obligations. At that point, Taylor accepted a bid from First Correctional
Medical, a Tucson, Ariz., firm, for a $16.44 million annual contract. FCM
left the state in July after explaining that it wanted to be released from
its contract. FCM's owner and founder, Dr. Tammy Kastre, did not return
numerous calls for comment. Taylor would not discuss reasons for the
departure, but added that FCM owes thousands of dollars in unpaid bills to
private clinics, hospitals and physicians. The exact amount is in dispute.
Taylor said he was forced to move fast to find a replacement. He turned to
a company he knew well: CMS, the same company that cared for Anthony Pierce
while his tumor grew to the size of a grapefruit. Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann
Minner said the contract awarded to CMS was not a "no-bid"
contract, as described by Taylor. She argued that, even though CMS asked to
be released from its contract in 2002, forcing the state to hire another
vendor, CMS' return to Delaware came by piggy-backing on the contract of
the vendor it replaced, FCM. It's unclear how the "extension"
resulted in an annual price hike of $9.5 million. Taylor declined to answer
that question. CMS provides medical care for some 285,000 inmates in more
than 360 prisons in 25 states. It is named in many lawsuits filed in state
and federal courts across the country, although the exact number of suits
filed against the 25-year-old St. Louis firm is difficult to obtain. There
have been 53 lawsuits filed in Wilmington's U.S. District Court against CMS
since 2000. Twelve are still active. Former CMS medical director Ivens, has
been sued 15 times in U.S. District Court by Delaware inmates or their
families. Each of the federal lawsuits against Ivens has been dismissed, but
at least two state Superior Court court cases naming Ivens as a defendant
remain active. Michelle Thomas, who worked for Spectrum, a CMS subsidiary
that provided substance-abuse treatment to inmates, helped establish the
treatment program that inmate Pierce attended before he contracted the
cancerous growth on his head. "They're the scum of the earth,"
Thomas said of her former employer. She quit CMS shortly after Pierce died.
Thomas said she watched in horror as Pierce's tumor grew. Thomas said she
repeatedly questioned the medical staff about the lack of treatment, but
she never got an answer. Yet Dr. Sitta Alie, the former medical director
for FCM, who, like many of its employees, was hired by CMS when it took
control of Delaware institutions in July, said this about the two
companies: "They're both awful." Alie was an employee of FCM when
interviewed by the newspaper. Contacted again after CMS took control, she
declined to comment further. Before 1978, Delaware's Department of
Correction had a long tradition of hiring its own doctors and nurses, or
guards who were former military medics, to provide health care for adult
and juvenile offenders. But two years after the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that inmates deserve health care equivalent to community standards,
Delaware signed a contract with Sacred Heart Hospital of Chester, Pa., to
provide care for state prisoners. In 1981, then Correction Commissioner
John L. Sullivan hired Claymont-based Prison Health Services, following a
national trend of states privatizing prison medical services. The new
company was founded by Delaware nurse Doyle H. Moore, who had been Sacred
Heart's prison health care program coordinator. A year later, PHS ended its
23-month contract, citing a spike in incarceration rates. Eleven private
prison companies bid for the open contract. Decisions about performing
medical tests or procedures on inmates in Delaware are not made here, but
by company executives at the corporate offices. When an inmate dies in
Delaware, the autopsy -- if there is one -- and other investigative reports
go to the vendor, not to any state official. And Taylor does not review
inmate autopsies.
Douglas
County Correctional Center, Douglas County, Nebraska
March
20, 2006 KETV
A Douglas County correctional employee has filed a formal complaint
against a supervisor alleging that the boss pressures employees into having
home parties to sell sex toys. The formal complaint comes from a medical
clerk at the Douglas County Correctional Center. She alleges sexual harassment
and a hostile work environment caused by some managers in her department.
Specifically, the medical clerk alleges that one of the supervisors
"solicits and coerces staff into attending and hosting parties that
sell sex toys." Attached to her complaint is a product preview catalog
with a Web site, which describes the so-called "slumber parties"
and the sex toys available. The clerk addressed her complaint to
Correctional Medical Services, or CMS, of St. Louis. That is the company
contracted by Douglas County to provide medical care at the DCCC. Douglas
County Corrections director Robert Patton said that whether it's sex toys
or Girl Scout cookies, if a boss pressures an employee to buy or sell any
item, it's inappropriate. Patton said he doesn't have direct control over
the investigation because medical employees are contracted. Patton said he
has discussed the matter with CNS of St. Louis. He said he'll stay apprised
of the investigation and possible disciplinary actions. Calls to
Correctional Medical Services were not returned.
Duval
County Jail, Jacksonville, Florida
August
22, 2007 First Coast News
First Coast News has obtained statements from medical staff in charge of
the care of John Laughon while at the Duval County jail. Laughon is the
former inmate allegedly beaten by police while having a seizure. Laughon is
now considered to be in a persistent vegetative state. First Coast News has
obtained the deposition of Dr. Carey Goodman, an employee of Correctional
Medical Services. CMS was the agency contracted out for medical care at the
jail. Goodman was the medical director for CMS in the Duval County jail at
the time Laughon was there. Laughon's attorneys say numerous problems were
noted in jail of Laughon having repeated seizures and yet Dr. Goodman says
he never saw the patient on his own. Attorneys for Laughon asked Goodman,
"Did you ask to see him?" Goodman replied, "No."
Goodman was then asked why not. He answered, "I have a lot of other
things to do, you know." Goodman says patients with problems are
typically referred to him and Laughon was not. He also says he did sign an
order from a nurse practitioner to increase a medication Laughon was
taking. Lawyers say the dosage was above the normal recommended dosage
level. "Well, I am not going to say I approved it or I disapproved it,
but I did have to co-sign it," says Goodman. Lawyers then asked him
that knowing what he knows now, was it the right thing to do. "If I
had seen him, I wouldn't have. But I didn't see him. She saw him. I mean, I
don't know what her thinking was. but I probably would not have done
that." When asked why not, Goodman replied, "Again, the man has
refractory epilepsy. And to keep giving him more and more medication I
don't think is going to be that helpful for him." Lawyers then asked
what would be helpful at that point. "I don't know. He might need a
magnet or something. I don't know." Laughon's attorneys call it a
medical care breakdown that happened on a number of levels. "He's in
charge for care for all these inmates and yet he doesn't see patient who is
having seizures and does not order prescription for a patient who need
medication and says maybe a magnet would have helped. It's tragic,"
says Laugon's attorney, Bob Spohrer. Spohrer believes if Laughon had
received the proper medication and medical care he would not be in the
state he is in today.
August 2, 2006 Florida Times-Union
The mother of a Duval County jail inmate hospitalized in a persistent
vegetative state after an altercation with corrections officers has filed a
civil rights and medical malpractice lawsuit against the Jacksonville
Sheriff's Office, the city, the jail's subcontracted health provider and
some of their employees. The suit says John Laughon, now 39, repeatedly
complained while in jail for marijuana possession that he was deprived of
necessary seizure medicine. It further accuses correctional officers of
conspiring to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on Laughon by responding
to his violent seizures with physical beatings, then failing to provide
timely medical care that could have prevented his vegetative state. I'm
hoping to find out who killed my son," said Laughon's mother, Ginger
Laughon, in a phone interview. "For them to be punished and never be
allowed to do this to another person again. Lawyer Sean Cronin announced
Wednesday that the suit had been filed after a year of investigation into
what happened Feb. 22, 2005. He provided a report from the trauma wing of
Shands Jacksonville that said Laughon had been injured by assault. The same
report says Laughon was found pulseless, cold to the touch and not
breathing by a nurse in the inmate holding area. Police said Laughon had
broken out of a restraint chair with "superhuman strength" and
attacked corrections officers without showing signs of tiring. "He had
a seizure disorder known to them, and he was not getting those medications
properly," Cronin said. "He tells them he's having seizures, and
they're saying he's not. Rather than being given medication, he was
misconstrued as violent, combative, noncompliant." Cronin said Laughon
had nine broken ribs on both sides of his body, brain hemorrhaging and
blood in his lungs, none of which were consistent with self-inflicted
injuries. Ken Fields, a spokesman for Correctional Medical Services, said
the company could not comment because it had not seen the suit. "We
can tell you that the facility is accredited for its health-care operations
by nationally recognized accrediting organizations," he said. "In
addition, health-care staff at the facility follow well-established
procedures for evaluating each patient's health-care needs."
East
Jersey Prison, Rahway, New Jersey
February
22, 2009 Courier News
A state appeals court reinstated a lawsuit filed by a prisoner at East
Jersey State Prison in which he contends that the company that provided
medical treatment to inmates delayed giving him necessary back surgery.
Cecil Fearon, 65, who is serving a 50-year sentence for drug trafficking,
eventually underwent the surgery to fuse vertebrae, but the delay hurt his
chances of a full recovery, he contends. Named as defendants are
Correctional Medical Services and doctors involved in Fearon's case or
connected to the company, Paul Talbot, Arlene Tinker, Manar Hanna, Lawrence
Donkor, Richard Hellander and Ahab Gabriel. A call placed to the attorney
for the defendants was returned by a Correctional Medical Services
spokeswoman who declined comment, citing the ongoing litigation. A trial
judge threw out Fearon's lawsuit, saying his medical negligence claims were
outside the statute of limitations. The three-judge panel, which did not
identify the trial judge in its opinion, ruled that the judge erred in
dismissing Fearon's case. According to the opinion, Fearon received an MRI
of his spine in August 2003 and March 2004 after complaints of difficulty
walking and pain in his back. A doctor cleared him for surgery, “if
approved,” according to the opinion. In June 2004, a neurological surgeon
examined Fearon and recommended back surgery. The doctor, Anthony Churico,
recommended it again in April 2005. It was not scheduled and performed
until January 2006. “According to Dr. Churico, this delay in performing the
surgery caused plaintiff's condition to worsen and compromised the results
of the surgery,” the appeals panel wrote in its opinion. Fearon filed suit
in May 2006. The state Department of Corrections replaced Correctional
Medical Services in September with the University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey.
Elkhart
County Jail, Elkhart, Indiana
June
24, 2009 The Goshen News
It was good news all around this week for the Elkhart County Sheriff’s
Department and other named defendants connected to a multi-million dollar
wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of deceased county inmate
Nicholas Rice. According to Nathaniel Jordan, an attorney at Yoder Ainlay
Ulmer & Buckingham, Goshen, Judge Robert Miller of the Federal District
Court in South Bend recently issued a decision in favor of the Elkhart
County Sheriff and Sheriff’s Department officers named in the case of
Estate of Nicholas Rice v. Correctional Medical Services, et al. “The
decision also finds in favor of the other remaining defendants in the case,
most of which, like Oaklawn Psychiatric Center, Inc., are located in
Elkhart County,” Jordan said. “Certain defendants, such as Elkhart County,
had been dismissed previously in this case.”
October 10, 2006 South Bend Tribune
The attorney for a Michiana family whose 22-year-old son reportedly
starved to death while inside the Elkhart County Jail has filed a $24
million lawsuit against the county. Nicholas Rice was detained inside the
jail for more than a year on an attempted bank robbery charge while doctors
and court officials disputed whether he was competent to stand trial. The
diagnosed schizophrenic inmate was found dead in his cell Dec. 18, 2004.
Autopsy reports later listed malnourishment and dehydration as factors in
Rice's death. The Tribune first reported on Nicholas Rice's case --
"Out of Sight: Mental illness and the criminal justice system" --
in a six-day series in February. Niles-based attorney Sean Drew filed the
suit last week, alleging that Rice was "denied the ultimate liberty
interest of life guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment" and
"subjected to inhumane treatment amounting to torture and as a result
died." Elkhart County sheriff officials did not return messages Friday
and Monday seeking comment. A secretary referred all questions Monday to
Elkhart County attorney Michael DeBoni. He had not returned a message or
e-mail by late Monday. The negligence suit filed in federal court names
multiple defendants, including the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department,
Oaklawn -- a Goshen mental health facility -- and Correctional Medical
Services, a private company that provides medical services to the jail.
El
Paso County, Colorado
Last week, El Paso County commissioners dumped
the company that has, for the past 13 years, provided medical and mental
health services to the county's two jails. You'll recall that the Criminal
Justice Center and downtown's overcrowded Metro facility carry the dubious
distinction of logging nine inmate deaths since 1998. In November, the
county's longtime jailhouse health provider, St. Louis based Correctional
Medical Services (CMS), submitted a bid to continue its contract. The
upshot is that the commissioners accepted a $1.9 million low bid from
Englewood, Colo.based Correctional Health Care Management to provide
medical services to the jails. During the commissioners meeting, both the
elected officials and county staff only delicately approached the, uh,
unfortunate problems of the past, which have resulted in wrongful death
lawsuits against the county and tax-paid settlements to the families of the
dead inmates. (CSIndy: Public Eye, February 14, 2002)
Fayette County Jail,
Lexington, Kentucky
August
2, 2011 Herald-Leader
Nineteen hours before he was found with no pulse in a cell at the Fayette
County Detention Center in June, Anthony Dwayne Davis requested to go to
the jail's medical unit and was denied, jail records show. The Herald-Leader
has obtained the information under the Kentucky Open Records Law as police
continue to investigate Davis' death. A nurse and a mental health
specialist evaluated Davis at 1:41 a.m. June 25, and the mental health
specialist told a correction's officer that Davis, 26, was probably
"manipulating the system," according to the records. Instead of
being placed in the medical unit, Davis was moved from the general
population to a segregated unit for refusing to follow directions. It would
be nearly 17 hours, at 6:30 p.m., before Davis was moved to the medical
unit and assessed again by a nurse. Two hours after arriving at the medical
unit, Davis was found without a pulse. At that point, Davis was rushed to
University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, where he was pronounced dead,
according to the records. Fayette County Deputy Coroner Shea Willis said
Monday that she is awaiting results from autopsy reports before releasing a
cause of death. Urban County Public Safety Commissioner Clay Mason said
Monday that the case remains under review, but "we haven't found any
fault with anybody at the jail." "We are not anticipating any
kind of reprimands or any kind of discipline. My review of it looks like
the jail personnel and medical personnel did what they were supposed to
do," Mason said. "This is a very complex medical situation in
terms of, this guy had a very long history." Susan Straub, a
spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Gray, said Monday that a police investigation
into the case is continuing and that detectives said they've found no signs
of foul play. "Police are waiting for the medical examiner's report in
this investigation," Straub said. Officials at Corizon, the company
that contracts with the jail to provide medical services, did not return a
phone call seeking comment on Monday.
March 30, 2011 AP
Two nurses who were working at the Fayette County jail last year when
an inmate died of a pulmonary embolism have been placed on limited/probated
status for three years following an investigation by the Kentucky Board of
Nursing. Board Executive Director Charlotte Beason says the board entered
into an agreed order with licensed practical nurses Karen Hodge and
Stephanie Travis on Monday. Beason says the order suspended the women's
licenses for three years, but the suspensions were stayed. Beason says if
they work as nurses, Hodge and Travis will be under rigid supervision by
their employer and monitored by the board. At the time of the death, Hodge
and Travis were employed by Correctional Medical Services Inc., which contracts
with the jail for medical services. Their status with the company could not
be determined Wednesday. CMS spokesman Ken Fields said in an email to The
Associated Press the company could not provide information regarding
specific personnel matters. "All staff providing health care at the
corrections facility are appropriately licensed to provide healthcare
services," he wrote. The case stems from the death of 54-year-old Dean
Ferguson of Lexington, who died last year after complaining of leg pain and
shortness of breath.
October 2, 2010 Lexington Herald-Leader
Jonathan Bowen's tenure as Fayette County jail medical director ended two
days after the state nursing board subpoenaed the jail for information
regarding an inmate's death, according to e-mail between jail officials
obtained through an open-records request. Officials have not given a reason
for Bowen's departure last month from his job as a health service
administrator. According to an e-mail sent to jail personnel from Assistant
Jail Director Edye Dabney, Bowen was no longer employed as of Aug. 19. For
more than a week, officials have declined to explain why the Fayette County
Detention Center's medical administrator is no longer employed at the
facility. Jail spokeswoman Jennifer Taylor said she could not say whether
health service administrator Jonathan Bowen resigned or was fired. His
employment ended the week of Aug. 16, Taylor said. The jail contracts with
a private company, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services Inc., for
inmate medical care, she said. Taylor said any further comment would come
from that company. The Kentucky Board of Nursing is investigating two
nurses at the Fayette County jail who denied medical assessment to an
inmate who later died, according to jail documents. The inmate, Dean
Ferguson, 54, of Lexington, died of a pulmonary embolism after complaining
of leg pain and shortness of breath all night at the jail. Ferguson's
family filed complaints against nurses Karen Hodge and Stephanie Travis in
August. A Fayette County Detention Center inmate who died while serving a a
weekend sentence had been denied medical assessment from jail nurses who
said his vitals had been checked already, according to reports and memos
obtained from the jail. Dean Ferguson, 54, of Lexington was serving time on
weekends after being convicted of driving under the influence. He checked
into the jail at 7 p.m. July 9. He was not taken to the hospital for
medical problems until after 9 a.m. July 10. He was pronounced dead from a
pulmonary embolism at 10:13 a.m. July 10 at University of Kentucky Chandler
Hospital, according to a report from the Fayette County coroner. A sentence
of weekends in the Fayette County Detention Center for drunken driving
shouldn't carry a death penalty. But that appears to be what happened to a
54-year-old Lexington man who slowly died of a pulmonary embolism while two
jail nurses refused to assess his condition, despite his complaints and
obvious physical distress. The nurses said he was faking. Bowen was
employed by Correctional Medical Services Inc., a company contracted to
provide medical services to inmates at the jail. On Aug. 17, the Kentucky
Board of Nursing issued a subpoena for "copies of any facility
investigation regarding the death of inmate Dean Ferguson on July 10."
Ferguson, an inmate serving a weekend sentence for drunk driving and
driving without a license, died of a pulmonary embolism after complaining
of chest pain, shortness of breath and difficulty walking. Two CMS nurses
at the jail, Karen Hodge and Stephanie Travis, denied Ferguson medical
assessment for around eight hours, saying his vital signs had already been
checked and were at normal levels, according to incident reports. Generally
speaking, health service administrators such as Bowen "deal with some
of the administrative tasks such as staffing or providing care," CMS
spokesman Ken Fields has said. Hodge and Travis are still employed at the
detention center, jail spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Taylor said Thursday.
Bowen could not be reached for comment. Two open records requests to CMS —
one for Bowen's personnel file and one for any memos or reports regarding
the termination of his employment — were denied because "there is no
legitimate public interest in the requested records," according to a
statement from Sean Ragland, an attorney for CMS. "It is our position
that records which the Herald-Leader seeks contain information of a
personal nature and public disclosure of the same would constitute a
clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy," the response said. Employees
of CMS are not considered city employees, although the city government pays
the organization $223,129 monthly for medical services at the jail. That
figure comes from the most recent copy of the CMS contract provided by the
jail. According to Kentucky Revised Statutes, a company is considered a
public agency when it "derives at least twenty-five percent of its
funds expended by it in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from state or local
authority funds." In his response to records requests, Ragland said
that definition was ruled unconstitutional by a Jefferson Circuit Court
judge in 2009.
September 4, 2010 Lexington Herald Leader
For more than a week, officials have declined to explain why the Fayette County
Detention Center's medical administrator is no longer employed at the
facility. Jail spokeswoman Jennifer Taylor said she could not say whether
health service administrator Jonathan Bowen resigned or was fired. His
employment ended the week of Aug. 16, Taylor said. The jail contracts with
a private company, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services Inc., for
inmate medical care, she said. Taylor said any further comment would come
from that company. Susan Straub, spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Newberry, said
CMS has not given city officials a reason for Bowen's resignation or
dismissal. Bowen worked for CMS, not the city. Open records requests sent
to the detention center for a jail-maintained personnel file for Bowen and
any internal memos regarding his termination of employment were declined
because no documents matched that description, according to a letter from
James Kammer, assistant jail director. Several more requests were pending
Friday. Bowen could not immediately be reached for comment. Ken Fields, a
spokesman for CMS, issued a statement that said it was against company
policy to comment on specific personnel matters. Generally speaking, he
said, the job of a health service administrator is to "deal with some
of the administrative tasks such as staffing or providing care."
Fields said CMS regularly evaluates its staff and the needs of inmate
patients, many of whom never receive health care until becoming
incarcerated. "As part of that, certainly, we always look to see if
there are areas where services can be optimized and adjustments made,"
Fields said. Two CMS employees at the Fayette County jail are the subject
of an investigation by the state board of nursing after the death of an
inmate, Dean Ferguson. Ferguson's sister Lisa Day filed complaints against
nurses Karen Hodge and Stephanie Travis after Ferguson died of a pulmonary
embolism July 10. The complaints say that during a 12-hour period on jail
surveillance video, starting July 9, Ferguson is seen breathing heavily and
collapsing. The complaint says "both nurses observed his condition and
refused to provide medical care."
September 1, 2010 Lexington Herald-Leader
The Kentucky Board of Nursing is investigating two nurses at the Fayette
County jail who denied medical assessment to an inmate who later died,
according to jail documents. The inmate, Dean Ferguson, 54, of Lexington,
died of a pulmonary embolism after complaining of leg pain and shortness of
breath all night at the jail. Ferguson's family filed complaints against
nurses Karen Hodge and Stephanie Travis in August. The complaints say that
during a 12-hour period on jail surveillance video, Dean is seen breathing
heavily and collapsing many times. "Both nurses observed his condition
and refused to provide medical care," the complaints say. A spokesman
for the nursing board said Tuesday that the complaints had been reviewed
and would be investigated. Travis could not immediately be reached for
comment Tuesday. Hodge did not return phone messages left with a family
member at her home. According to documents obtained from the jail through
an open records request, Ferguson's vital signs were normal when he checked
in at 9:40 p.m. July 9. When Ferguson collapsed five minutes later, Hodge
told a jail lieutenant that "they had just seen him five minutes ago
and that they were not going to see him again," records said. At 2:45
a.m. July 10, after Ferguson complained that he was unable to walk, the
nurses again advised that Ferguson's "vitals were normal, that he was
'faking' the issues and that they would not be assessing him again."
Travis did assess Ferguson at 5:40 a.m. and found "no indication of an
acute condition or a change in his current status," records said. At
8:55 a.m., Ferguson was "discovered laboring in his breathing."
He was transferred to the medical facility in the jail where another nurse,
Pattie Hatton, and guards attempted CPR but were unable to revive him.
Ferguson was taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. Nathan Goldman, general counsel at the
state board of nursing, said that if guilt on the part of the nurses is
determined, consequences could range from a reprimand to suspension of
their nursing licenses. Goldman said he did not know how long the
investigation might take. Meanwhile, the jail's internal investigation into
the death has ended after an autopsy attributed the death to natural
causes, Sgt. Jennifer Taylor, a jail spokeswoman, said. Todd Henson,
spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said that the Fayette
County jail had reported the death to the department but that
investigations into jail deaths are handled by local police. Sherelle
Roberts, spokeswoman for the Lexington police department, said police were
not investigating the death because it was attributed to natural causes.
Nurses Hodge and Travis are employed by Correctional Medical Services Inc.,
a company that contracts with the jail for medical service. Ken Fields,
spokesman for CMS, said: "We are unable to provide the news media with
information regarding the care provided to specific patients. On an ongoing
basis, we do evaluate the performance of our staff, making adjustments and
changes when appropriate." Ferguson was serving a weekend sentence
July 9 through 11 after being charged with driving under the influence and
driving on a suspended license in May. Ferguson's sister Lisa Day, who
filed the complaint, said her brother complained of feeling ill before
checking into the jail, but he refused her request to take him to a
hospital. Day said her brother insisted that jail personnel would do a full
evaluation when he arrived. "He said, 'Believe me, if there's anything
wrong, they will get you help,'" she said.
March 29, 2006 Herald-Leader
Lexington jailers, a nurse, police and medics were grossly negligent by
denying medical care to a deteriorating Gerald Cornett, who died in August
from injuries suffered in jail, a Fayette Circuit Court lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit was filed last week by Cornett's estate, which is administered
by his stepfather, Bob Arnold of Lexington. It seeks unspecified punitive
damages, medical and funeral expenses, and lost wages. It names as
defendants the Urban County Government; Correctional Medical Services, a
Missouri firm contracted to provide jail health care; jail director Ron
Bishop; a nurse; and detention officers, medics and the police officer who
arrested Cornett, who was 45. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants did
not provide for Cornett's physical well-being and safety, exercise
reasonable care when assessing whether he should go to jail or a hospital,
or obtain appropriate medical care. The suit states their actions were
intentional and reckless, exceeding standards of decency, morality and
constituting "conduct which is utterly intolerable in our civilized
society."
June
25 2005 Lexington Herald Leader
The estate of a murder suspect who hanged himself in the Fayette County
jail and later died has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the
city. Dong Zhang, a University of Kentucky doctoral student,
suspended himself with a telephone cord on June 22, 2004, hours after he
was told he would be extradited to Illinois on murder charges. Zhang was
thought to have fatally strangled his former girlfriend Yan Gu in Chicago.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims that jailers had known that Zhang was
suicidal and were negligent leaving him alone in a recreation room, which
had a shower, television and telephone. The suit was filed by Jianquiang
Zhang, the administrator of Dong Zhang's estate. The suit lists as defendants
the Urban County Government; Ronald Bishop, director of community
corrections; the Bluegrass Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board Inc.,
which operates a mental health unit at the jail; and Correctional Medical
Services, Inc., which provided medical services to inmates.
Florida
Department of Corrections, Tallahassee, Florida
July
31, 2012 News Service of Florida
A Leon County circuit judge has agreed to hold a hearing next week in the
long-running dispute about whether the Florida Department of Corrections
will privatize prison health services. Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll has
scheduled an August 8 hearing, according to an online court docket. The
Florida Nurses Association and the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit in January challenging a legislative
move last year to privatize inmate health services. Carroll early this
month declined to rule on the constitutionality of the Legislature’s
decision because it was included in budget fine print, known as “proviso”
language, which expired at the June 30 end of the fiscal year. The nurses
association and AFSCME, a state employees union, asked Carroll for a
rehearing. Subsequently, the DOC said it would go ahead with the
privatization, regardless of the expiration of the proviso language. The
DOC said it had the authority to contract with two private companies under
existing state law.
July 26, 2012 Tampa Times
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, D-Weston, has lodged a formal objection
to the Legislature giving final approval to budget transfers that would
allow the prison system to privatize health care for 100,000 inmates. Rich
wrote a letter (posted below) to Sen. JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, who
chairs the 14-member Legislative Budget Commission. The prison system has
asked the LBC to approve a transfer of $58 million between budget
categories so the agency can move forward with the privatization and
implement it by Jan. 1, 2013. The LBC generally functions as a rubber-stamp
for mid-year changes to agencies' budgets, and in the past, an objection
from a single lawmaker has carried great weight. The outsourcing of health
care in Florida prisons has a checkered history, and this latest venture is
highly controversial because it was created under budget proviso language
that expired June 30 when the previous fiscal year ended. "But for the
proviso, the appropriation would not be made," Rich wrote.
"Consequently, I believe the DOC does not have the authority to
privatize health services in prisons." Unions representing state
workers and nurses in the prison system have threatened to file a new
lawsuit seeking to block the project from going forward. Rich's effort to
block the privatization comes as the leading vendor, Corizon Health, has
agreed to pay a $1.85 million fine to the city of Philadelphia because of
irregularities in its handling of a contract in that city's jail system.
July 17, 2012 Tampa Times
The Florida Department of Corrections said Tuesday it will move ahead with
plans to privatize all health care for the nation's third-largest prison
system, even after a stalemate in court and the expiration of legislative
budget language that authorized the sweeping change. Corrections Secretary
Ken Tucker issued a late-afternoon statement calling the decision "best
for the Department and taxpayers." "This step will allow us to
provide the same services we currently have which meet state and federal
standards, while saving money for the taxpayers." The action could
trigger a new round of litigation by a labor union that represents nurses
who work in the system. The Legislature last year ordered the agency to
privatize all health care as a money-saving move, by inserting budget
language known as proviso and requiring a savings of at least 7 percent
over 2010 costs. In April, Tucker announced a decision to tentatively award
contracts to Corizon Health in most of the state and Wexford Health Sources
in South Florida. Two unions filed a lawsuit. A state judge in Tallahassee
did not rule in the case before the fiscal year ended on June 30, and the
proposal also required approval by the Legislative Budget Commission, which
never took action on it. Florida has more than 100,000 inmates in its
prisons. This would be the most extensive single privatization venture ever
undertaken by a state prison system in the U.S. Attorneys for the state
contend that privatization can be done by the agency without a legislative
mandate. "Change isn't easy, and we know sometimes it can be
unsettling," Tucker said. "However, the hard work of our employees
is greatly appreciated and recognized."
May 25, 2012 The Florida Current
In the coming weeks, Tallahassee judges will hear arguments in two court
cases that will test the limits of lawmakers' power to order outsourcing in
the state budget. The first of those, which challenges the Department of
Corrections' effort to privatize health care in the state's prison system,
will come before Leon County Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll on Tuesday. In a
case that could affect the future of thousands of state worker jobs and
almost $300 million in contracts, the Florida Nurses Association is arguing
the Legislature did not have the authority to order the department to
privatize inmate health care without passing a standalone bill. The lawsuit
builds in part on Judge Jackie Fulford's ruling this fall, which blocked
the privatization of state prisons in 18 South Florida counties because
lawmakers ordered the move in budget language, and Fulford found the
procedure conflicted with existing state law. That case will be heard in
late June by the 1st District Court of Appeal. The state and the two
companies in line to receive health care contracts are arguing the
department has the authority to issue the contracts. Court papers filed by
Wexford Health Sources say the nurses association is building its arguments
on an "erroneous conclusion based on a superficial reading of Judge
Fulford's ruling." State law requires prison officials to develop a
"business case" that shows the outsourcing will save at least 7
percent, and for the Legislature to provide a specific item in the budget
for the private prisons. Those requirements apply specifically to contracts
for the "operation and maintenance" of prison facilities and the
"supervision of inmates," though, and Wexford says the department
has wider latitude when it comes to health care. The state argues in its
brief that the department has the authority to sign the health care
contracts whether lawmakers order it in budget proviso language or not, and
says that unlike the case dealing with South Florida prisons, the
department had already developed a thorough business case for health care
privatization before the 2011 legislative session. In a brief supporting
the nurses association, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees argues the state is only authorized to contract specialized
services that the department cannot provide on its own, such as substance
abuse treatment -- meaning the state would need to change the law to issue
contracts for "comprehensive" health care services. Attorney
General Pam Bondi has appealed Fulford's ruling at the urging of
legislative leaders, who have noted that budget proviso language has been
used to order the privatization of prison-related services in the past,
including in 2000, when lawmakers used proviso to order the department to
issue contracts for inmate health care in South Florida, an arrangement
that was later abandoned. The Florida Chamber of Commerce has filed a
"friend of the court" brief with the appellate court, arguing
Fulford's ruling "effectively strips the Legislature of its authority
to direct how state funds are to be used to accomplish its goals of
privatization," which the chamber contends violates the separation of
powers. Stephen Turner, a lawyer for the Police Benevolent Association who
is also representing the nurses association, has countered that the
constitution requires some budget procedures to be accomplished through
general laws. "The purpose for the proviso was to avoid the statutory
safeguards, and rush a privatization contract through without fair
comparison, careful review, or public scrutiny," he argues.
July 28, 2009 Miami Herald
A state hearing officer has ruled in favor of the Department of
Corrections in a controversy involving an $80-million contract to provide
mental health to South Florida inmates. Administrative Law Judge Suzanne
Hood's 39-page decision concluded that the losing bidder, MHM Correctional
Services, failed to prove that the prison system violated the law in
awarding a five-year-contract to a rival, Correctional Medical Services.
The decision was a setback to MHM and its legal team at Foley &
Lardner, led by Chris Kise, a former legal advisor to Gov. Charlie Crist.
"I am saddened, as costs will go up and quality of care will go down,
but not entirely surprised by the order as the judge does not appear to get
it," Kise said in an e-mail message to The News Service of Florida.
Kise's administrative challenge included explosive allegations that prison
officials negotiated in secret with CMS in violation of the public records
laws that his ex-boss, Crist, has championed as governor. "MHM has not
met its burden of persuasion in this case," Judge Hood wrote. In
addition, she concluded, MHM failed to prove that its proposal met the state's
criteria for financial viability (The prison system had rejected MHM's
proposal on financial grounds).
June 26, 2009 St Petersburg Times
An ''appalled'' state judge said Thursday that Florida's prison system
''blatantly violated the public trust'' by secretly negotiating with a new
firm to provide for inmates' mental health. Leon County Circuit Judge Frank
Sheffield said the actions of the Department of Corrections in its secret
dealings with Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis were ``at best, offensive,
and at worst, illegal.'' But the judge denied the request by MHM
Correctional Services for a temporary injunction. MHM wanted to block the
award of a five-year contract to CMS through a 120-day purchase order that
starts July 1. The judge said MHM still has legal remedies because it has a
bid protest pending before a state hearing officer. He added that the
public interest would not be served by an injunction because MHM's contract
with the prison system expires June 30. To prevent the state from doing
business with CMS ''would cause confusion, disorder and produce public
injury that outweighs the individual right to the relief sought,'' the
judge wrote in a seven-page order. Last February, the state received four
proposals for mental health services for 18,000 inmates in the region from
Homestead to Fort Pierce. Many of those inmates have serious mental
disorders and receive psychotropic drugs. The prison system determined that
all four companies failed to meet its criteria, then began secret negotiations
with CMS, even though its offer was $5 million higher than MHM's, the judge
wrote. Sheffield was particularly critical of a decision by the state to
back-date an official document by 13 days that set the CMS purchase order
in motion, and then 'engaging in an old-fashioned shell game of calling a
short-term contract with the same company as is currently involved in a bid
dispute a `purchase order.' '' MHM attorney Chris Kise, a former legal
advisor to Gov. Charlie Crist, said: `The people lost today due to the
worst abuse of power imaginable. The department engaged in secret
negotiations, blatant violations of the public trust and unconscionable
practices, then hid behind the very laws designed to protect the people.''
June 22, 2009 News Service of Florida
A high-stakes battle over multi-million dollar contracts with the
Department of Corrections took an ugly turn on Monday. Lawyers representing
MHM Correctional Services Inc. alleged in a court filing that a
high-ranking DOC official may have been negotiating to get a job for a
friend from Correctional Medical Services at the same time he recommended
that the agency hire CMS. Ken Fields, a spokesman for CMS, said the
allegation was simply a ploy intended to get media coverage. “This latest
allegation is nothing more than a desperate PR stunt that is completely
baseless," said Fields in an e-mail. CMS was chosen back in April to
provide mental health services to South Florida prison inmates. But current
vendor MHM has contested the bid, saying the department broke contracting
and public records laws by negotiating with CMS in secret before announcing
the St. Louis based company had won a contract worth more than $80 million
over the next five years. MHM has also filed a separate lawsuit against the
Department of Corrections after finding out that the agency planned to
bring on CMS on July 1 when the current contract with MHM expires. Leon
County Circuit Judge Frank Sheffield is expected to rule this week on
whether to block the $6 million four-month purchase order the department
approved in late May. Chris Kise, an attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP,
filed a motion in circuit court on Monday that suggests that one reason CMS
won the 4-month contract is because Dr. Sandeep Rahangdale, deputy
secretary for health services, was trying to land a job for a friend with
CMS. Kise attached e-mails that show that Rahangdale asked CMS officials to
send information to his personal e-mail account about salary range and
requirements for a position. He states “I think I have the perfect fit for
you and the state" in the e-mail. A spokeswoman for the Department of
Corrections would not answer the allegation about Rahangdale, who makes
$172,500 in his job with the agency. Rahangdale has been deputy secretary
since Jan. 31, 2008. But Fields, the spokesman for CMS, said that Kise and
his legal team have been in possession of the Rahangdale e-mail for weeks.
"Until now and because they seek to avoid legal challenge, they have
never raised this false allegation in any hearing related to this
injunction or in their bid protest,’’ said Fields. “Instead they have
chosen to wait until the hearings are concluded and to make the assertion
in the media."
June 18, 2009 St Petersburg Times
A state judge is ordering two prison officials to testify today on
their role in a disputed decision to switch vendors for mental health care
to inmates in South Florida. "I direct that they appear," Leon
County Circuit Judge Frank Sheffield said at a hearing Thursday. The judge
ordered the two employees, Millie Seay and Jimmy Smith, to testify in a
lawsuit brought by a company that has been fired by the Department of
Corrections. The firm, MHM Correctional Services of Virginia, is seeking to
block the state from replacing it with Correctional Medical Services of St.
Louis, at what MHM says is $5 million more. The lawsuit sheds light on the
intense competition among firms to secure lucrative contracts with agencies
in Gov. Charlie Crist's administration. As the judge noted Thursday,
"There's a lot of money at stake, and we have time frames imposed of
July 1." MHM attorney Christopher Kise accused the prison system of
flagrant violations of state purchasing and open meeting laws, "a
rigging of the process" and a waste of taxpayers' money in switching
vendors. He argued that MHM's lawsuit should stay, or prevent, the state
from hiring CMS on July 1 for a 120-day period under a special purchase
order while the vendor makes the transition as mental health provider.
Attorneys for CMS, which was allowed to intervene in the lawsuit Thursday,
told the judge a fast decision is needed because the firm needs to start
its work. CMS attorney Peter Antonacci called the 120-day transition period
a contractual "patch" not subject to the state's purchasing laws.
Seay is director of administration for the Department of Corrections, and
Smith is assistant program administrator for health services.
June 11, 2009 Miami Herald
A judge in Tallahassee ruled Wednesday that the Florida Department of
Corrections improperly withheld public records from a vendor that filed a
lawsuit after being ousted from a mental healthcare contract. The ruling is
a victory for MHM Correctional Services, which wants to extend its 2 ˝-year
contract to provide services to more than 15,000 inmates in a dozen South
Florida prisons. But it is a defeat for Attorney General Bill McCollum,
whose office asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit and argued that the
Sunshine Law does not apply to purchasing committees, only boards and
commissions. The DOC wants to replace MHM with Correctional Medical
Services of St. Louis, even though that company would charge $5.5 million
more for the same service over five years. MHM sued to stop the deal and
argued that the state violated the Sunshine Law by omitting some e-mails related
to the case. ''The court has conducted an in-camera inspection of the
document containing the e-mail stream and has determined that it is not
exempt under the provisions of Chapter 119,'' Circuit Judge Kevin Davey
wrote Wednesday. "It does not appear that any of the communications in
the stream were made in contemplation of litigation, which is required for
the exemption.'' The bid protest is scheduled before a state hearing
officer on Friday.
June 1, 2009 St Petersburg Times
A vendor on the verge of losing a contract to provide mental health
services to 15,000 South Florida prison inmates is fighting back. Last
week, MHM Correctional Services filed a lawsuit accusing the Department of
Corrections of violating the Sunshine Law by holding unadvertised meetings
to negotiate a more expensive multi-year contract with another vendor,
Correctional Medical Services (CMS). Now MHM wants a Leon County judge to
prevent the agency from going forward. In court papers, MHM's attorney says
one of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil's top aides, Director of
Administrator Millie Seay, refused to sign an exception document that
allowed DOC to issue an interim purchase order until a formal contract can
be executed -- a very big red flag from MHM's viewpoint. Quoting a May 22 email
from DOC's procurement chief Robert Staney to his staff, the motion for
injunction states: "Millie Seay is reluctant to sign the waiver at
this time." "This fact alone should have stopped the procurement
process," the motion states. On a related front, MHM has enlisted the
lobbying firm of Smith & Ballard, which has entree to the highest
levels of the governor's office. At the center of this contract fight is
MHM's attorney, Chris Kise of Foley & Lardner's Tallahassee office, who
served as counselor to Gov. Charlie Crist in the first year of his term and
was a top adviser to Crist as attorney general.
May 27, 2009 St Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist has made it a priority to run the "most open and
transparent" administration in state history. But a former adviser to
Crist is suing the state, claiming the Department of Corrections broke the
Sunshine Law by mishandling a contract to provide mental health services to
inmates. Attorney Chris Kise of Foley & Lardner, who served as a
counselor and climate change advisor to Crist, filed the suit in state
court in Tallahassee Tuesday on behalf of MHM Correctional Services, a
Virginia firm that pitched a proposal to provide mental health care in the
agency's South Florida Region IV prisons. Kise's suit alleges that he
obtained public records showing that agency staffers began "secret
negotiations" with a competing vendor, Correctional Medical Services
(CMS), almost two weeks before competing vendors learned that their
proposals were rejected. Kise also said the deal the state negotiated with
CMS would cost taxpayers $5.5-million more than MHM's proposal. Corrections
Secretary Walt McNeil said he was confident the agency would prevail. We
are fully confident that we didn't do anything that would be a problem to the
state," he said. "I think the facts will bear that out to be not
true." By law, McNeil said, he can't discuss the details of a contract
that is "still in the throes of procurement."
Franklin
County Jail, Franklin, Ohio
Charles Dials was carjacked while driving past the Franklin County
Courthouse. With a few phone calls, a doctor at the Franklin County jail
would have been warned that inmate Alva Campbell might be faking his
paralysis. That evidence was in a deposition taken for a lawsuit filed by
the family of Charles Dials, whom Campbell killed during a 1997 escape. The
family recently settled for $1 million with the company that provided
medical services at the jail. The settlement between Dials' family and
Correctional Medical Services was recorded Monday in Franklin County
Probate Court. Campbell jumped out of a wheelchair as he was being brought
to the county courthouse on April 2, 1997, and overpowered a deputy. The
deputy had not handcuffed Campbell because she thought he was a paraplegic.
The hospital treated Campbell for a gunshot wound suffered when a store
manager shot him during a robbery attempt. Common Pleas Judge Richard
S.Sheward in November ruled in favor of Dials' family. "This was a
1998 case and Correctional Medical dragged its feet and ignored orders to
comply so I gave a default judgment to the plaintiff,'' Sheward said.
"It wasn't a complicated case, but it was a serious case of a wrongful
death of a young person who was executed.'' (The Dispatch, March 7, 2002)
Galveston
County Jail, Galveston, Texas
June
7, 2007 The Daily News
A Missouri firm lost its longtime contract to provide medical care to jail
inmates when county commissioners Wednesday unanimously awarded a $5.5
million deal to the University of Texas Medical Branch. The island-based
medical branch beat out incumbent St. Louis-based Correctional Medical
Services, which had the multimillion dollar contract for nine years. The
contract calls for the county to pay the medical branch about $207,500 a
month for the first 14 months, beginning Aug. 1, and $216,360 for the next
12 months to provide medical care to inmates. The medical branch will offer
inmates medical services that include on-site assessments at intake,
chronic and emergency medical management in the jail and hospital-based
care if needed. If the average daily population of inmates exceeds 1,000,
the medical branch could earn more, based on a pay formula, officials say.
Also, the Gulf Coast Center, a mental-health and retardation facility
serving Galveston and Brazoria counties, will pay the medical branch
$14,000 a month for on-site and on-call services. Galveston County Attorney
Harvey Bazaman said Correctional Medical Services had done an adequate job,
but county officials wanted to see if there were financial savings to be
had by putting the contract out for bid.
January 20, 2006 Texas City Sun
Two county jailers have been suspended, while a third jail employee was
fired after an investigation into an inmate’s suicide in November. Sheriff
Gean Leonard declined Thursday to give the name of the woman who was fired
because she was an employee of the company Correctional Medical Services,
not the sheriff’s office. The company could not be reached for comment
Thursday. Deputies Louis Padric Heck and Kendra Harris were suspended for
five days without pay. John Louis Kenney hanged himself in his county jail
cell on Nov. 20. Hours earlier, he had been booked into the jail on a
misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a domestic dispute. Kenney, who
hanged himself with a belt deputies had returned to him earlier that night,
had tried suicide in jail once before.
Genesis
Behavioral Services, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
November
18, 2009 Sheboygan Press
A therapist accused of sexually assaulting two clients was sentenced
Tuesday to two years probation and no jail time after a prosecutor amended
eight felonies to two misdemeanors, citing "proof problems." The
amended charges against John Monacelli mention only one of the alleged
victims, a woman identified in court records as an approximately
40-year-old Milwaukee County resident. Monacelli admitted having a
relationship with the woman while counseling her, saying he should have
ended the relationship and referred her to another counselor. At the time
of the offense — October 2007 — the woman was a resident at Genesis
Behavioral Services in Sheboygan, an in-patient substance abuse
rehabilitation facility where Monacelli was a counselor and interim
director. The allegations are a far cry from the criminal complaint filed
in December, which alleged Monacelli forced the woman and a 29-year-old
Sheboygan County man to perform an array of sex acts and threatened them to
keep them quiet. He had been scheduled for a jury trial next month on eight
felony counts of sexual exploitation by a therapist. "(The amended
charges) relate to proof problems and my ethical obligations as an officer
of the court to bring counts I believe I can prove," said prosecutor
Thomas Storm of the Wisconsin Attorney General's Office. "I believe
this is an accurate reflection of the improprieties, the crimes that
occurred in this situation." Storm said the investigation revealed
conflicting statements from a number of material witness and the alleged
victims. Monacelli, 46, of Menomonee Falls, was convicted of two counts of
abuse and neglect of patients and residents, misdemeanors carrying a
maximum combined penalty of six months in jail. Judge James Bolgert,
following a joint recommendation by Storm and Monacelli's attorney, imposed
probation and the maximum $2,000 fine. "I think it's an appropriate
response to the charges of which you have been convicted," Bolgert
said. Storm said the alleged victims were told Monday of the planned
amendment, but he said he couldn't say if they supported it. The original
complaint had alleged Monacelli had the two people recount childhood sexual
abuse in great detail and said re-enacting the sexual acts would help them
overcome drug addictions. A civil suit filed by the victims in September
2008 said both were victims of childhood incest and had histories of drug
addiction and mental illness. The civil suit was settled out of court in
March, and the victims' attorney and Knight declined to comment on the
terms of the settlement. The lawsuit — which named Monacelli, Genesis and
its parent company, Correctional Medical Services — had alleged Genesis was
negligent in screening and supervising Monacelli and slow to respond to the
allegations of sexual abuse.
January 5, 2009 Sheboygan Press
A man accused of sexually assaulting several clients while working as
therapist in Sheboygan will make an initial court appearance this
afternoon, online court records show. John R. Monacelli, 45, of Menomonee
Falls, is accused of having sexual contact with a 29-year-old Sheboygan
County man and sexual intercourse with a 39-year-old Milwaukee County woman
while working at Genesis Behavioral Services in October and November 2007.
He was charged last week with eight counts of felony sexual exploitation by
a therapist. He is also named in a civil lawsuit filed by the two alleged
victims that claims he made them recount childhood sexual abuse in great
detail and told them the only way to overcome their drug addictions was to
reenact the sex acts with him. The suit, filed in September, says both
victims were residents at Genesis, 503 Wisconsin Ave., while Monacelli
served as interim director of the residential program. Monacelli — who was
arrested following an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice
— could face up to 60 years in prison, if convicted on all counts. He is
scheduled to appear at 3:30 p.m. before Judge James Bolgert. According to
the criminal complaint: Monacelli exposed himself to the man during a
session in October 2007 about a week after beginning individual counseling
sessions with him at Genesis. The man, who had been assigned to Monacelli,
had oral sex with the therapist at Monacelli’s request. Monacelli repeated
the sex acts during counseling sessions on two other occasions later in
October, including one time when an oral sex act was interrupted by a knock
on the door by another Genesis employee. He told the man to keep the sexual
contact a secret. The 39-year-old woman said Monacelli kissed her and
fondled her breasts during an individual session at Genesis in early
October 2007, and the next day he asked her to perform a sex act before
they were interrupted by a knock at the door by another counselor. The two
had sex during a session in mid-October 2007. A few days later, Monacelli
offered to drive her to an appointment in Washington County, and had her
perform another sex act on him on the way back to Sheboygan. Genesis began
an internal investigation of Monacelli’s behavior in November 2007, the
complaint said. The civil suit, which is still pending, was filed in
September in Sheboygan County Circuit Court against Monacelli, Genesis and
Madison-based Correctional Medical Services.
Hamilton
County Jail, Hamilton County, Ohio
March 17, 2006 Enquirer
Seeing her with her head shaved, it apparently was easy for Stacey
Erwin's co-workers to believe she was being treated for cancer, and they
wanted to help. But police say the 40-year-old Erwin, who worked as a nurse
at the Hamilton County Jail, does not have cancer, and they have charged
her with theft for taking more than $5,000 in donations. "She was
telling people she had brain cancer, and they were giving her money,"
Steve Barnett, spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, said
Thursday. "One of her co-workers got suspicious of her behavior."
The sheriff's office said Erwin, of West McMillan Street in Clifton
Heights, obtained the money from "numerous co-workers after leading
them to believe she was suffering from cancer." Erwin, who was
arrested last week, was released on her own recognizance pending her next
court appearance. Barnett said Erwin even convinced even her husband she
had cancer, and he had unwittingly accepted donations on her behalf. Money
problems apparently prompted Erwin's scam, Barnett said. Erwin, a contract
employee, has been fired, Barnett said. Erwin was employed by St.
Louis-based Correctional Medical Services, which provides medical personnel
for jails around the country.
Idaho
Department of Corrections
August
18, 2011 AP
A woman the FBI believes robbed as many as 20 banks throughout the West worked
as a nurse at an Idaho state prison facility where she likely met the
convicted forger who investigators say drove the getaway car. Cynthia Van
Holland, 47, was arrested Monday with her husband, 26-year-old Christopher
Scott Alonzo, after a bank robbery in Auburn, Calif. Authorities say Van
Holland is the "Bad Hair Bandit," who used wigs to disguise
herself during bank heists in Montana, Oregon and Washington state. Alonzo,
a northern Idaho resident, spent time in Idaho prisons and jails on fraud,
forgery and escape convictions. Placer County, Calif., sheriff's Lt. Mark
Reed said witnesses saw Van Holland jumping into a car just after a robbery
in Auburn. She and Alonzo were arrested a short distance away on Interstate
80. Van Holland likely met Alonzo while he was at an Idaho Department of
Correction facility where she worked as a nurse for a private contractor,
Correctional Medical Services from November 2005 to an unspecified date in
2006. Alonzo began serving time in March 2006, shifting several times
between prisons near Boise and Orofino where he and Van Holland could have
crossed paths. "Investigators believe Van Holland met her accomplice,
Christopher Alonzo, while he was incarcerated at an IDOC facility,"
said Jeff Ray, an Idaho prisons spokesman, in a statement. Van Holland
married Alonzo on March 14 in Coeur d'Alene. On the marriage license, she
indicated she was living in Tacoma, Wash., the city where the series of
bank holdups began in December 2010. As the Bad Hair Bandit robbed bank
after bank, she went through a series of wigs and baseball hats that earned
her the moniker. Tellers say she often stood in line like a normal
customer, then handed a note saying she was armed and wanted cash.
July 22, 2011 AP
A federal judge has appointed a special master to see if the state is
complying with court orders in a decades-old lawsuit over conditions at the
Idaho State Correctional Institution. The U.S. District Court hired Marc
Stern, a doctor and correctional health care consultant from Tumwater, Wash.,
to determine whether the state is complying with a ruling designed to
improve medical and mental health care for inmates at the prison south of
Boise. His report is due to the court in six months. "I'm honored to
have been appointed and I look forward to learning about it and meeting and
working with the parties to help them resolve the issue," Stern said
Friday. The long-running case began in the early 1980s when so many inmates
from the Idaho State Correctional Institution began filing lawsuits that
the cases threatened to clog Idaho's federal dockets. The judge combined
them all into one class-action lawsuit, which became known as the
"Balla case" after lead plaintiff Walter Balla. Over the next
three decades, the various federal judges overseeing the lawsuit made three
major rulings. They ordered Idaho leaders to stop overcrowding, provide
warm clothing to inmates, improve access to medical and psychiatric care
and rehabilitation programs, and take other measures to make sure the
prison would no longer be, in the words of former U.S. District Judge
Harold Ryan, "an extremely violent place to live." But the case
kept bouncing back to the federal courts as inmates maintained that while
some issues had improved, problems at the prison continued and wouldn't
likely be fixed until Idaho leaders improved prison budgets and facilities.
The state, meanwhile, has argued that the prison has changed so
dramatically — with new buildings, new contractors, new leaders and evolved
policies — that the old Balla rulings essentially focus on a facility that
doesn't exist anymore and so are virtually impossible to enforce. The state
contends that if there are still problems at ISCI, inmates should file new
lawsuits that accurately reflect the present circumstances. But even Idaho
Department of Correction officials have demonstrated some concerns with the
way Idaho's contractor, Correctional Medical Services Inc., has
administered medical care at ISCI. An investigation by The Associated Press
earlier this year found that Idaho has fined CMS more than $382,500 in
recent years for failing to meet some of the most basic health care
requirements outlined by the state. Both Idaho Department of Correction
officials and CMS leaders say those problems have since been resolved, and the
fines ended in May. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill said Stern's
opinion of the medical and mental health care situation at ISCI should be
informed both by his professional experience in the delivery of prison
medical care, and in his knowledge of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits
prison officials from being deliberately indifferent to prisoners' serious
medical needs. Stern's experience includes a year working as a regional
medical director for Correctional Medical Services in New York. He left the
company on good terms, and Winmill said the previous association likely
wouldn't affect Stern's analysis of the situation at the Idaho prison.
June 5, 2011 AP
The company responsible for providing medical care to Idaho prison inmates
has been fined nearly $400,000 by state officials for failing to meet some
of the most basic health care requirements outlined by the state. The fines
against Correctional Medical Services, totaling more than $382,500, were
uncovered through a series of public records requests by The Associated
Press. Among the problems detailed in the records: The South Boise Women's
Correctional Center was without an OB/GYN for two years, and the Idaho
Maximum Security Institution was without a staff psychologist for at least
8 months. Idaho's contract with CMS requires that vacant positions be
filled within 60 days. The Creve Coeur, Mo.-based CMS bills itself as the
nation's largest prison health care provider, caring for more than 250,000
inmates in 19 states. The private company, which merged with Prison Health
Services on Friday and now goes by the name Corizon, has contracted with
Idaho to handle medical care at all of the state-run prisons since 2005.
Its new regional director for Idaho, Tom Dolan, says CMS has recently fixed
the problems and the fines stopped a couple of weeks ago. According to the
records obtained by the AP, CMS had a long history of failing to meet
contract standards. Nevertheless, Idaho officials turned down four other
bidders and renewed the state's contract with CMS last year — not without
some changes, however. Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke
said his department had learned that in order to get CMS to pay attention
to problems, the state had to hit them in the pocketbook. The new contract
steeply increased the amount of fines, called liquidated damages, that
could be levied against CMS. More than two-thirds of the fines — $270,201 —
have been brought under the new contract, which began July 1, 2010.
"They're bottom-line driven," said Reinke of CMS. "They have
shareholders, so we're learning from them and they're learning from
us." Rona Siegert, the head of health care for the Idaho Department of
Corrections, said the state's tactics are working. "The money was
racking up, and they've done a really great job of curing these and getting
rid of the liquidated damages," Siegert said. The fact that Idaho
renewed CMS's contract after a competitive bidding process shows that the
company has done a good job caring for inmates, said CMS spokesman Ken Fields.
He said the fines accrued under the new contract were largely for new
administrative and paperwork requirements that go beyond the national
standard. He said none of the issues had negatively impacted inmate
patients. Recruiting and retaining health care workers has "been a
challenge," Fields said, because of a national shortage of health care
workers. But the vacant positions — including the OB/GYN and psychologist
vacancies — have since been filled, he said. Some of the problems found by the
state auditors involved the way CMS ran its non-emergency health care
services, its infirmaries and extended care units, pharmaceutical
operations and mental health services. The company's staff training,
diagnostic services, record-keeping, chronic care planning, inmate
screening and other services were also found to be deficient enough to
warrant fines. Despite the problems, IDOC officials maintain no inmate's
health was damaged and no one went without medical care. Instead, inmates
they were transported off-site — usually at the state's cost — or a doctor
that worked for the state was brought in to fill the gaps. For instance,
when the Idaho State Correctional Institution south of Boise went without a
dialysis nurse for two months in 2008, the state had to transport several
offenders to an offsite facility daily for several hours each day. The
effort cost Idaho nearly $19,000 in personnel costs, an amount that it
recovered from CMS through the fines. The findings of some state audits of
CMS's operations suggest that it was at least likely that some inmates had
longer waits for care or didn't receive immediate care at all. For example,
an audit found that inmates that were sick on the weekends weren't getting
their requests for treatment triaged by medical professionals. Siegert said
that if inmates were visibly sick, correctional officers probably would
have noticed while making their rounds and would probably have gotten the
inmates help. But correctional officers are trained in security issues, not
in how to determine if someone is seriously ill. Inmates at the Idaho State
Correctional Institution — where nearly all of Idaho's sickest inmates are
housed — have long complained about the quality of medical care. In a
class-action lawsuit dating back to the 1980s, ISCI inmates said they were
forced to wait too long for medical care and in some cases were denied
access to medical treatment. Though the lawsuit began long before CMS came
to Idaho, the inmates have used the testimony of a former CMS worker in an
effort to show that the problems with medical care continue today. Dr.
Ralph Heckard, a primary care physician who contracted with CMS to treat
inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Institution between June 2009 and
January 2010, described several potentially serious problems in a court
affidavit filed in the Balla case. In his affidavit, Heckard said there was
just one doctor for every 1,500 inmates, compared to a statewide average of
one doctor for every 450 Idaho residents. He said ISCI had no pharmacist,
and that often unlicensed and unauthorized staffers handled nursing duties,
even giving inmates injections. Prisoners frequently experienced weeks-long
waits for medical care, Heckard said. One inmate had biopsy-confirmed
cancer, and Heckard said CMS delayed providing the inmate with the
recommended surgery and chemotherapy. Inmates with mental illness were
deprived of necessary (and often expensive) medication because there was no
psychiatrist to renew their expiring prescriptions and because CMS would
not allow primary care doctors like Heckard to prescribe or renew any
psychoactive medications, he said. Fields said that Heckard's
characterizations weren't accurate. Few prisons have on-site pharmacists,
he said, and he noted that ISCI inmates get prescriptions within 24 hours,
or sooner when necessary. During the period where the company didn't have
an on-site psychiatric staffer, a psychiatrist from the corporate office
and local community mental health professionals met the needs of inmates,
he said. He also refuted Heckard's assertion that unlicensed professionals
were administering health care. CMS Regional Manager Tom Dolan addressed
the Idaho Board of Correction during a meeting last month, telling the
board members that when he took the Idaho job in February, "clearly
there were some struggles at ISCI ... there was a lot of work for us to
do."
October 31, 2007 The Olympian
A child killer who lost his legs in a suicide attempt is suing the state
prison system for $1 million after being denied artificial legs in prison,
saying he was promised prosthetics in plea negotiations. According to the
case filed recently in U.S. District Court, Barry L. McAdoo, 32, of Coeur
d'Alene, is experiencing muscle degeneration and may never walk again if he
remains confined to a wheelchair. Named as defendants are the Idaho
Department of Correction and Correctional Medical Services, a contractor
that whether a procedure or device is medically necessary. The state agency
received the lawsuit Monday and was investigating, spokesman Jeff Ray said.
"We don't have any comment on Mr. McAdoo's claims at this time,"
Ray said Tuesday. Included in the lawsuit were numerous requests by McAdoo
for artificial legs and a grievance with the state agency over the denial
of artificial legs, all rejected by state prison officials. McAdoo,
convicted of beating his 15-month-old son Brandon to death, is serving 15
years to life at the Idaho State Correctional Institution in Boise. He told
authorities that when the little boy stopped breathing on Jan. 14, 2005, he
downed 50 sleeping pills and rat poison, left the trailer where he lived
with his pregnant wife, Angela Cowles, and wandered outdoors in freezing
weather for three days before he sought help. McAdoo was taken to Sacred
Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., where both legs had to be amputated
because of frostbite. McAdoo was given no promise the state would provide
him prosthetics, Kootenai County Deputy Public Defender Lynn Nelson said,
nor does the plea agreement signed by McAdoo, Nelson and Deputy Prosecutor
Marty M. Raap mention the issue. When McAdoo pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder, 1st District Judge Charles W. Hosack asked whether he
had been promised anything other than what was included in the plea
agreement and McAdoo said he had not. Nonetheless, Nelson asserted that
McAdoo is entitled to prosthetics and has legal precedent on his side.
October 9, 2007 The Olympian
A federal judge has declined to dismiss the lawsuit of an inmate who claims
the Idaho Department of Correction is failing to treat her for gender
identity disorder. Josephime Von Isaak, who legally changed her name from
Augustus Joseph Isaak last year, says she is a male to female transsexual
who suffers from gender identity disorder. Isaak claims that she was compelled
to remove her own testicles with a razor after the state failed to diagnose
and treat her disorder. Even then, the lawsuit alleges, Isaak went without
the estrogen treatment she wanted, and a year after self-castrating she
amputated the tip of her penis. Isaak claims the state subjected her to
cruel and unusual punishment and that prison health workers committed
medical malpractice. State and prison health officials deny the claims. The
state is now expected to go to trial in Isaak's lawsuit and in a similar
case brought by inmate Jenniffer Spencer (formerly known as Randall
Gammett), who also self-castrated while in prison after officials allegedly
refused to treat her gender identity disorder. A trial date has not yet
been set in Isaak's case. Officials with Correctional Medical Services
asked U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill to dismiss or stay the case,
claiming the medical malpractice claims belonged in state court and that
they should be kept separate from the Eighth Amendment cruel and unusual punishment
claim because the legal standards for each claim were dramatically
different. But Winmill disagreed, saying recently that it is within his
jurisdiction to keep the entire lawsuit in the federal court system.
Indiana Department of Corrections
August
7, 2006 Call 6 TV
Several prison mental health workers say they went unpaid when the
subcontractor that employed them was dropped by a contractor, Call 6 for
Help's Rafael Sanchez reported. Universal Behavioral Services was
contracted by Missouri-based Correctional Medical Services to provide metal
health services in Indiana Department of Correction facilities. UBS, based
in Indianapolis, claims that CMS cancelled its contract with UBS without
warning on July 19, and that CMS failed to pay UBS for services rendered in
July. UBS said that because CMS failed to pay for July, UBS is unable to
pay its employees for the corresponding pay periods. UBS said it is filing
to the state a claim against CMS for $584,475. CMS told Call 6 that it
parted ways with UBS in July. It said it met its financial obligations to
UBS, and that it began employing and contracting with former UBS staff
members to make sure that services were provided to the Department of
Correction facilities. Since then, CMS has paid those workers, according to
CMS. "It is absolutely incorrect to say that CMS is somehow
responsible for UBS's obligations to its former employees," CMS wrote
to Call 6 on Friday. The Department of Correction said it paid CMS last
week for July services. The department said it would have more comment
about the situation on Monday.
August 3, 2005 AP
The new health care provider for the Indiana Department of Correction
has come under sharp criticism by prisoner rights’ advocates and faced lawsuits
over the quality of health care it has provided inmates in other states.
The department has signed a four-year contract with St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services Inc. to provide health care services to more
than 23,000 adult and juvenile offenders beginning Sept. 1. The American
Civil Liberties Union sued Correctional Medical in June over prison health
care in Mississippi, and the company also has faced claims in the past nine
months in Kentucky and Missouri after the deaths of inmates. In the
Missouri case, the family of a 33-year-old female inmate sued after the
woman died in 2003 of a ruptured brain aneurysm days after complaining of
blinding headaches. That case and the death of a second inmate at the same
prison led to an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil
Rights Division. The division closed the investigation this year without
filing charges. Elizabeth Alexander, director of the National Prison
Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Correctional Medical routinely
has failed to provide the minimal level of health care to prisoners
required by law. Her criticisms included the company not providing
sufficient access to medical care, timely referrals to specialists and
appropriate care for chronic ailments, such as chemotherapy for cancer
patients. In Michigan, where Correctional Medical also provides statewide
inmate medical care, a federal court found the company’s delays in
providing prisoners with referrals to outside specialists contributed to
three deaths within 18 months, Alexander said. “They have a long record of
not doing what they need to do in regard to health care,” Alexander said in
a telephone interview Tuesday. Alexander also criticized the contractor
that Correctional Medical is replacing. Prison Health Services Inc., whose
contract runs through the end of this month, has provided Indiana health
care since the state privatized it nearly eight years ago. Celia Sweet,
executive director of the Indiana chapter of the prisoner advocacy group
Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, or CURE, said the state is
sacrificing prisoners’ health to save money. “You’ve got to realize these
people, they’re a private corporation and they’re beholden to the
stockholders, so they’re in it for the money,” Sweet said.
Indiana State Prison, Michigan City,
Michigan
March
23, 2012 WNDU
An employee with the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City has been
arrested for trafficking drugs. 41-year-old Phyllis Ungerank, a practical
nurse with Corizon Medical, was arrested for trying to traffic marijuana
and for possessing marijuana. Officials say around 8 p.m. on March 18, a
check-point officer found Ungerank trying to take a package of marijuana
inside the jail with her. She was arrested and taken to the LaPorte County
Jail.
June 22, 2008 News-Dispatch
Richard Blake, 48, Niles, Mich., was arrested Friday at at 6:45 p.m. at the
Indiana State Prison on a charge of attempted trafficking for allegedly
bringing eight packages of cigarettes into the facility. Blake is a registered
nurse employed by Correctional Medical Services since February, and was
assigned to the prison. He was going through a routine search process when
custody staff found cigarettes wrapped in aluminum foil inside a frozen TV
dinner box in his lunch bag. An additional two cigarette packs were found
covered with food inside a plastic bowl. All Indiana Department of
Corrections facilities are smoke free and possession of tobacco is
forbidden. Prison internal affairs investigators Charles Whelan and Corey McKinney
were contacted by custody staff. Whelan called the Michigan City Police
Department and officers arrested Blake in the prison parking lot. Blake had
refused to make a statement without an attorney present and walked out of
the facility. After the arrest, investigators Whelan and McKinney reviewed
videotape of the prison search procedure and saw Blake twice had difficulty
getting through the metal detector. He then left the search area and
entered a restroom. A later search of the restroom turned up two packs of
cigarettes in the trash can that were reported to be the same brand as the
others found in Blake's possession.
Jacksonville
Jail,
Jacksonville, Florida
November
8, 2005 Yahoo
John Laughon was in jail on drug charges on Feb. 22 when police officials
said he used "superhuman strength" to break out of a restraint
chair and attack corrections officers. Investigators said he was injured as
officers were subduing him. Since that night, Laughon has been hospitalized
in a persistent vegetative state. He is unlikely to recover. Laughon's
family attorney, who has already filed a civil complaint with the federal
government, has filed a "notice of claim," notifying the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office they intend to sue, claiming officers used
excessive force. Attorney Sean Cronin said Tuesday that Laughon suffered
from seizures, and the jail medical records indicate that he was not
receiving the appropriate medication properly. Cronin believes that lack of
proper medication led to his aggressive behavior. "This is but one
part of what we are going to be doing legally," Cronin said.
"Very shortly, we will be filing a medical malpractice claim against a
company called Corrections Medical Services Inc., which is a company that
provides medical services at the jail."
Jennifer
Road Detention Center, Anne Arundel, Maryland
December
2, 2005 The Capital
Kari Parsons said she can still hear her own screams when she sleeps, days
after she delivered a baby alone in a county jail cell. The 25-year-old
Pasadena woman, jailed after testing positive for drugs while on probation
for theft, said officials at the Jennifer Road Detention Center repeatedly
ignored her pleas that she was well into labor and needed to go to the
hospital. Instead, they took her out of a holding area with other inmates,
who helped to time her contractions, and put her in a cell by herself.
"I was screaming so much my whole body was trembling. Everyone could
hear it," Ms. Parsons said. "I was screaming and praying for God
to help me." County Detention Center officials are investigating why
Ms. Parsons wasn't taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center in time for the
birth. She'd been taken to a Baltimore hospital a few days earlier when her
labor pains apparently started a few weeks early. After paramedics finally arrived
at the Jennifer Road jail and took mother and child to the hospital a
quarter-mile down the road, it was hours more before she was taken in
shackles to see her newborn. She was then returned to jail, where she was
held until being released Tuesday. She's free on her own recognizance until
her next court hearing. "It was ridiculous and totally inappropriate
for the detention center to do what they did," said Michael L. May,
her attorney. He wouldn't say whether Ms. Parsons plans to file a lawsuit.
"We are examining the situation to determine what is
appropriate," he said. Detention center officials declined to comment
on the incident, or the actions of Correctional Medical Services, a St.
Louis company that provides health care at the jail. On Thanksgiving
morning, Nov. 24, she awoke at 5 a.m. "I felt like my water broke and
I was having little contractions," she said. Ms. Parsons was sent to a
nurse, and by 7 a.m. she was shackled and handcuffed in a van headed for
Harbor Hospital. "They told me my water hadn't broken, but if it gets
worse, I should come back," she said. Taken back to Ordnance Road, Ms.
Parsons said she continued to suffer contractions. She was taken back to a
nurse at the jail, then put in an isolation booth so her contractions could
be monitored. By 5 p.m. Thursday, she said, she was driven to Jennifer Road
to be closer to the obstetrics center at AAMC. For the next day and a half,
she stayed in a cell with four other women. They helped her time her
contractions, but she was still leaking water. "I was using my sheets
as a diaper," Ms. Parsons said. "I was saturated." By
Saturday, she said, the women in the cell with her were pleading with
correction officers to let her see a nurse. At 6 a.m. Sunday she was allowed
to leave the cell to see one, but was told she was fine and sent back to
the cell. At 11 a.m. Ms. Parsons started yelling, "I'm going into
labor!" Taken to a nurse again, she was told that the baby hadn't
turned and she wasn't in labor, she said. "They had me thinking I was
crazy," she said. Sent back to her cell, she continued to yell in
pain. A little after 2 p.m., she was yelling so loudly that corrections
officers moved her to a cell by herself. Ms. Parsons was alone in the cell,
with a bed with no sheets and a toilet. She said a nurse came by again and
told her she wasn't going into labor. Ms. Parsons tried to lie down, but
couldn't. She got up and walked closer to the toilet and squatted, bracing
herself against the wall. "I felt down there and I felt my uterus open.
I felt his head," she said. She put her hand on the baby's head and
jumped to the mattress, where she pushed and her child came out onto the
green plastic cover. "He slid right out of me," she said. Seeing
the child, corrections officers finally called county Fire Department
paramedics at 3:53 p.m. When they arrived, paramedics cut the umbilical
cord and took Ms. Parsons to the hospital. It wasn't until 11 p.m. that Ms.
Parsons was taken in shackles from her room to see her son, she said.
December 1, 2005 The Capital
A 25-year-old inmate at the Jennifer Road Detention Center delivered a baby
boy in her cell Sunday afternoon, a jail official confirmed yesterday. The
birth came less than two weeks after the woman's attorney asked a judge to
keep his client out of jail because she was eight and a half months
pregnant. The Pasadena woman, who has a history of drug abuse and was in
jail on a misdemeanor theft under $500 charge, was released from the jail
and Anne Arundel Medical Center Tuesday. Her newborn son was in good
condition this morning at the hospital, according to a medical center
spokesman. On a bail review dated Nov. 14, 2005, District Court Judge Megan
B. Johnson ordered the woman be held without bond. Her attorney, Michael L.
May of Glen Burnie, requested a bond review for his client on Nov. 18.
Judge Robert C. Wilcox denied the motion on Nov. 22. In requesting the
review, Mr. May said his client was charged with violation of probation and
a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. "The defendant is eight months
pregnant and has a severe drug addiction. The defendant is not getting the
necessary medical treatment for herself or her baby from the detention
center. . . That the defendant has indicated that since she has been
incarcerated the baby has stopped moving," Mr. May wrote. The county
contracts with Correctional Medical Services, based in St. Louis, Mo., for
its inmate's medical care. Ken Fields, spokesman for CMS, could not explain
what happened on Sunday this morning, adding that the incident is under
review. "This is certainly a situation that we want to understand how
it happened," he said.
Lois
DeBerry Special Needs Facility, Nashville, Tennessee
Edward Corley's death was an especially bleak one. A paraplegic inmate
serving three life sentences — one for murder and two for a 1986 prison
break that he managed to stage in his wheelchair and a hijacked ambulance —
Corley died after emergency surgery last year. According to autopsy reports
and to the federal lawsuit that his surviving daughter filed this month,
Corley's flesh had begun to decay. The medical staff at Lois DeBerry
Special Needs Facility, the prison system's special health-care unit,
finally sent him to Nashville General Hospital, where surgeons tried to
excise the dead flesh. But 49-year-old Corley soon died after suffering a
heart attack. His daughter contends that the gangrene that contributed to
Corley's fatal heart attack was the result of a repeated failure of
Tennessee prison health officials to give her father a clean supply of colostomy
bags. Inmate health care has been provided since 2001 by Correctional
Medical Services, a Missouri-based corporation. The contract is worth
approximately $26 million a year. The corporation is not named as a
defendant in the Corley lawsuit. (The Tennessean, July 14, 2003)
Macomb
County Jail, Macomb County, Georgia
March
31, 2006 Macomb Daily
A nurse fired from the Macomb County Jail has retained the law firm of
Geoffrey Fieger for a possible lawsuit against her employer, in connection
to a baby she delivered at the jail. Lori Helhowski, a nurse who last month
performed the first live birth delivery to an inmate in the jail's history,
said she has decided to go ahead with civil action over her dismissal. She
said the Fieger law firm in Southfield is helping her prepare a case of
wrongful retaliation and violation of whistle-blower protection laws.
"My son begged me not to even pursue this, but I feel obligated to
pursue it for the sake of the inmates," Helhowski said of her legal
action. "I just don't even believe it." Helhowski was terminated
March 20 as an employee of St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services,
or CMS, a private company under contract to provide medical services at the
jail. Although her termination is ostensibly linked to a personal
relationship she developed with former jail inmate Shawn Jefferson, she and
an attorney handling her case have both noted that Jefferson was no longer
at the jail when her employer became aware of the situation. Helhowski
believes her discharge was really connected to concerns she raised at the
jail about proper care for the inmate and her baby. Attorney Arnie Matusz,
who represents Helhowski, said Thursday the timing of her dismissal is
questionable since the inmate was long gone. Matusz said he is helping her
prepare a case, but there are already some obstacles facing him.
March 28, 2006 Free Press
Lori Helhowski, the nurse who delivered the first baby born in the
Macomb County Jail, says she has been fired from her job there. Her
employer, St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services, told her she was
let go Wednesday because she has a relationship with a former Macomb
inmate, she said. Helhowski, 43, of Macomb Township admitted Friday to
talking to Shawn D. Jefferson on the phone and exchanging letters with him.
Jefferson now is incarcerated at Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson.
Helhowski said she believes her firing was because she had received media
attention for the birth and privately complained about procedures and
conditions in the jail. She said she's considering a lawsuit. Macomb County
Jail Administrator Michelle Sanborn said Monday: "I can tell you that
she is no longer working there ... but other than that, this isn't the kind
of thing that I like talking about when someone loses their job or is
terminated."
March 24, 2006 Macomb Daily
A nurse at the Macomb County Jail who made history by delivering the
first baby there may now seek legal action against her former employer, who
has cited her relationship with a former inmate as grounds to fire her.
Lori Helhowski, a Macomb Township resident and nurse with nearly 20 years'
experience, said the administration of Missouri-based Correctional Medical
Services terminated her employment Monday after learning of phone calls and
other evidence of a "personal relationship" with former jail
inmate Shawn D. Jefferson. Correctional Medical Services, or CMS, is the
private contractor company that employs all nurses and medical staff at the
Macomb County Jail, where Helhowski was a nurse on the night shift.
Jefferson, 44, of Clinton Township, was in the jail from roughly October
through February on a charge of cocaine possession and allegedly had
several phone conversations with Helhowski on her personal time at home,
when she wasn't working. "Would I sue? I don't know, I'm not really a
lawsuit person. But I've been thinking about it," Helhowski said this
week of her termination. "This isn't like I tried to smuggle a gun to
him or something. I don't understand how they can try to tell me what to do
on my own phone, on my own time, with my own money."
Macomb County Jail, Macomb, Michigan
November 17, 2004 Macomb Daily
Macomb County officials approved a $410 million budget for 2005 on Tuesday
that holds the line on taxes and paints the kind of fiscally sound picture
that contrasts sharply with the red ink plaguing many Michigan cities and
counties. But not all of the news is good. The cost of medical services
for jail inmates has risen 34 percent, from $3.3 million to $4.5 million over
the past year. On Tuesday, the county Board of Commissioners approved an
audit of the medical services, at a cost of $20,000, to determine why costs
are skyrocketing. In the interim, the board authorized a temporary, 6-month
contract extension with the company that provides the services,
Correctional Medical Services. The jail books 26,000 inmates a year.
April 12, 2004 Macomb Daily
The family of a Macomb County woman left an invalid after she leapt from a
balcony at the Macomb County Jail may have to pay $100,000 to the medical
provider they named in their failed lawsuit at U.S. District Court,
Detroit. Attorneys for Correctional
Medical Services Inc., the medical care provider at the jail, have asked
federal Judge Paul Gadola to sign a court order imposing $100,016.31 in
court costs, attorney fees and other expenses against the family of
Patricia Rose House for suing them in her November 2001 jailhouse
injuries. Earlier this year, the county and the medical carrier both
won a motion to have the federal case dismissed. While the county and its
employees basically let the matter end there, officials and records
indicate CMS is going a step further to demand payback for its trouble thus
far. The plaintiffs claimed that officials should have prevented House
from jumping from a second-floor balcony to the first floor, causing severe
injuries which left her a quadriplegic. Court documents claim she should
have been receiving the drug Depakote to treat bipolar disorder, and
mistreatment or neglect by medical personnel caused her to lapse into a
suicidal episode. When she was brought into jail, she was examined by
medical personnel who determined she was not suicidal. Days after her
arrival, she jumped.
Maine
Correctional Center, Windham, Maine
February 16 Kennebec Journal
A Gardiner nurse will get to
tell a jury why she feels she was a victim of retaliation when she was
escorted from her job at the Maine State Prison on Oct. 17, 2008, and
ultimately fired. Katherine Kelley sued Correctional Medical Services,
Inc., of St. Louis, Mo., about her firing, claiming it was a violation of
her rights under the Americans with Disabilities and the Maine Human Rights
acts. A three-judge panel of the U.S. First Circuit Court of the Appeals
ruled recently that the case should go to trial. However, that ruling is
still subject to appeal. "I am very ecstatic because someone believed
me," Kelley said. The circuit court panel overturned a U.S. district
court judge's decision dismissing the lawsuit in favor of Correctional Medical
Services at the summary judgment stage. "We have to have a trial of
the facts," said Kelley's attorney, Guy Loranger. Kelley's lawsuit was
filed in federal court Nov. 1, 2010. It was originally filed in Knox County
Superior Court. Loranger said he expects the case to go on the trial
calendar this spring, depending on whether Correctional Medical Services
appeals the three-judge decision to the full U.S. First Circuit Court of
Appeals. "She was ecstatic, and rightfully so," Loranger said. "She
went through a lot. It was very difficult to hear the court say she had no
case." Attorney Matthew J. LaMourie, who argued on behalf of
Correctional Medical Services, Inc., said he could not comment on the
decision because the case is still "active litigation." Kelley, a
licensed practical nurse, started working for Correctional Medical Services
at the prison in spring 2007, and court documents show she was earning
almost $49,000 annually. She shattered her pelvis in July 2007, and when
she returned to work using first crutches and then a cane to get around,
she sought an accommodation for her medical disability. The decision,
authored by Circuit Judge Kermit Lipez, outlined a series of encounters
between Kelley and a supervisor, Teresa Kesteloot, who required Kelley to
bring a doctor's note about her need for a cane and work-hour limitations.
On Oct. 17, 2008, Kelley, who was on vacation, agreed to cover a shift in
an emergency. She was placed in the main clinic, where she would be
required to respond to emergencies and carry equipment, including a
stretcher, something she said she would find difficult. After several
attempts to shuffle jobs among several nurses, Kelley told the supervisor
she "did not feel 'comfortable with the physical
responsibilities,'" and mentioned leaving work. She also refused to do
a narcotics count, saying two other nurses already had done it. Two
security officers escorted her out of the prison at midnight at Kesteloot's
direction. "Under these circumstances, a reasonable fact-finder could
conclude that Kelley's refusal to obey an instruction of Kesteloot served
as a convenient pretext for eliminating an employee who had engaged in
ADA-protected conduct one too many times," Lipez wrote. After being
fired as a prison nurse, Kelley said she worked only part time. Now 52, she
has been disabled and unable to work since July 2009. Part of the reason,
Kelley said, is that she had to delay a second surgery when she lost her
medical insurance along with her job. "I've always been a real
workaholic. I literally worked until my leg gave out," Kelley said.
Before working for Correctional Medical Services, she had worked at the
Veterans Administration Medical and Regional Office Center at Togus and for
agencies in the Portland area.
March 13, 2008 Sun Journal
A medical technician doing contract work at the Maine Correctional
Center in Windham was arrested Sunday night after allegedly being found in
possession of cocaine. Jeanne-Marie L. Brett, 31, of 277 Fore St., Oxford,
was charged with possession of a schedule W drug, a Class D misdemeanor.
She was released on $500 unsecured bail shortly after being admitted to the
Oxford County Jail. According to jail booking sheets, Brett has been
employed as a medical technician for three years. An official at the Maine
Correctional Center said Brett is not a state employee, because medical
services are contracted through the privately owned Correctional Medical
Services. Norway Police Chief Robert Federico said Brett was a passenger in
a 2002 Honda Accord stopped by Officer Ron Cole on Beal Street. "The
focus of the stop was the driver, who was suspended," Federico said.
Federico said an off-duty police officer reported the car after he
recognized the driver, 39-year-old Michael A. Pulsifer of 52 Skeetfield Road
in Oxford. Pulsifer was arrested and charged with operating after
suspension and violation of bail conditions. He remained in jail Wednesday
evening. According to Federico, a search of the vehicle turned up a bag of
white powder that tested positive for cocaine. Cole also saw open cans of
beer in the vehicle, two bags containing a usable amount of marijuana, a
pipe, a tin and film container with marijuana residue, and several
unidentified pills. Federico said Brett claimed she was holding the cocaine
for a friend so she wouldn't get in trouble. He said Brett did not appear
to have a criminal history. Brett declined to comment Wednesday on the
matter.
The U.S. attorney for Maine released a
Westbrook doctor Thursday without filing criminal charges, a day after
federal drug agents raided his medical office and arrested him. The arrest
of Dr. Juan Carlos Lazaro led to his dismissal as medical director of the
Maine Correctional Center in Windham, and caused his lawyer to question the
actions of federal agents who detained the 57-year-old doctor. Before
learning of his release, state corrections officials banned Lazaro from the
prison, citing security reasons. The ban led Lazaro's employer,
Correctional Medical Services Inc., to dismiss him as the prison's medical
director. The firm, based in St. Louis, Mo., holds a state contract to
provide medical services at the prison. (Portland Press Herald, August 13,
2004)
A South Paris woman who had been a counselor at
the Maine Correctional Center was arrested Tuesday, along with another
former prison employee, four days after she allegedly had sexual relations
with a male inmate, prison officials said. Bethany Bondenheim, 30, of
5 Porter St. was charged with one count of gross sexual assault. She
allegedly engaged in a sexual act with a prisoner Friday, according to
prison Superintendent Scott Burnheimer. She was arrested at her home by
Paris police, who had a warrant issued by Portland District Court, an
Oxford County Jail spokesman said. She was booked at the jail in Paris.
April Archer, 37, was a medical technician at the facility, Burnheimer
said. She allegedly engaged in sexual acts with a male prisoner on five
separate occasions in July. The trafficking charges were "concerning
medications," Burnheimer said. In both instances, prisoners were
called from their dorms to report to the areas where the women worked, he
said. The alleged sexual conduct of both prison employees was
reported by other workers, Burnheimer said. Bondenheim and Archer were
contract employees. Many specialty services at prisons are contracted
through large companies, Burnheimer said. Bondenheim came to the
prison through a company called Spectrum Behavioral Services, Burnheimer
said. He was not sure where the company is based. Archer was contracted
through Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis, he said. (Sun
Journal, July 22, 2004)
Maine
Department of Corrections
January 6, 2012 MPBN
The president of the Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union
said a state agency review of a company that provides medical services to
Maine prison inmates documented problems that rise to "a systemic
constitutional dimension." John Patterson, of the Maine ACLU, said a
report by the Legislature's Office of Program Evaluation and Accountability
concludes that the Corizon's medical services corporation maintained poor
medical records and were not fulfilling contractual obligations. One key
state lawmaker said Corizon's contract should not be considered for
renewal. Last year's review of the state's contract with Corizon produced
some of the most dramatic findings ever identified by the agency. The
company that oversees the delivery of medical services at most Maine prison
facilities was found to have failed to adequately fulfill many of its
contractual obligations. The report concluded that 50% of Corizon's
medication records were in error and that records could not even be found
for nearly 10% of the prisoners treated. Staff training was insufficient
according to the OPEGA report which said many of the prisoners never
received their annual physical exams. Now, after an eight-year relationship
with the state, Corizon's $12 million annual contract may be in jeopardy
and for the first time, the company will have to compete with other firms
for the state's business. "My question to you is in light of this
history, why should the state seriously be considering any proposal your
company might make to get this contract back again?" asked state
Senator Roger Katz (R-Augusta). He posed some pointed questions to Larry
Amberger, the regional vice-president for Corizon who spent an
uncomfortable part of the morning being grilled by panelists from the
Office of Program Evaluation and Accountability. Amberger insisted that
even the OPEGA report indicated that Corizon was providing "more than
adequate care" for Maine's prisoners. And although Amberger
acknowledged there were areas of concern he questioned the methodology used
by OPEGA investigators who found so many errors. Amberger said that if one
of the company reports failed to have every checkbox cell filled out on the
form, it was dismissed by the investigators as erroneous. "So based on
one blank potentially, in a form that might nevcessarily require 300 of
these cells to be completed, they then said there wasn't a documentation,"
Amberger said. Judy Garvey, co-coordinator with Maine Prisoner Advocacy
Coalition, said her agency has received dozens of complaints from state
prisoners complaining of inadequate medical treatment -- including one man
with a long-standing serious medical history. "For the past 18 months,
he has been experiencing sharp pains in his left kidney," Garvey said.
"He is told by Corizon that there are other inmates with higher needs
than his...to be patient. How many men or their wives and partners in this
room would be content with so little hope of receiving treatment or
attention if diagnosed with a prostrate problem of this magnitude?"
"Prisoners have a constitutional legal right under the eighth
amendment to receive timely and adequate mental health care," said
John Patterson of the Maine Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"The Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual
punishment on convicted prisoners which has been interpreted to include
deliberate indifference to basic human needs, such as medical care."
John Patterson is president of the Maine ACLU. He said the state is denying
prisoners their constitutional rights to medical care based on the findings
of the OPEGA report. Severin Belliveau, a Hallowell lawyer and State House
lobbyist representing Corizon said patient confidentiality prevented his
client from addressing some of the specific prisoner concerns that were
detailed at the public hearing. "Some of the cases that our people
heard about this morning, the medical director said he's very familiar with
them, can't talk about it and I think they're misrepresented in many ways
as to what the true treatment was," Belliveau said. After years of
receiving a non-competitive state contract, Corizon will now have to bid against
other companies to provide medical services to prisoners as the result of
action taken by Governor Paul LePage (R). Senator Katz said he personally
would be disappointed if Corizon won the bid based on the company's
performance.
Maine Medical Center, Cumberland
County, Maine
January
6, 2011 Portland Press Herald
A Buxton woman whose son died in the Cumberland County Jail two years ago
has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the jail, its medical services
contractor and Maine Medical Center. Paul Victor Galambos III, 26, died on
Dec. 12, 2008, in a cell in the jail's medical unit. The lawsuit, filed by
Katherine Cady in federal court, alleges that the jail's medical staff
failed to properly treat Galambos for psychosis, and failed to protect him
as he battered himself against the floor, walls and toilet in his cell over
the course of three days. When Galambos was taken to Maine Med on Dec. 10,
2008, he had a spinal fracture, rib fractures, bruises, head injuries and
excessive fluid around his right lung, according to the lawsuit. He was
returned to the jail the next day to await transportation to the state
psychiatric hospital in Augusta. He collapsed and died in his cell, from
blood clots that had developed in his legs as a result of his injuries. The
state Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a suicide. Over the next
two years, Cady and her sister, attorney Linda Cady of Yarmouth, gathered
records and notes from Maine Med, the jail and Correctional Medical
Services Inc., the St. Louis-based contractor that has provided health
services at the jail since 2001. Based on those records, the family
contends that Galambos' death was foreseeable and preventable.
Marion
County Jail, Marion, Indiana
October
25, 2008 Indianapolis Star
The wife of an inmate who died inside the Marion County Jail filed a
wrongful death lawsuit Friday against the facility's private medical
provider and the Marion County sheriff. The suit, which names Correctional
Medical Services and Sheriff Frank Anderson, says James T. Bullock, 45, was
denied heart medication for several days after he was jailed in October
2006 on a possession of paraphernalia charge. He collapsed on the floor of
a day room, and an autopsy determined the cause of death was a form of
cardiovascular disease. His wife, Diana L. Bullock, had earlier attempted
to deliver his prescribed heart medications to the jail, the lawsuit says.
Her offer was refused, it says, despite state law that requires jails to
provide such medication to inmates. The lawsuit, filed in Marion Superior
Court by Indianapolis attorney Paul Ogden, says the jail's medical care and
policies amounted to negligence and deliberate indifference.
Maryland
Department of Corrections
December
13, 2011 Baltimore Sun
Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano will go into the 2012 legislative
session next month with ethics charges safely behind him. Bereano settled a
case with the State Ethics Commission earlier this year by agreeing to pay
a $2,750 penalty for failing to make required disclosures of meals and other
gifts to state officials. Bereano, a convicted felon who settled a more
serious ethics cases in 2009 with a $29,070 payment, came to a new
agreement with the ethics panel in May under which he agreed to a fine and
submitted amended disclosure forms that added detail about which state
officials were the beneficiaries of his generosity. Over the years, Bereano
appears to be the lobbyist most frequently cited by the panel for
violations large and small. He now has seven ethics cases on file with the
commission. The most recent settlement was found in an examination of the
commission’s records. The panel does not normally send out public notices
of violations – helping to account for why the infraction was not reported
for months. The agreement stipulated that Bereano did not properly disclose
his spending on meals and beverages he bought for Richard B. Rosenblatt,
then an assistant secretary in the Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services, each year between 2005-2008. Meanwhile, Rosenblatt
was making the required disclosures each year – though he took a short cut
by overestimating Bereano’s spending on him as coming to $500 a year for
those four years. Rosenblatt was violating no law, according to the ethics
commission, because state law allows executive branch officials to be wined
and dined in the presence of the person footing the bill as long as the
identity and amount are disclosed. But when ethics officials cross-checked
Bereano’s disclosures against Rosenblatt's, they found that the lobbyist
hadn’t been quite as diligent. Records show Bereano filed amended
disclosures for 2006-2008 showing spending between $148 and $300 on wining
and dining Rosenblatt for those three years while representing Correctional
Medical Services. In the same settlement, Bereano also admitted to a
failure to disclose a series of gifts to a Senate staff member between 2001
and 2005. The lobbyist explained that the gifts, including sports tickets,
were personal in nature and weren’t paid for by one of his employers. The
ethics panel found that such gifts to employees of the legislature are not
permitted. The recipient was a former member of the staff of state Sen.
John Hafer, a Western Maryland Republican. Bereano’s amended disclosure
shows that the gifts followed a running theme involving the Dallas Cowboys,
including tickets to the teams games against the Washington Redskins. The
agreement noted that the staff member eventually reimbursed Bereano for the
gifts. Rosenblatt, who now works in the prison health industry, said he
regrets having been imprecise in his disclosures, but not having dined with
Bereano. He said his outside-the-office communications with the lobbyist
helped improve communications between his department and a company that
already held a contract. “He helped improve the service received from the
client,” Rosenblatt said. Bereano did not return a call seeking his
comment. The infractions were far less serious than the previous case in
which Bereano was cited. That involved signing an illegal contingency
contract that would have rewarded him for a successful outcome. But the
$2,750 settlement is considerably more than the typical fine paid in a case
against a lobbyist – which typically involve $250 fines for late filing of
a disclosure. Bereano is currently seeking to have his 1994 federal mail
fraud conviction invalidated because of subsequent appellate rulings that
call into question the prosecution's legal groundwork for the case.
January 4, 2011 Baltimore City Paper
After an unusual behind-the-scenes battle, state officials have chosen a
new company to oversee medical care for Maryland prisoners. Wexford Health
Sources Inc. of Green Tree, Pa., won the $312 million contract in November,
but the incumbent company, Correctional Medical Services (CMS) of St.
Louis, protested the contract award twice, according to a Wexford
spokesperson. “We have been awarded the contract,” Wendelyn Pekich, Wexford
Health Source’s director of marketing and communications, said in a phone
conversation. “Unfortunately it has now been appealed twice by CMS. It’s
within their rights—we understand that. It’s between them and the state.”
State corrections officials and CMS spokespeople have kept mum about CMS’
multiple challenges to the contract award, neither returning reporter’s messages
nor giving any comment. A Sept. 17, 2010, letter from the Department of
Public Safety and Correctional Services’ (DPSCS) director of procurement
services to CMS thanked the incumbent company for its bid but said it “was
not selected for contract award.” The state Board of Public Works was
originally scheduled to vote on the new contract on Nov. 3, 2010, but the
item was withdrawn. On Dec. 1, that body, which must approve nearly all
state contracts, voted without discussion to revise the existing contract
for one month, at a cost of $13.9 million. Nearly $11 million of that is
going to Wexford, which currently oversees “utilization management” in the
system. The company acts as a check on the doctors by monitoring who gets
what treatment and sometimes denying certain care. CMS’ award was $340,000.
Prison health care is a controversial—and expensive—part of the Maryland
DPSCS’ budget. In the 1990s, the previous provider, Prison Health Systems,
had trouble with regulators. The contract was broken into five
pieces—medical care, utilization management, mental health, dental, and
pharmacy—in 2005. That year CMS took over the medical care component, which
is the largest part of the contract, amid protest by the American Civil
Liberties Union. Soon after that, state auditors found that CMS had not
hired enough skilled professionals to fulfill its contract, and was
actually underbilling. A 2007 state audit found “several significant areas
of noncompliance,” and a state auditors’ review of those findings released
in April 2010 found that there were still problems (“Prison Medical Care
Has a Ways to Go,” The News Hole, citypaper.com, April 5, 2010). At that
time, the whole system, serving some 23,000 inmates at a cost of about $150
million per year, had only one medical doctor. Even inmate deaths could not
be properly reviewed.
April 6, 2007 The Gazette
Maryland’s private contractors for prison inmate health services were
recently cited by auditors from the Office of Legislative Audits for
staffing shortages, not performing medical exams in a timely fashion and
incomplete data. Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis was paid $49.2
million in fiscal 2006 for medical services for prisoners, according to the
auditor’s report. Other companies were paid for mental health, dental and
other services. ‘‘Better oversight is needed by the Department of Public
Safety and Correctional Services to ensure that health care contractors are
effectively providing health care to Maryland’s 26,000 inmates,” the report
states. Correctional Medical had an 11 percent staffing shortage in May
2006, the equivalent of 66 full-time positions, the report says. The
company was also not required to develop formal plans to correct
deficiencies such as ‘‘untimely initial and chronic care medical exams.”
Correctional Medical officials did not return calls. The business received
a five-year contract starting in July 2005, and more than 600 full-time
employees began working in Maryland, according to a company news release.
‘‘Appropriate corrective action has been or will be implemented for all the
agreed-upon recommendations noted in the audit report,” Gary D. Maynard,
secretary of the Maryland corrections department, wrote in a recent letter
to Legislative Auditor Bruce A. Meyers. Substantial improvements to
inmates’ health care, including increased staff and more timely exams, have
been made since Correctional Medical took over the service in July 2005,
Richard Rosenblatt, the department’s assistant secretary for treatment
services recently wrote to Maynard. ‘‘No health care delivery system is
perfect,” Rosenblatt said. ‘‘The issues cited ... are important, but are
not unique to a multi-vendor delivery structure.” The previous prison
health care contractors received more scathing criticism from the American
Civil Liberties Union, which called the care unconstitutional, and others.
A 2002 report by the U.S. Department of Justice found that at least six
deaths in Baltimore city’s detention center were due to chronic health
neglect. In January, the state reached an agreement with the Justice
Department to ‘‘resolve health and safety violations” at the Baltimore
center, a letter by Meyers states.
March 1, 2007 Baltimore Sun
Maryland's inmate health care system faced staffing shortages last year,
and plans stalled for drug treatment programs and a new electronic database
to keep better track of records, a state audit released yesterday showed.
Auditors from the Office of Legislative Audits noted "several
significant areas of noncompliance" that affected inmate medical
services at facilities across the state, including Baltimore's Central
Booking and Intake Center and the city jail, according to the report.
"We found a number of areas in which inadequate [state] monitoring
appeared to lead to potential lapses in required medical coverage and
certain required medical treatments," auditors wrote. The audit was
the state's first public, independent look at a new system for inmate
health care that the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional
Services pursued in 2005. Until that year, inmate health care costs had
been stable because the state had signed fixed-price contracts with medical
providers. But because of rapidly increasing costs in the health care
industry, for-profit companies that Maryland and other states relied on for
inmate health care services were no longer agreeing to fixed-price deals.
Faced with pressure to improve the system, particularly in Baltimore, state
officials offered separate contracts for the prison system's varying health
care needs. Different companies were awarded contracts for medical, dental,
mental health and pharmaceutical coverage. These contractors now
"pass-through" the costs of their goods and services to the state
for reimbursement. For fiscal year 2006, the tab for inmate health care in
the state totaled $109.7 million. Auditors found that medical care, dental
care and mental health care providers weren't providing required levels of
staff. They also noted problems with medical screenings, chronic care
checkups, medication dispensation and timely treatment based on inmate
needs. The contract system requires more monitoring by state staff than the
previous system, auditors found, but the state agency hasn't been able to
add more staff beyond the 30 employees who have overseen the system since
before the new contracts were signed two years ago. Plans for a methadone
detoxification program -- to help treat thousands of inmates dealing with
drug addiction -- and for an electronic health records computer system
remain in early stages, the audit said. Richard B. Rosenblatt, assistant
secretary for treatment services in the Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services, defended the current contract system but
acknowledged room for improvement. He said the new contracts have ensured
more staffing and more accountability from the state prison system's health
care vendors. "It's clearly been improved, if only with the number of
feet on the floor," Rosenblatt said. "There's staffing levels now
that were never dreamed of under the prior contract. Now, the fact that
we're not at 100 percent [staffing], sure that's disappointing to us.
"If we've got weaknesses in the system, this is not from a doctor's
point of view, it's from an accountant's point of view." Auditors did
not identify individual contractors in their report. Correctional Medical
Services Inc., a St. Louis-based inmate health care provider, is the main
medical contractor for the state and was paid $49.2 million for its work in
the 2006 fiscal year, which ended in June last year. CMS made $13 million
less than it could have made under its contract. MHM Services Inc. of
Tysons Corner, Va., provided mental health care services at a cost of $9.3
million -- or $1.8 million less than it could have made under its contract.
In both instances, the companies were paid less than what their contracts
allowed mainly because they provided less staffing and services, according
to Rosenblatt. Ken Fields, a CMS spokesman, said in a statement that the
company has increased staffing coverage over the past year by using
overtime and temporary workers. "We will certainly work with the state
to answer any questions that may arise from this review, but quality health
care services are being provided to inmate patients in state prison facilities,"
Fields said. Inmate advocates argued that the audit showed that because the
system is so important and costly, it should be scrutinized more regularly
by outside entities. "We certainly don't fault the state for spending
too much money on its health care contracts, we just think there should be
better oversight to make sure that it's well-spent," said Sally
Dworak-Fisher, an attorney with the Public Justice Center in Baltimore.
August 27, 2005 Baltimore Sun
A for-profit company the state brought in to provide medical care to
Maryland prison inmates has hired far fewer staff than required, and
advocates for prisoners say that they have compiled dozens of cases of poor
and inadequate care since the new contract took effect July 1. St.
Louis-based Correctional Medical Services Inc. serves as primary medical
care provider for Maryland's 27,000 prisoners and is required under its
contract to have 603 full-time staff. State officials acknowledge that the
company currently has a staff of only 425. The new contract with CMS was
part of a comprehensive restructuring of the way Maryland delivers medical
care to inmates. The objective was to resolve complaints that have been
voiced for several years about inadequate care for prisoners. But Elizabeth
Alexander, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison
Project, said she has seen no signs of improvement. She said her group has
taken sworn statements since late last month from more than two dozen
prisoners in the state-run Baltimore City jails about lengthy delays in
getting access to doctors, poor treatment and medication mix-ups. "I see no evidence of any improvement
in medical care," she said. "The quantity and quality of these
complaints are just what we got before." Recent complaints,
Alexander said, include an inmate who broke his jaw in a fight and was
merely given aspirin. It was a month before any X-rays were taken, she
said. She recounted another case in which a man with a hernia "the
size of a racquetball" was given Tylenol but no other treatment.
Prisoners with high blood pressure, asthma and other ailments have reported
lengthy delays in getting access to physicians and said they sometimes did
not receive their medications for weeks, Alexander said. Fields, the CMS spokesman, conceded that the
company has fewer full-time workers than the contract calls for but said it
is working diligently to hire more people.
June 2, 2005 The Daily Record
Opposition from some civil liberties advocacy groups could not stop the
Board of Public Works from approving contracts yesterday with five
companies to provide health care services at the state's correctional
facilities. In letters to the board, the American Civil Liberties Union and
the Public Justice Center urged against the approval of a contract with
Correctional Medical Services Inc., a St. Louis-based company that provides
prison health services in 27 states. The groups accused the company of
inadequate care and cost-cutting, leading to some inmate deaths. They are
taking contracts at too low a cost. They are in business to make a profit,
said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the ACLU's National Prison Project,
in a telephone interview following the board's vote. I have no confidence
that CMS will deliver minimally adequate health care under the contract.
Currently, Prison Health Services Inc. of Tennessee holds the contract to
provide health services to the state's inmates. Earlier this year, the
company came under media scrutiny for alleged inadequate inmate medical
care in New York. In a letter to Board of Public Works member Comptroller
William Donald Schaefer, the Public Justice Center called the new contract
merely a change in form, and not in substance. The new contract also
includes more funding for prison health care, and more financial flexibility.
Previously, the contract was a flat-rate fee agreement, which meant Prison
Health Services was responsibility for any costs above what the state
provided. Last year, the company received $54.7 million from the state, and
lost $12.5 million. The new contract is a reimbursement contract, which
requires the state to reimburse the company for additional costs. For the
year beginning July 1, the state expects to spend approximately $110
million for all six contract components.
June 2, 2005 Baltimore Sun
After five years of relatively stable health care costs for inmates,
the state Board of Public Works approved an increase in spending of more
than 60 percent yesterday that could push the annual tab to $110 million as
officials try to improve medical services for the state's 27,000 prisoners,
particularly in Baltimore's troubled jail facilities. Contracts were
awarded to five for-profit companies, which will run different segments in
the prisons' privatized health care system, such as medical, mental health
and pharmaceutical services. Last year, the state spent $68 million on
inmate health care, state corrections officials said. Correctional Medical
Services Inc. of St. Louis won the biggest contract, a two-year, $125.6
million deal that involves providing medical services to state prisons and
Baltimore's state-run jail facilities - a total of 32 facilities. Under a
state contract signed in 2000, the company has provided comprehensive
medical care services for the past five years to three prisons in Hagerstown.
The state's main prison health care contractor since 2000, Prison Health
Services Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn., did not win any piece of the state's
business in the latest round of bidding. Prison Health, which provided
health care services to more than 20 state correctional facilities, had
been criticized by inmate advocacy groups for skimping on services,
particularly in Baltimore's jails. CMS has been the target of inmate
advocacy groups and unfavorable media coverage over quality of care in the
past, including an investigative series in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in
1998. The newspaper reported incidents of alleged medical negligence that,
in some cases, led to inmate deaths in Missouri and elsewhere.
"Correctional Medical Services' history of cutting corners to maintain
profits jeopardizes the lives of thousands of incarcerated people across
the country," said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the American Civil
Liberties Union's National Prison Project, in a statement opposing CMS'
selection as Maryland's inmate medical provider. "Many states have
already learned a painful lesson from their dealings with Correctional
Medical Services," she said.
Massachusetts
Department of Corrections
June 30, 2007 Boston Herald
A Suffolk judge has slapped down a lawsuit alleging improprieties in
the awarding of a $300 million contract to provide medical care to prison
inmates. Judge Allan Van Gestel denied an injunction filed by Correctional
Medical Services that would have blocked the state from a five-year
contract with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Correctional
Medical Services argued the bidding process was rigged in favor of UMass by
Patrick administration officials. The judge’s ruling clears the way for the
DOC to finalize the contract.
June 27, 2007 Boston Globe
A company that unsuccessfully bid on a contract to provide medical services
inside the state's prisons filed suit yesterday, seeking to block the
awarding of the $300 million contract to the University of Massachusetts
Medical School, which already provides health services to the state's
prisoners. Correctional Medical Services, which provided health services to
the state's prison population from 1994 to 2002, contends that its proposal
was superior, less expensive for taxpayers, and rated higher by an
evaluation team. In addition, the firm's lawyers allege that UMass
officials improperly obtained an internal memorandum from the evaluation
team, which recommended that the correction commissioner choose either
UMass or Correctional Medical Services, and then lobbied state officials,
seeking to influence their decision, in violation of state bidding laws. A
hearing on the firm's request for an injunction is scheduled tomorrow in
Suffolk Superior Court. The Missouri-based firm bills itself as the
nation's premier provider of healthcare services to prisons and jails, with
a presence in 27 states. State officials defended the selection process.
"Following a fair and open procurement process, the [Correction
Department] awarded the contract to the vendor who it determined would
provide the best value to the Commonwealth," said spokeswoman Diane
Wiffin. "We are confident the Commonwealth and the Department of
Correction will be well served with UMass as the provider of medical
services."
MCI-Framingham, Framingham,
Massachusetts
December
10, 2007 Boston Globe
She was born in the fall of 1968, shortly after her mother, an inmate
at MCI-Framingham, went into labor at the state's only prison for women.
She died 31 years later after hanging herself with a bed sheet at the same
prison. For Rachael Day, suicide was the last desperate act of a woman
whose life began pitifully and ended the same way. By the time of her death
on Jan. 5, 2000, she had been charged with nearly 80 street crimes, used as
much heroin and cocaine as she said she could find, and lived with a
violent drug dealer who fathered two of her four children. But although
Day's death in the prison where her mother bore her had a harrowing
symmetry, it could have been prevented, her family said in a wrongful death
lawsuit pending against the state in Suffolk Superior Court. Day had made
at least two prior suicide attempts, according to prison and court records.
Just 21 days before she died, she hanged herself with a shirt while left
alone for five to seven minutes in a cell in the lockup at the US District
Courthouse in Boston, where she was being held on a federal probation
violation. But she survived. Day's mother, Kathleen Day, contends in the
suit that medical staff at the Framingham prison - where Rachael Day was
transferred after the suicide attempt - inadequately evaluated the risk of
another attempt and took her at her word when she said she had not intended
to kill herself in the lockup incident. Rachael Day's own assessment was
plainly unreliable, the suit said. "She was brain-damaged, and she was
telling everybody she was going to kill herself," Kathleen Day, who
also has a record of drug offenses and other crimes, said in an interview.
"Definitely, it could have been prevented." Day's family has been
in settlement talks for months with the state and Correctional Medical
Services, a contractor that helped provide mental health services at the
prison. But Rachael Day's eldest daughter, Kathleen U. Carter, a
21-year-old student at Cambridge College, said she sometimes wishes the
case would go to trial to expose the state's care of her mother. She said
her mother should have been on a suicide watch in Framingham. Victoria A.
Crawshaw, a lawyer defending Correctional Medical Services, declined to
comment on the case. Attorney General Martha Coakley's office referred
questions to the Department of Correction, which said it does not comment
on pending litigation. Day's suicide was one of six at the prison since
1995, although only one occurred after 2000.
McPherson
Prison,
Newport, Arkansas
March
2, 2006 New York Times
Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had
been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital
on Sept. 20, 2003. Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who
had been given nothing stronger than Tylenol all day, begged, according to
court papers, to have the shackles removed. Though her doctor and two
nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit says, the guard in charge of her refused.
"She was shackled all through labor," said Ms. Nelson's lawyer,
Cathleen V. Compton. "The doctor who was delivering the baby made them
remove the shackles for the actual delivery at the very end. The experience
of giving birth without anesthesia while largely immobilized has left her
with lasting back pain and damage to her sciatic nerve, according to her
lawsuit against prison officials and a private company, Correctional
Medical Services.
August 21, 2005 Arkansas Gazette
A doctor who recently left his job as medical director at the state’s
prison for women in Newport was so incompetent and indifferent to patients’
needs that he caused an inmate’s death last year, according to a federal
lawsuit. In the negligence lawsuit filed last week in Little Rock, Larry
Morris Sr. of Rosston in Nevada County blames Dr. Craig Bardell, 54, for
the Oct. 23, 2004, death of his 47-yearold wife, Virginia Morris. The
mother of two grown sons died seven months into a 10-year sentence for a
conviction of possessing and selling crack cocaine. The suit also names as
defendants a registered nurse, Cheryl Pigg, who worked under Bardell at
McPherson Unit in Jackson County; and Correctional Medical Services, the
St. Louis-based company that employed Bardell and that has been the target
of numerous lawsuits across the country alleging improper inmate care. At
least 199 cases have been filed against the company in the Eastern District
of Arkansas, according to federal court records. One lawsuit, settled in
November 1997, involved the July 29, 1995, death of a diabetic inmate at
the Pulaski County jail, where the company then provided medical care. The
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette filed a successful lawsuit in 1995 against the
sheriff’s office to get access to the company’s medical guidelines. The
company currently provides medical services to more than 13,000 Arkansas
inmates under a $38 million contract. With contracts in 26 other states,
the company is responsible for the health care of more than 212,000
prisoners nationwide, according to the lawsuit filed last week. Bardell
previously worked as medical director of a women’s prison in Pennsylvania
where, according to a lawsuit settled in May for $2.15 million, a
26-year-old woman died in 2002 from an asthma attack after he withheld her
medication. Court records show
that, after Bardell pleaded guilty in 2001 to federal Medicare fraud
charges, the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine eventually suspended his
medical license for f ive years, retroactive to Nov. 6, 2002, with the
suspension stayed in favor of five years’ probation.
Medium
Security Institute, St. Louis, Missouri
August
30, 2012 ACLU Press Release
The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri’s civil suit against
the city of St. Louis and Correctional Medical Services, the medical
provider for the city jails that is now known as Corizon, was dismissed
today. Originally filed in 2010 on behalf of an HIV-positive inmate at the
Medium Security Institute in St. Louis, the ACLU-EM’s lawsuit cited
life-threatening deliberate indifference to a serious medical condition.
The inmate, known as John Doe to protect his privacy, was incarcerated in
early 2010 and for the first 20 days of his stay was denied the life-saving
medication for which he had a daily prescription. During that period he was
given only Tylenol, despite repeated attempts by him, a friend and his
doctor to re-establish his prescribed medical regime. “No one awaiting
trial should ever be denied medical care,” says Brenda L. Jones, executive
director of the ACLU-EM. “But, this case was especially egregious because
people who are HIV-positive can quickly build resistance to medications
that are not taken consistently.” Tony Rothert, the ACLU-EM’s legal
director, said “This gross violation of our client’s constitutional rights
caused him suffering, mental and emotional distress, and great fear of
physical harm. Even worse is the gross incompetence displayed by Corizon,
the company that also provides medical services to the state of Missouri’s
prisons.” The case was dismissed as part of a settlement agreement. A
condition of the settlement prevents the disclosure of the amount of
settlement funds paid to Doe.
Michigan
Department of Corrections
February 10, 2009 AP
Michigan has awarded a three-year, $326 million contract to a Tennessee
company to treat prisoners with medical problems. A state board approved
the contract Tuesday, which means the company currently overseeing prison
health care will be replaced starting in April. Brentwood, Tenn.-based
Prison Health Services will take over for St. Louis-based Correctional
Medical Services. CMS has hired doctors and others to see Michigan
prisoners for about a decade. But a year ago, an independent review found
that most doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants were seeing
too few prisoners a day. The review was ordered by Gov. Jennifer Granholm
in 2006 after reports of inmates dying because of inadequate care.
April 4, 2008 Capital
News Service
The Department of Corrections (DOC) has left many prisoners without proper
medical care, according to a new report from the Office of the Auditor
General. More than half of prisoners with chronic medical conditions, such
as heart disease, lung disease, and neurological problems, weren't seen for
regularly scheduled visits with health care professionals, according to the
report. The report also noted cases where annual clinic visits and
requested visits had been missed. DOC issued a preliminary response
agreeing with the audit's findings, and saying that it has fixed or will
fix the problems it identified. But DOC also contends that the audit
misrepresents the state of health care in its prisons. For example, it says
the report ignored unscheduled visits to clinics made by prisoners. The
study looked at 130 inmates who had asked for medical assistance and found
that only four hadn't been treated, although many visits were late. DOC
indicated that a shortage of employees was partially to blame for its
failure to comply with scheduling policies. The department has dozens of vacancies
in its nursing and health care professional staffs. Sandra Girard,
executive director of Prison Legal Services of Michigan in Jackson, said
the report focused too much on bookkeeping. "It doesn't address the
quality of the care provided." "People with chronic illnesses
just do not receive good care," Girard said. Girard also said that the
delays in medical help noted in the report are costly in the long run
because chronic conditions are likely to worsen when left untreated. Russ
Marlan, public information officer for DOC, said the recommendations were
helpful. He said large-scale efforts to improve the department's medical
services have been underway for some time and the criticisms raised over
health care are being addressed. Other parts of the report were largely
neutral, finding only small problems with items like the department's
management of staffing and of prisoner medications.
March 11, 2008 The
Detroit News
Internet chat room promises of sex with a child brought 27 men hurrying
to an unassuming suburban home this weekend. But it was police who were
waiting instead of the anticipated teen boy or girl the men, including a
doctor from Canton Township, thought they were chatting with online. It was
a highly motivated crowd. Four took taxi cabs. One man rode a bicycle
through the cold from Ypsilanti. Another was dropped off at the undercover
decoy house by his sister. All of them got arrested and Michigan Attorney
General Mike Cox said Monday that the cooperative venture with Wayne County
sheriff's deputies and Van Buren Township police expects to round up many
more men who made explicit plans with undercover police and volunteers from
a nonprofit group that helps law enforcement agencies catch Internet
predators. "The truth is stranger than fiction," Cox said.
"One man was stopped by police on his way to the home on a shredded
tire. He still continued to the house." The men, ranging in ages from
19 to 57 were arrested Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the home in the
Walden Woods subdivision. The white-sided, two-story house had been
unoccupied, but was made to look inviting enough to cause one man to expose
himself to police when he walked in, said Cox. "The universe of people
out there that are pedophiles is significant," said Wayne County Sheriff
Warren Evans, indicating that deputies in his undercover Internet Predator
Unit routinely attempt to engage in Internet conversations with people
interested in having sex with children. All but one of the men is from
Michigan, and most are from Metro Detroit. One man came from New Jersey.
The men were to have been arraigned on charges by Monday that carry up to a
20-year prison sentences. One of those arrested included Dr. Audberto Cesar
Antonini, who holds a valid medical license according to the Michigan Department
of Community Health Bureau of Health Professionals. Antonini, 51, until
recently worked as a contract physician in the Michigan Department of
Prisons system. His contract was terminated several months ago at the
request of prison officials, according to Ken Fields, a spokesman for
Correctional Medical Services, the prison's health care provider. Although
Antonini also was listed on documents provided Monday by police as an
employee at W.A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, Antonini has never
been on the hospital staff, said Terry Christian, the hospital's manager of
medical staff services.
February 6, 2008 Grand
Rapids Press
As medical director for a Grand Rapids clinic serving low-income
patients, Dr. Jack Walen is no stranger to the medical problems of former
prison inmates. The past year as technical adviser for a study of health
care in Michigan's prisons gave him insight into what it's like for those
still behind bars. The study, released today in Lansing, is the latest of
several criticizing the quality of health care in the state's prisons. This
one, prepared by the American Friends Service Committee and Prison Legal
Services of Michigan -- two non-profit groups that advocate for prisoner
rights -- recommends 32 changes to improve health care in the prisons.
"I think the biggest issue, practically speaking, is most of these
prisoners are not in for life," Walen said. "They're going to get
out." Some come out with infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C,
that often have gone untreated in prison and can be spread to those on the
outside, he said. Some, due to inadequate care while incarcerated, become a
burden to hospitals and other health care providers in the community.
"Either way, the community loses," Walen said. "We, as taxpayers,
ought to be outraged at the amount of money spent without adequate
oversight for substandard care." He emphasized his volunteer work
editing the report was separate from his role as medical director for
Catherine's Care Center, a clinic that serves hundreds of uninsured
patients every year. The report noted as examples Timothy Souders, who died
of heat exhaustion in August 2006 while shackled to a bed at Southern
Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson; Jeffrey Clark, who died in July
2002 of dehydration at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia
after the water to his cell was shut off; and Anthony McManus, who starved
to death in the Baraga Maximum Security Facility in September 2005. "I
think there's a definite culture within the department to deny problems
when they arise," said one of the study's authors, Natalie Holbrook,
of the American Friends Service Committee. The report recommends reviving
the Legislative Corrections Ombudsman, a position the Legislature
eliminated in 2003, and creating a permanent legislative committee to
oversee prison medical care and mental health care. Some of the 32
recommendations are similar to those in a study by the National Commission
on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) released two weeks ago. Gov. Jennifer
Granholm ordered that study after several news reports about health care in
the prisons. The Corrections Department plans to follow virtually all 56
recommendations in the NCCHC study, spokesman Russ Marlan said, adding he
is not surprised the latest report is highly critical of the department.
"With a title like 'Tolerating Failure,' I figured it probably was not
going to be a ringing endorsement of our program," he said. While
placing most of the blame on the Corrections Department, the report also
faults Correctional Medical Services (CMS), the for-profit company that has
been paid nearly $670 million over the past decade to provide medical care
in the prisons. A CMS spokesman released a statement saying: "We are
focused on working with the Department of Corrections to continually
strengthen the areas of Michigan's inmate healthcare system in which we
play a role. It is important to note that no one from the organizations
issuing this report even attempted to get the facts about inmate healthcare
from Correctional Medical Services." Penny Ryder, of the American
Friends Service Committee, said she hopes the growing weight of criticism
will prompt corrections officials to improve health care. "It angers
me that it took these people dying and full embarrassment in the press for
this to happen," she said, adding, "I'm not totally convinced
they will do the right thing in the future."
January 23, 2008 Detroit
News
An independent audit released Tuesday said Michigan's
$300-million-a-year prison health care system is fractured and inefficient,
leading to unnecessarily high costs, impeding inmate access and diminishing
the quality of care. The state needs to reorganize prison health care
services, retrain staff, practice more preventive care, fix its electronic
medical records system and hold medical providers more accountable for the
services they provide, said a 131-page report compiled after a year-long
review by the Chicago-based National Commission on Correctional Health
Care. "Most of the problems we identified were attributable to system
failures, rather than to individuals not doing their jobs," the
$400,000 report determined. "We believe the most pressing problem for
the Michigan Department of Corrections is to address the lack of medical
service provider coverage and their generally low productivity. "Until
this occurs, access to care, quality of care and health care staff morale
will continue to suffer." State corrections officials said they agree
with the report's findings and added the department's own health care improvement
team is implementing many of the commission's 56 recommendations. "We
have realigned our resources so we have more oversight," said state
Corrections Director Patricia Caruso. "We do have the information and
tools to restructure this delivery system and get to where we want to
go." A federal court case, media attention and reports of inmates
dying because of inadequate care prompted Gov. Jennifer Granholm to order
the review in 2006. A U.S. District Court ordered the appointment of an
independent monitor and called the state's system "systematically
defective" and "dangerous." The revamping won't include
firing Correctional Medical Services (CMS), an often-criticized private
company that has provided HMO-style managed care in the Michigan prison
system for the past 10 years, Caruso said. In fact, the contract with the
company has been extended by a year, she said. The report, however, says
the state should "seriously reconsider the advantages and
disadvantages of continuing to contract out provider services," adding
that if the state isn't paying medical staff salaries competitive with
private industry, it should consider raising them. The report is critical
of CMS, saying there are long patient waiting lists, and the company lets
many medical provider shifts go unfilled. "We were told that CMS can
unilaterally choose to reduce provider staffing from five days a week to
two days a week, if it has trouble recruiting, and that CMS is not subject
to any penalty or disincentive," the report said. Some staffing
cutbacks violated the state contract, according to the report. The
commission found that the department had a monitor for the CMS contract
"but it is not clear what he actually did. This contract has been
running for over 10 years, and we were not provided a single monitoring
report." The report called the health care system
"cumbersome," adding that it "results in duplication of
administration, services and materials." An example: A female inmate
attempted suicide by hanging. After guards got her down, she crawled under
a bed and yelled that she wanted to die. A psychiatrist was called but did
not come, saying he only sees patients after they've been evaluated by a
psychologist. She eventually was evaluated and referred to the
psychiatrist, which took more than 45 minutes. "This is an
unacceptable response to an emergency situation, directly attributable to a
faulty organizational structure," the report says. Problems with
management of prison pharmacies also were cited. There are delays in receiving
same-day medications and a number of drugs aren't available, the report
said. Criticisms also are aimed at Serapis, the electronic medical record
system. The report says it is difficult to search and loses relevant
patient history information, and clinical documentation is "achingly
slow" -- taking time from physician-patient visits. If the department
rectifies inefficiencies in the prison health care system, the state should
save money, according to the report. Caruso acknowledged the department's responsibility
to taxpayers, but added: "Totally aside from money, it's about human
lives." She said the reformed system won't cost taxpayers more.
"We're taking positions that haven't been filled and are available to
be funded and assigning them to health care," she said. Barbara
Levine, executive director of the Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public
Spending, an inmate advocacy group, said she's wary of any plan that
professes to lower costs and improve health care for the 50,000 state
inmates. "If it saves money while adequately protecting the health of
prisoners, that's good," she said. "But when they went to managed
care, that didn't happen. I'm always cautious about how money will be
saved."
July 18, 2007 AP
Michigan will switch to HMOs to provide health care to the state's
about 50,000 prisoners, Corrections Director Patricia Caruso says. The plan
calls for up to six health maintenance organizations to supply care for
inmates, Caruso told the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday. The services now
are provided under a statewide managed care contract. The HMO contracts are
scheduled for implementation in March, when current contract expires. The
prison system will pay at least $300 million in health care costs this
year, excluding security and transportation costs for doctor and hospital
visits, Caruso said. "I absolutely think our costs can come
down," she said, declining to estimate what the savings might be under
the HMO system. Federal courts have been overseeing health care at state
prisons in Jackson after inmates sued over what they said was inadequate
care. Caruso said she understands public resentment over free health care
for prisoners when many honest people go uninsured. But, she added,
"prisoners are virtually the only people in our society with a constitutional
right to health care."
February 28, 2007 The
Grand Rapids Press
Fredrick Heinz needed medical care to save his life. Doing time in
Marquette Branch Prison, he begged prison doctors to treat his hepatitis C,
but was turned down, told it would cost too much, a friend, Jackie Deming,
told a state legislative committee Tuesday. When he was diagnosed with
stomach cancer in November, Heinz asked for pain medication and was given
two Tylenol in the morning and two at night, Deming testified. But when he
asked for something stronger, the doctor took away the Tylenol, she said.
He was scheduled for cancer surgery, but then was transferred to another
prison where the medical personnel said they had no record of his
illnesses. "He will never again be lied to and jerked around like a
wounded animal," said Deming, of Hudsonville. Heinz died Feb. 5 at age
51. Deming's testimony came minutes after state Corrections Department
officials assured the same panel -- the Corrections Subcommittee of the
House Appropriations Committee -- that inmates receive adequate medical
care. "We meet the community standards that are provided in any
HMO," Barry Wickman, head of the Corrections Department's bureau of
fiscal management, told the subcommittee. Tuesday's hearing came as the Corrections
Department is under the competing pressures to cut its budget while
improving medical care for prisoners. The department's contract with
Correctional Medical Services, the for-profit company that has provided
medical care in Michigan's prisons for the past decade, expires May 1, but
Wickman said the department may extend it another year while the National
Commission on Correctional Health Care conducts an investigation ordered by
Gov. Jennifer Granholm. William Clancy, a prison psychologist and union
steward, spoke out against what he called "the hoax perpetuated by the
Department of Corrections as far as the quality of health care in the
prisons." Every year, the department files the same report assuring
the Legislature that CMS is providing medically necessary services to
prisoners. "I ask you, if CMS is providing medically necessary
service, then why are prisoners dying unnecessarily?" Clancy said. He
noted the case of Anthony McManus, who died Sept. 8, 2005, in the Baraga
Correctional Facility after CMS doctors repeatedly failed to heed nurses'
requests to examine him. McManus, who was mentally ill, refused to eat, and
his weight dropped from 140 pounds in April 2005 to 75 pounds five months
later, when he died. "The citizens of our great state will be paying
off wrongful death lawsuits for years to come," Clancy warned the
legislators. His remarks were echoed by Gary Peterson, employed to schedule
inmates' medical appointments at Marquette Branch Prison. Before the state
privatized the medical care, the prison had three doctors, each seeing an
average 25 to 30 inmates a day, said Peterson, a steward for the UAW local
representing some prison employees. After CMS took over the care, the
prison was cut back to one doctor seeing an average of eight to 10 patients
a day, he said. The CMS doctors frequently quit, he said, leaving the
prison without a physician. On Monday, a CMS doctor was fired, Peterson
said, because he was not fully licensed to practice medicine in Michigan.
"I believe the attorney general should be asked to look into the
handling of this contract, as well as CMS's failure to honor its
obligations," Peterson said.
December 12, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Lloyd Byron Martell lies on a bed in Dearborn's Oakwood Hospital, sets
the disc player above the colostomy bag on his stomach and slides on the
headphones. He shuts his eyes and smiles. For a minute or two, the
old-school sounds of Sade make the world go away. "Smooth
operator," he sings, way off key. "Smoooooooth operator."
Then reality smacks him. He jerks up, coughing, spitting blood and phlegm
into a plastic bowl. Waves of nausea run though him. His chest tightens,
stomach spins, head pounds. Martell's colon cancer has spread to his lungs.
His weight is down from 224 to 180. At 41, he has six months, maybe a year,
to live, says his oncologist, Dr. Parvez Khan. Martell didn't have to go
out like this. In 2004, driving on a suspended license, he fled from
Redford police who tried to pull him over for a broken rear window. He got
1-4 years, but prison doctors effectively turned that short bit into a
death sentence. Martell, of Detroit, was released in August to die. His
cancer could have been contained had the Michigan Department of Corrections
treated it two years ago. But like hundreds of Michigan inmates, Martell
got a double sentence: one handed down by the court and another executed by
a deadly and dysfunctional prison health care system. So now, once a week,
the chemo drips into a port in Martell's chest and through a main artery,
delivering the chemicals that kill his cells, cancerous and healthy alike,
to prolong his life a few more months. Sometimes he wonders if it's worth
it. It would be easier just to pop OxyContin and ride out his last few
months in a haze. Without chemo, though, the cancer could spread to his
liver and brain. "I don't want it to get any uglier, Dog," he
tells me. Still, "every time I do this chemo, I wonder why. In the
end, it's not going to change anything. I just want some time without
throwing up, without pain, without doctors." The cancer can be slowed,
but the beast cannot be stopped. The only time Martell cries is when he
thinks of how things could have been. "They killed me, with their
evil, neglectful ways," he says. Potentially curable if treated
earlier. In December 2004, Martell had what he believed was a hemorrhoid
lanced in prison. Medical records show it was actually a cancerous polyp.
Dr. Jerome Wisneski, who works for Correctional Medical Services Inc.,
failed to treat it. By October of last year, Martell was bleeding from the
rectum and unable to walk. He was sent to Foote Hospital in Jackson, which
contracts with CMS for specialty services. Doctors told him he had terminal
cancer. In an oncology report, they noted that his cancerous polyp was not
treated, though CMS spokesperson Amanda Brown said in an e-mail that
Martell "received prompt care." There are no guarantees with
cancer, even with early intervention. But the earlier it's treated, the
better. Martell's cancer was potentially curable when it was discovered two
years ago. Martell's case isn't the first that Wisneski botched. In 1996,
he disregarded a bile leak in inmate Richard LeMarbe's abdomen, court
records show. Another doctor later found 3 1/2 gallons of bile in LeMarbe's
abdomen, causing serious damage that required several surgeries. In 2001,
LeMarbe, now 73, and his attorney settled for $150,000 in a case that went
all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. They would have gotten a lot more if
LeMarbe, serving 25-50 years for second-degree murder, hadn't been an
inmate. Martell's attorney, Brian McKeen of Detroit, is suing Wisneski, the
Department of Corrections and Correctional Medical Services Inc. for
medical malpractice and constitutional violations. But Martell probably
won't live to see the money. It will go to his mother, father and
6-year-old son, Loyal, who lives with his mother in Missouri. "I won't
be around to take care of my son," Martell says. "I don't want
him to have to worry about anything." An oasis of hope. Peacemakers
International mission sits on Chene on Detroit's east side, surrounded by
vacant lots, drug houses and empty, burned-out buildings. It's an oasis of
hope, where the homeless, addicted and afflicted come to pick up the pieces
of a broken life. Martell has not come here to die, but to live. He first
came to Peacemakers four years ago. While driving down Gratiot, a stray
.38-caliber hollow-point grazed the back of his head. The car's rear window
and headrest slowed the bullet enough so that it just penetrated the surface
of Martell's skull. Inside the mission, Martell pulled out the bullet and
prayed. The Rev. Steve Upshur -- "Pastor Steve" -- took him in.
After Martell got out of prison in August, he came back to save his life
again. Upshur, 57, a maverick minister and former heroin addict, wears
black denim, flowing gray curls and feathered earrings. His church works
with drugs addicts, prostitutes and anyone who needs hope and love. Upshur
figures that's what Jesus is all about. "Pastor Steve always had the door
open, even when I wasn't right," Martell says. He goes back and forth
between a vacant house on the west side owned by his father and the Jesus
House men's shelter run by Peacemakers International. Martell spent his
first few days out of prison with his mother, Donna Martin, in Dearborn.
More than anyone else, Martin, 60, has been there for Martell when he was
in prison and before. Still, the two fought when Martell was at her home.
They agreed it was best that he stay somewhere else. At the church mission,
Martell found new peace. He had been running all his life, chasing the next
high, whether it came from drugs, fighting or drag racing. Bored with high
school, Martell dropped out in his sophomore year, earned a GED and, at 19,
became a diesel mechanic for the Detroit Department of Transportation. His
father, Lloyd Byron Hill, also worked for DDOT and raced cars
semiprofessionally, as did Martell. Martell was smart and worked hard,
often earning more than $1,000 a week as a mechanic, but he'd blow a lot of
it on alcohol and drugs. "I had problems with alcohol, drugs and my
temper," Martell says. "But I got up and worked every day. My
plan was to go back to the dealership and work as mechanic. "Now all
my dreams are shattered." Martell gets $800 a month in disability from
Social Security. Medicaid covers medical bills. Fresh out of prison, he was
almost in a rage, but he has since let much of that anger go. "I'm
ready to die," he says. "I've made peace. There's no way I can
carry all that anger around. That will kill you, too." Telling his
story has helped him heal. I watched him tell it, his voice raspy and raw,
at a weekday service at Peacemakers a month ago. On Nov. 16, he told it
again at a Lansing public hearing on prison health care sponsored by Prison
Legal Services of Michigan and the American Friends Service Committee. He
spoke from the heart and, when he finished, 100 people stood up and
applauded. "I'm just trying to save the next man," he says.
Martell's story and those of others like him, along with public pressure,
have made a difference. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered a review of the
prison health care system and a federal judge has also ordered changes.
Martell's body is failing but, somehow, he feels free. He can't save the
world or even his own life, but he's trying to make things better for
others. There's no better way to live or die. JEFF GERRITT is a Free Press
editorial writer.
December 8, 2006 WOOD
TV 8
A federal judge on Thursday held the state Department of Corrections in
contempt and threatened $2 million in fines unless it hires more physicians
at Jackson prisons. In a scathing 61-page opinion, U.S. District Judge
Richard Enslen ordered the department to hire extra doctors within four
months. He said inmates' health care is "systematically defective,
dangerous and readily results in preventable death, illness and suffering
due to untreated serious medical conditions." Enslen also ordered that
the department hire more nurses, file a staffing plan within three months
and create independent monitoring offices at the prisons to handle inmates'
complaints. Health care at the Jackson facilities has been under federal
oversight for years, the result of a long-standing lawsuit by prisoners
represented by the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison
Project. Enslen cited delays causing prisoners to not get proper treatment
until it was too late. He said a prisoner deserves to serve his sentence
and nothing more. "What he does not deserve is a de facto and
unauthorized death penalty at the hands of a callous and dysfunctional
health care system that regularly fails to treat life-threatening
illness," Enslen wrote. Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said he
couldn't comment specifically on the ruling because state attorneys were
still reviewing it. He said, however, that it's an "ongoing
battle" to recruit and retain health care workers to work inside
prisons. Last month, Enslen issued a separate decision criticizing the
state's care of mentally ill inmates and halting the use of non-medical, punitive
restraints on prisoners. That decision came after a 21-year-old mentally
ill inmate died in August after spending four days naked inside a hot,
isolated cell at the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson. An
autopsy determined the inmate, Timothy Joe Souders, died accidentally of
hyperthermia and dehydration. Elizabeth Alexander, director of the National
Prison Project, said the judge noted in Thursday's ruling that prisoners
who need specialty care face too many delays. Between 30 and 40 percent of
specialty care wasn't provided within the time deemed medically necessary,
Enslen said. Of six randomly selected cases, four involved delays that
could have caused unnecessary death or suffering, he said. It took 40 days
to test a patient with blood in his urine. Another inmate complained of a
mole on his back, and despite a doctor saying it should be removed
surgically, there were many delays. Later testing showed malignant melanoma
and that the cancer had spread while the patient was awaiting treatment.
"This is a very significant decision," Alexander said. "Our
hope is that finally the state will turn the corner and understand it has
to clean up a dysfunctional medical care system." The ruling covers
three of the five prisons in Jackson, Marlan said. Each prison typically
houses about 1,000 inmates. Gov. Jennifer Granholm in August ordered an
independent review of prison health care. The state earlier this week
picked an outside agency, the National Commission on Correctional Health
Care, to conduct the review. "That should give us a good idea on where
we stand," Marlan said. The case is Hadix v. Caruso, et al.
November 14, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
In the end, it took a federal judge to get it right. Michigan's state
bureaucracy, against all available evidence, has been in denial about
Michigan's deadly and dysfunctional prison health care system. Even Gov.
Jennifer Granholm's pledge in August to order an outside review of health
care in Michigan's nearly 50 prisons is beginning to smell like an election-year
ploy. The review was supposed to start in early October but the state
hasn't even decided who is going to do it. The strong wording in the
preliminary injunction he issued Monday shows that U.S. District Judge
Richard Enslen of Kalamzoo had clearly run out of patience with the state.
He told the Department of Corrections and its private contractor for
primary services, Correctional Medical Services of Missouri, to either
treat sick inmates or be held in contempt of court and jailed. "You
are valuable providers of life-saving services and medicines," Enslen
wrote. "You are not coat racks who collect government paychecks while
your work is taken to the sexton for burial. The days of dead wood in the
Department of Corrections are over, as are the days of CMS intentionally
delaying referrals and care for craven profit motives."
November 14, 2006 Baltimore
Sun
A federal judge has ordered prison officials in Michigan to immediately
cease the use of non-medical, punitive restraints following the death of a
mentally ill inmate who died after four days spent naked and shackled in an
isolated cell. U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen's sharply worded order,
issued Monday, directly addressed the case of Timothy Joe Souders, who was
serving up to four years for resisting arrest, assault and destroying
police property. Souders, 21, spent most of his last four days naked inside
an isolation cell at the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in
Jackson, his arms and legs bound in shackles and sometimes lying in his own
urine. He died Aug. 6, two hours after jail staff removed his restraints.
"The court finds that the defendant's practice constitutes torture and
violates the Eighth Amendment," Enslen wrote in his ruling. "Its
cessation is required immediately to prevent further loss of life, loss of
dignity and damage to both inmates and correctional officers." His
order also requires the state's Department of Corrections to submit a plan
within 45 days for how to improve mental health care for inmates. The state
has contracted with Correctional Medical Services Inc., a St. Louis
company, to provide health care to prisoners. Corrections spokesman Russ
Marlan said the department was still reviewing the order and had no comment
Monday. Following media reports that examined issues highlighted by
Souders' death in August, Gov. Jennifer Granholm called for an independent
review of health care in the state's prisons. Souders' family last month
filed a federal lawsuit against CMS. The official cause of Souders' death
has not been announced.
October 26, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has pledged to do what's necessary to fix the
state's troubled prison health care system. To do that, the governor will
need the truth -- straight with no chaser -- from the independent review
she ordered in August. But getting it won't be easy. The people who really
know what's up -- prison employees and inmates who use the health care
system -- won't speak freely. They'll fear retaliation, unless the
department offers them anonymity and protection. So far, state
administrators don't seem even to be aware of the problem, but the people
who live and work in the system are. Inmate Henry Donald Franklin, 43,
testified in federal court earlier this month about the death of 21-year-old
mentally ill inmate Timothy Joe Souders. Before testifying, Franklin
apparently took some payback for talking to prisoners' attorneys who were
investigating Souders' death. Franklin was locked up near the isolation
cell where Souders died on Aug. 6, after spending most of his last four
days strapped to a steel table in oppressive heat. In a Kalamazoo
courtroom, Franklin said he had heard Souders, who might have died from
dehydration, choking and asking for water. Franklin, who is legally blind,
said he kicked his cell door on several occasions and yelled for help.
Officers told him to shut up and mind his own business, he said, finally
threatening to put him in restraints. I visited Franklin last week at
Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson, where he's serving
30-50 years for unarmed assault with intent to steal. After he had spoken
to the attorneys, Franklin said, someone broke his typewriter into four
pieces and pushed in the grill of his radio. He also said pain medication
and eyedrops for his glaucoma had been withheld for about a month. Prison
officials say they have investigated the matter and deny the allegations
that Franklin made to me and under oath in federal court. "No one's
given me any help since I talked," Franklin told me through the glass
in a prison segregation visiting area. "They left me hanging. If I
would have known, I wouldn't have done this (testified)." Even
high-level administrators could face reprisals for bucking the system. Dr.
Chris Samy became regional medical director in Jackson in February. But
Samy, a corporation medical director for 10 years, told me she was forced
to resign her Corrections post in June. Her job was to monitor health care
and oversee Missouri-based Correctional Medical Services Inc., a controversial
private contractor delivering primary medical care in Michigan prisons.
Still, Samy said she had no authority or support to make necessary changes.
While at Jackson, Samy said three or four diabetic inmates died because
blood sugar reactions were not properly monitored. "Most medically
necessary procedures were denied or withheld from the inmates, resulting in
long-term illness or death," she said. When Samy complained, she said
prison medical administrators ignored her and finally made her so
uncomfortable that she had to resign. She cited a cozy relationship between
the department and CMS. In fact, even an MDOC consultant concluded this
year that Corrections staff are too protective of CMS. "No one has the
guts to say, 'Do what has to be done,' " said Samy, a suburban Detroit
resident in her mid-50s. MDOC spokesman Russ Marlan said the department is
investigating Samy's allegations. He said she made no formal complaints
while employed by the department. Also troubling is an alleged
"witness promotion plan." A civil service grievance filed against
MDOC last summer alleges that Director Patricia Caruso approved transfers
and promotions for about 10 employees who testified in 2004 on the
department's behalf during a 27-day grievance hearing against former Pine
River Warden Jan Trombley. On the flip side, the 10 or more employees who
testified against the department did not get them. Deputy Director Dennis
Straub made it clear in an earlier meeting that the department would deny
opportunities to employees who went against it, said East Lansing attorney
Robert G. Huber, who represents the employees. Employees called it the
"witness promotion plan." According to one MDOC employee, Straub
said "staff who don't (support the department) can find a home
elsewhere." Caruso denies the allegations and has asked the Michigan
State Police to investigate. My opinion: Caruso has too much integrity to
sanction anything that shady. But the point is, employees undoubtedly will
feel pressure to protect the department during an outside investigation.
All these allegations underscore how hard it will be to get solid
information. The no-snitch rule operates not only on the street, but also
inside criminal justice agencies. Granholm should make sure the people who
work and live in Michigan prisons feel safe enough to tell the truth.
Employees and inmates must get anonymity and immunity, or the governor's
so-called independent review will be little more than a whitewash. JEFF
GERRITT is a Free Press editorial writer. Contact him at gerritt@freepress.com
or 313-222-6585.
October 5, 2006 Lansing
State Journal
The family of a mentally ill inmate who died after spending most of his
last four days naked inside an isolated prison cell has filed a lawsuit
against a company hired to provide medical care to state prisoners. The
lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit claims that Timothy
Joe Souders, 21, of Adrian, was restrained to a bed and left to lie naked
in his urine and feces without access to food. He died on Aug. 6, two hours
after staff at the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson
removed his restraints. Ken Fields, a spokesman for medical contractor
Correctional Medical Services Inc. in St. Louis, Mo., said the company was
reviewing the lawsuit and he couldn't comment on patients. Russ Marlan, a
spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, told The Detroit News
that Souders' death was under investigation, and he could not comment on
the claims in the lawsuit. Souders was serving 1 to 4 years for charges
including resisting arrest and assault.
September 24, 2006 Grand
Rapids Press
In his cell at a Jackson prison, Joseph Griffin was dying, unable to
convince his doctors he needed the care that could save his life. Tests to diagnose
his illness were repeatedly delayed by doctors working for Correctional
Medical Services (CMS), the firm contracted to provide care for the state's
more than 50,000 inmates. After five months of suffering with a swollen
right arm and legs so bloated he no longer could walk, Griffin, serving
time for shoplifting, died May 9, 2005. He wasn't the only Michigan inmate
who died last year due to inadequate medical care. In January, Larry
Ervans, a 61-year-old window washer doing time for selling drugs, bled to
death in his cell two days after complaining to the medical staff about
abdominal pain. The prison doctors didn't order a simple test that could
have detected a bleeding ulcer. In February, Hakim Muhammad, 45, convicted
on a drug charge, died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, untreated for months as a
doctor repeatedly ignored requests to examine him. When he complained of
severe pain in his hip and legs, the doctor canceled his medication and
took away his wheelchair. In June, Steven Boals, 52, convicted of armed
robbery and auto theft, died of lung cancer two months after complaining of
fatigue, weight loss and a lump on his chest. During the last two months of
his life, he suffered in pain as a prison doctor repeatedly failed to
examine him or order treatment. Later that month, John McRae, a 70-year-old
convicted murderer, died in his cell after the prison's medical staff
failed to follow an outside doctor's instructions on caring for his many
health problems, including heart failure, diabetes and internal bleeding.
In each case, the death certificates list the cause as "natural,"
but their deaths could have been avoided, or their suffering at least
alleviated, if they had received proper medical care, according to an
independent doctor who reviewed the cases. Dr. Robert Cohen, appointed by
U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen to monitor health care in the Jackson
prisons, cited numerous examples of inmates suffering and dying due to
understaffing, misdiagnosis and delays in treatment. Cohen, a nationally
recognized expert on prison medical care, declined to be interviewed for
this story, but in his report to Enslen last September, he cited numerous
"significant problems with the care being provided to the sickest
prisoners," particularly at the Duane L. Waters Hospital inside the
Jackson prison complex. "It was routine in Duane Waters Hospital for
nurses to request physicians to examine patients and for physicians not to
come," Cohen wrote. "I have never before heard of physicians
failing to respond to nursing requests to evaluate a patient, but according
to the medical records I reviewed, and according to the nursing staff at
DWH, this is routine." After reading Cohen's report, Enslen found the
health care in the Jackson facilities amounted to cruel and unusual punishment
under the Eighth Amendment, and he ordered the state to come up with a plan
to improve it. State Corrections Department officials said they are
implementing a plan, although they disagreed with Cohen's conclusion that
health care in the prisons is substandard. "We do not necessarily
agree with everything Dr. Cohen said in his characterizations of these
cases," said Richard Russell, head of the department's bureau of
health-care services. "What you have to understand is, in any health-care
system, there are cases that don't go the way you want them to go."
One doctor repeatedly faulted by Cohen for providing inferior care was
forced to resign, although Russell called the doctor "a qualified
physician. I'm saying I don't believe he needed to be let go." He
contended Cohen focused on the worst cases and "made generalizations
that are not typical of our system." But in August, Gov. Jennifer
Granholm ordered an independent review of the entire prison health-care
system following the death of 21-year-old mentally ill inmate. Timothy Joe
Souders, doing one to four years for assault, resisting arrest and
destroying police property, had spent most of his last four days in an
isolation cell, his arms and legs shackled to a steel bed. Although Souders
suffered numerous physical and mental illnesses and the Corrections
Department had issued a heat advisory, no doctor visited him during those
four days. His death "was a terrible unnecessary tragedy," Cohen
wrote in an Aug. 14 letter to Enslen. " ... There are a number of
additional continuing serious deficiencies in the medical program which
require immediate action, some of which may have contributed to the abject
failure to provide Mr. S. with medical care. ... This is an emergency
that's gone on for too long and is having an extremely adverse effect on
patient care." While Cohen's reports covered only the medical
facilities inside the sprawling Jackson prison complex, some inmates'
rights advocates contend the quality of care there is typical of the state's
entire penal system. "It's a nightmare," said David Santacroce, a
University of Michigan law professor whose students have filed lawsuits for
the inmates. "There's an incentive for them (CMS) to keep costs down.
The less they spend on medical care, the higher their profit. It's a mess,
and it shows no signs of getting better here or anywhere else CMS is
present." Patricia Streeter, an attorney in a class action lawsuit
against the Department of Corrections, called health care in the prisons
"appalling." That lawsuit led Enslen to appoint Cohen to monitor
health care in the Jackson prisons two years ago. Prison health care never
was all that great, Streeter said, but in the nine years since CMS took
over, it has deteriorated. "There are a lot of cases of misdiagnosis,"
she said. "They don't catch conditions quickly. Screening tests are
ordered with no follow-up." Carla Ringleka's family believes her death
Aug. 28 could have been prevented if doctors at the Robert Scott
Correctional Facility had diagnosed her breast cancer and started treatment
earlier. Ringleka, of Stanton, convicted of second-degree murder in the
death of her husband, first complained of a lump in her right breast in
February 2001, but a prison health-care worker dismissed it as "fatty
tissue." Seven months later, a mammogram showed the lump was cancer,
which by then had spread to her lungs, liver and bones. She died awaiting a
decision on her request for a medical commutation. Robert Walsh, chief
psychologist in the Jackson prisons at the time CMS took over, accused the
company of "horrendous neglect." "There's a complete failure
of the bureaucracy in the central office (of the Corrections Department) to
monitor this contract," he said. Walsh, who retired in 1999, is
helping Prison Legal Services, a nonprofit organization based in Jackson,
prepare a report on the quality of prison health care. St. Louis-based CMS
provides health care for some 250,000 inmates in 26 states and 300
facilities. In its home state of Missouri, inmates accused the company of
intentionally delaying or denying care for life-threatening illnesses. CMS
paid $525,000 to avoid prosecution for manslaughter in the death of a North
Carolina inmate. Health care in Michigan's prisons was provided by state
employees until 1997, when former Gov. John Engler's administration signed
a 10-year contract with United Correctional Managed Care, a for-profit
company in Anaheim, Calif. The following year, CMS bought some of United's
assets and took over the contract. The idea was to stem the rapidly rising
cost of health care for the state's growing prison population. Despite the
privatization, the cost of prison health care continued to rise, from $115
million in 1997 to a projected $190 million in the fiscal year beginning
Oct. 1. The average annual cost of health care for each inmate rose from
$2,573 in 1997 to $3,690 in 2005. Yet the Corrections Department boasts
that since 1997, the state has saved $86 million on prisoner health care.
The state pays CMS the actual cost of health care plus an administrative
fee. The contract includes financial incentives for CMS to hold down costs,
but Corrections Department officials insist the provision does not prompt
CMS to deny care. Dr. Jerry Walden, an Ann Arbor physician and former
medical director for a federal prison in Indiana, disagrees, claiming CMS
has a financial incentive to delay and deny treatment for sick inmates.
"I'd like to see them get rid of for-profit health care," said
Walden, hired as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. A CMS spokesman
denied the company delays or denies treatment to maximize its profits.
"To the contrary," CMS spokesman Ken Fields said, "CMS
health-care professionals are trained and encouraged to use their
experience and judgment to decide what treatment is appropriate for a
patient."
September 1, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Timothy Joe Souders died on Aug. 6, after spending most of his last
four days bound naked to a steel bed in four-point restraints, soaked in
his own urine. At 21, Souders' life was tragically short and, in many ways,
just plain tragic. Mentally ill and unable to get help, Souders ended up
alone and dead in a hot, segregated cell at Southern Michigan Correctional
Facility in Jackson. His parents did not know how he died. Steven Souders
and Theresa Vaughn of Adrian learned the details two weeks later from my
Aug. 20 report in the Free Press. A woman who played bingo at the hall
where Timothy Souders worked as a caller brought a copy of the paper to his
memorial service that day. Steven Souders, 41, a journeyman machine repair
worker, said the Michigan Department of Corrections told him his son died
in his sleep. MDOC denies that, but Timothy Souders' death helped push Gov.
Jennifer Granholm to order an overdue independent review of prison health
care. His story touched a nerve in Michigan, which has closed most of its
mental health facilities during the last few decades. Thousands of the
state's mentally ill have ended up on the street or in homeless shelters,
jails or prisons. Geoffrey Fieger's law firm will file a wrongful death
lawsuit against MDOC employees and Correctional Medical Services Inc.,
attorney Paul Broschay told me this week. CMS is the private,
Missouri-based company under contract for primary care physicians and other
services in Michigan state prisons. Souders was screaming for help, but no
one was listening. He went to prison on Nov. 1, having received a one- to
four-year bit for assault, resisting arrest and destroying police property.
It turned into a death sentence. Prison was no place for Souders, who had a
bipolar disorder. He took medications for multiple conditions, including
manic depression, psychosis and hypertension. Souders received seven
misconduct reports: four for simply being out of place and another three
for fighting, assaulting a prisoner and destroying property. Roughly 24% of
Michigan's nearly 50,000 inmates have a history of mental illness,
Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said. MDOC must do a better job of
accommodating them, including improving communication between security and
health care staff, and between Corrections and the Department of Community
Health. Mental health staff at the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility
tried to transfer Souders to Huron Valley Center in Ypsilanti, a
psychiatric hospital for prisoners, but a transfer coordinator working for
Community Health failed to move him. The state Health Department has
reassigned that coordinator and is investigating the incident. Still,
someone from Corrections, knowing Souders' condition, should have had enough
sense or sympathy to pick up a phone and try to get him out of that
segregated cell in Jackson. At one point, the heat index probably reached
106, and medications put Souders at high risk for heat-related injury or
death.
August 28, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Gov. Jennifer Granholm took the right first step in ordering an independent
review of state prison health care last week, following an investigation by
the Free Press editorial page. Now she must make sure the review is done
right. If not, longstanding practices will continue that endanger inmate
health, encourage more lawsuits, invite further federal control of state
prisons, and provide practically no oversight of the $280 million a year
taxpayers spend on prison medical and mental health care. A proper review
must include confidential interviews with current and former prison
employees, as well as with the staff of outside hospitals under contract to
treat inmates. People must feel free to speak their minds without fear of
retaliation. Investigators must also talk confidentially with prisoners,
who are too often discounted by prison medical staff. Prisoner advocacy
groups such as Prison Legal Services of Michigan in Jackson and the
American Friends Service Committee in Ann Arbor can provide valuable
insights. They have worked on prison health care problems for years.
August 22, 2006 Daily
Telegram
The parents of a former Adrian man who died this month in a Jackson prison
say they’re angry about the way he was treated while in custody — and that
it took an investigation by the Detroit Free Press for them to find out
about it. Timothy Joe Souders, 21, died Aug. 6 at the Southern Michigan
Correctional Facility, where he was serving a 23-month to four-year
sentence for felonious assault. He had pleaded guilty in June 2005 to
stealing paintball equipment from the Adrian Meijer store and threatening
store employees and a police officer with a knife. He was sentenced in
October. The Free Press reported Sunday that Souders spent most of his last
four days shackled to his bed in a hot cell despite being on medication
that left him at high risk for heat-related injury or death — but the man’s
father, Steven Souders of Adrian, said he was told only that his son had
died in his sleep. “The state of Michigan has been lying to me since the
day Timothy died,” Steven Souders said Monday. “They’re trying to cover up
their wrongdoing.” But Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the Michigan Department
of Corrections, said he believes proper procedures were followed when
prison officials placed Souders in segregation and had him restrained. He
said prisoners who are restrained in the manner Souders was held are
monitored every 15 minutes and released every two hours for a bathroom
break.
August 22, 2006 Detroit
News
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered an independent review of health care in
Michigan prisons as a result of cases that included the Aug. 6 death of an
inmate who had spent four days in an isolation cell. "The governor is
very concerned about the issue of prison health care," said Granholm
press secretary Liz Boyd. "We want to make sure the prisoners are
getting proper care. We also want to make sure taxpayers' dollars are being
wisely spent." The state's Corrections Department has a $70
million-a-year contract with Correctional Medical Services of Missouri to
provide physical care to inmates and spends about $90 million annually on
mental health services through community-based agencies. Both programs will
undergo review. Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said the state has had
its contract with Correctional Medical Services for 10 years. The company
supplies prison doctors and other health care workers. It also negotiates
contracts with specialized care providers outside the prison system.
August 21, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Michigan legislators remain blissfully ignorant about a big and growing
part of the state budget, despite widespread evidence of almost criminal
incompetence and negligence in how the money is spent. The state shells out
$190 million a year on prison health care, including more than $70 million
to Correctional Medical Services Inc., a controversial Missouri-based
company, for primary care physicians and other services. But there's ample
evidence, for anyone who cares to look, that the state is not only violating
its constitutional duty to provide adequate medical care to prisoners, but
also spending more on serious medical problems that could have been
prevented. Just in the last week, I reported on a 41-year-old inmate who
went home to die after prison doctors failed to treat his cancer, and
another 21-year-old prisoner who died in Jackson, after spending most of
his last four days strapped to a bed in four-point restraints in a hot
cell. Michigan is inviting further court intervention into how it runs its nearly
50 prisons. Still, legislators have failed to provide real oversight. Even
Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming, one of the state's most
capable, experienced and knowledgeable legislators, appeared clueless when
I asked him recently about the issue. Practically the only information
legislators receive on the CMS contract is a one-page summary twice a year.
A July 1 report to the Legislature summed up the quality of prison health
care in one sentence: "Investigation of prisoner grievances, family
complaints and issues brought to the MDOC by legislators have assured that
the quality of services provided by CMS meets MDOC expectations." That
statement mocks the Michigan Department of Corrections' mantra of
"Expecting Excellence Every Day." Court documents, medical
records and interviews with dozens of prisoners and their advocates show
that incompetent and negligent medical care, misdiagnoses, delayed or
denied treatment, withheld pain medication and poor accommodations for
people with disabilities are common in Michigan prisons -- and have been
for decades. MDOC has been under a federal consent decree in a case called
Hadix since 1985 to improve medical care and other conditions at state
prisons in Jackson. Even so, medical care has probably gotten worse since
2000, when CMS took over the contract for primary care. CMS has maintained
it "provides medical care that's evidence-backed and medically
necessary, and those services are provided at the community standard of
care." But there's plenty of evidence of serious, publicly reported
problems with the company's performance in state prison systems around the
country. A report filed this month in U.S. District Court by Dr. Jerry S.
Walden of Ann Arbor, an expert witness in the Hadix case, concludes that
Michigan's problems are getting worse, not better, and pose a serious
health risk. Walden found that delays and disruptions in patient care were
routine, sometimes resulting in death, and even basic medical records were
poorly maintained and organized. Due to a "clerical error,"
Walden reports, almost no death certificates were recorded this spring for
inmates who died in the Jackson prisons covered by the Hadix decree. Walden
described the system as a "culture of failure," lacking leadership
and unable to prevent unnecessary suffering and death. "I am convinced
that the necessary leadership will never be in place until CMS is
ousted," he concluded. Contact JEFF GERRITT at jgerritt@freepress.com
or 313-222-6585.
August 20, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Timothy Joe Souders lived a hard life and, on Aug. 6, died an even harder
death in a segregated prison cell in Jackson. Souders, 21, spent most of
his last four days naked, without physician or psychiatric care, his arms
and legs bound to a steel bed in four-point restraints. He was in a bare,
all-steel isolation cell about the size of a walk-in closet. He went to the
cell Aug. 2 because of unruly behavior. He lay in urine -- "agitated,
disoriented, psychotic" -- as the cell felt close to 106 degrees at
times, according to a report written by a federal monitor assigned to
scrutinize medical care for Jackson prisons. Souders was found dead on his
bed around 4 p.m., two hours after staff had removed his shackles. The
death of the severely mentally ill inmate is a glaring example of a
troubled state prison health care system, riddled with misdiagnoses,
delayed or denied treatment and inadequate accommodations for people with
disabilities. The Jackson prison complex, including the Southern Michigan
Correctional Facility where Souders died, has been under federal oversight
for more than 20 years. Corrections officials are investigating the death.
Autopsy results might not be available for two or three weeks. The Michigan
Attorney General's Office, which represents the Department of Corrections,
disputed the account by the federal monitor, whose report this week brought
Souders' death to light. "The governor's office is very concerned
about the issue of prisoner health care," Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said Saturday. "We want to make sure that
prisoners are getting appropriate health care and that taxpayer dollars are
being spent wisely. Be assured, the issue of prisoner health care will be
reviewed and, if changes are warranted, changes will be made." The
Corrections Department had issued a heat alert the day Souders went into
isolation. Such alerts are issued when the combined temperature and
humidity index reaches 90 degrees. Alerts are supposed to trigger actions
to ensure that inmates have adequate water and ventilation. Dr. Robert
Cohen, the court-appointed monitor, uncovered Souders' death during a visit
to the Jackson medical complex on Aug. 8-10. Disturbed by what he found, he
issued a special report to U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen in Kalamazoo,
who is enforcing federal oversight of the facilities. "Although the
circumstances of Mr. S.' death overwhelmed my visit ... there are a number
of additional continuing serious deficiencies in the medical program which
require immediate attention, some of which may have contributed to the
abject failure to provide Mr. S. with medical care," Cohen wrote.
"There is a critical shortage of medical staff" at the Jackson
facilities "and serious medical staff shortages throughout the medical
program. This is an emergency situation which has gone on for too long and
is having an extremely adverse effect on patient care." Souders' death
was "predictable and preventible," Cohen wrote, "a terrible,
unnecessary tragedy." Souders was serving a sentence of 1 to 4 years
for resisting arrest, assault and destroying police property. Because he
was taking medications for multiple medical conditions -- including
manic-depression, psychosis and hypertension -- he was at high risk for
heat-related injury or death, Cohen wrote. Still, a physician did not see
him from the time he was restrained until he died. He was seen and
monitored by nurses, however, Department of Corrections spokesman Russ
Marlan said. Mental health staff at the Southern Michigan Correctional
Facility tried to transfer Souders to Huron Valley Center in Ypsilanti, a
psychiatric hospital for prisoners, but he wasn't moved, Marlan said. At
least one person involved in the transfer has been removed, Marlan said.
The department is reviewing policies on prisoner restraint. In June, the
Free Press reported on Lloyd Byron Martell, whose cancerous polyp had gone
untreated. Martell, 41, was sent home last week to die. In response to
Souders' death, Cohen called an emergency meeting Wednesday with prison
administrators, resulting in some of the Department of Corrections review.
Cohen's investigation could take weeks and will include a review of tapes,
incident reports and medical records. Critics say the Legislature, governor
and correction officials have failed to properly oversee the $190 million a
year the state spends on prison medical care, including the state's
$70-million contract with Correctional Medical Services Inc.
"Responsibility is so dispersed between state agencies, a private
contractor, line staff and administrators," said Sandra Bailiff
Girard, executive director of Prison Legal Services of Michigan. "No
one is held responsible -- so there's little incentive to follow the
rules." Contact JEFF GERRITT at jgerritt@freepress.com or 313-222-6585.
August 16, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Wearing prison khakis and a white T-shirt, Lloyd Byron Martell limped
off a Greyhound bus in downtown Detroit Tuesday afternoon, looking tired
but oh so happy. Smiling, he pushed a raggedy wheelchair with a cardboard
box in the seat that held his medical supplies, including a month's worth
of morphine and colostomy bags. Free at last, Martell walked into his
mother's arms and stayed there, quietly, for a minute, before reaching over
her shoulder and shaking his stepfather's hand. "Made it," I
heard him say. At 41, Martell has less than a year to live. His colon
cancer has spread to his chest and the relentless beast can't be stopped.
Still, his worst fear is over: He won't die in a state prison in Jackson.
He was released Tuesday. Like hundreds of inmates, Martell got a double
sentence: one handed down by the court, another executed by the lame prison
healthcare system. In Martell's case, a one- to four-year bit in 2004 for
fleeing a police officer turned into a death sentence. Martell, driving
with a suspended license, took off after Redford police tried to pull him
over for a broken rear window. It was a knucklehead move, but he didn't
deserve to die for it. I first wrote about Martell on June 19, revealing
that his cancer probably could have been contained if doctors had treated
it 20 months ago. In December 2004, Martell had what he thought was a
hemorrhoid lanced. Medical records show it was actually a cancerous polyp
that doctors ignored. His story became part of a Free Press investigation
into the medical care provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections
and Correctional Medical Services Inc. of Missouri, a private for-profit
company under contract to provide primary care physicians and other
services. In hundreds of cases, diseases have been misdiagnosed,
undiagnosed or treatment is delayed or denied. When I talked to Martell's
mother, Donna Martin, three weeks ago, she thought her son might die in
prison. Martell was scheduled for a parole hearing on July 11, but the
department canceled it because of a clerical error, rescheduling it for
Aug. 15. Delaying Martell's release was inexcusable. He's dying, he's a
non-violent offender and he had already served his minimum sentence. With
all the grievances he was filing and the medical care he required,
Corrections should have been happy to let him go. I called Corrections
spokesman Russ Marlan, planning to write a column, and the department moved
up the hearing to Aug. 2. He got his parole. Without help, however, sick and
dying inmates have practically no way out. Their families are the only
outside people who know, and they can't even get a return phone call from
prison medical staff. At least Martell will die at home, surrounding by
people who love him. Monday was a good day for Martin, 60, who lives with
her husband, German Martin, in Dearborn. Almost giddy, she told me about
the food she bought for Martell's welcome-home dinner: chicken and
dumplings, chocolate chip cookies. She picked up a toothbrush, deodorant,
mouthwash, shower gel, shampoo, razors, sheets, pillows and a comforter for
the bed. "He's going to get anything he wants today," Martin
said. What Martell wants before he dies is a little peace -- and justice.
He's filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against CMS and the state. He
stood in the Greyhound lobby, filled with joy and rage. "They tried to
kill me in there, but it's not over," Martell told me, losing the
smile for a minute. "It's going to be a short battle but a good
one." For the next few hours, though, he enjoyed the moment: the
Whopper his mother bought for him on the way home, his
chicken-and-dumplings dinner, the fresh clean sheets and pillow he lay on.
Today, the work that will fill the rest of his days begins. He and his
mother will need to arrange medical care, as well as Social Security and
Medicaid benefits. They'll shop for new clothes, too, something without
prisoner No. 335246 on it. Martell will never get back his health but he
has regained his freedom. On Tuesday afternoon, that was enough. JEFF
GERRITT is a Free Press editorial writer. Contact him at
gerritt@freepress.com or 313-222-6585.
June 23, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
No one fully understands the state of medical care in Michigan prisons,
but snapshots of that system from an investigation by Jeff Gerritt of the
Free Press editorial board suggest it's dangerously dysfunctional.
Legislators should not wait until the state's contract with Correctional
Medical Services Inc. ends on March 31. They must provide more oversight
now or invite further court intervention in the prison system, encourage
costly lawsuits and perpetuate a standard of care that is inhumane and
unconstitutional. Medical records, court documents and interviews with
inmates and advocates show longstanding systemic problems with the medical
care delivered to Michigan's 50,000 inmates. These include misdiagnosis,
delayed or denied treatment and inadequate accommodation for people with
disabilities. Legislators can start fixing these problems by appointing a
medical ombudsman to investigate hundreds of inmate complaints about health
care. That office should employ a physician, or at least have access to
consultants who are doctors or medical experts. A medical ombudsman has
become even more necessary since the Legislature closed the general office
of the Corrections ombudsman in 2003. Now, the worst abuses stand little
chance of even getting heard. Second, the state should create a streamlined
grievance process for prisoner medical complaints. General grievance
procedures are lengthy, cumbersome and often ineffective -- definitely not
suited for addressing issues that potentially mean life or death. Finally,
lawmakers ought to order a review of prison healthcare to determine how CMS
is performing. They should ensure that Corrections exercises proper
oversight and that state health care administrators wield the authority to
change how CMS operates. Now, the Legislature receives practically no
information about CMS, even though the Missouri-based company receives
roughly $65 million a year from Michigan taxpayers. A prison sentence
rightfully deprives an offender of his freedom. But it ought not subject
prisoners to aggravated health problems, unnecessary suffering and even
death. In one case, an inmate serving a one- to four-year sentence for
fleeing a police officer was diagnosed with cancer but not treated for
nearly a year. He now has only a year to live. A veritable death sentence
for a minor crime is unjust by any standard of decency, and legislators can
no longer claim they don't know. To refuse to act now is practically
criminal.
June 19, 2006 Detroit
Free Press
Michigan doesn't have the death penalty, but the state of health care
in its prison system makes you wonder. Prisoners who get lousy health care
don't get much sympathy from politicians or the public, especially when so
many people on the outside are uninsured and struggling to get decent care.
Still, most people would agree that negligent medical care leading to
serious health problems, virtual torture and, yes, even death should not be
part of a prison sentence. It has happened, though, over and over, to
hundreds and perhaps thousands of inmates. More than 95% of the 50,000
people in state prisons will eventually get out and go back to their
hometowns and families. It would be better for everyone, from relatives to
taxpayers, if they returned in reasonably good health and not, for example,
with untreated infectious diseases such as hepatitis C. Yet the quality of
prison health care seems to have gotten worse since 2000, when the state
contracted with Correctional Medical Services Inc. for primary care
physicians and other services. It should be getting better. The Michigan
Department of Corrections has been under a federal consent decree since
1985 to improve medical care and other conditions at prisons in Jackson.
"The medical neglect seems worse, not better," Patricia Streeter
of Ann Arbor, an attorney for the prisoners in the Hadix case, told me.
"CMS has not adequately supervised its doctors or made timely
specialist referrals, and MDOC appears unwilling or unable to see that it
does." Medical records, court documents and rulings, and interviews
with inmates and advocates show a pattern of misdiagnosis, delayed or
denied treatment, withheld pain medication and inadequate accommodations
for people with disabilities. "If you read the Hadix findings, any
individual case might be egregious, but it's the systematic failure that's
gut-wrenching -- that really turns your stomach," said Paul Reingold,
director of the University of Michigan Clinical Law Program, which handles
prisoner rights cases. Last year, a diabetic inmate died after suffering at
least 15 episodes of hypoglycemia, some so severe he fell unconscious.
"Crisis after crisis occurred, and yet his caregivers did not
implement a coordinated care plan," Dr. Jerry Walden, the prisoners'
medical expert, wrote in a sworn statement in federal court. Despite the
health problems, nurses transferred the inmate back to the general prison
population in early 2005. "Sadly, CMS, MDOC and nursing can each point
a finger and nothing will change," Walden stated. "There is a
system problem and one that ... leadership needs to address." In
examining 16 recent prison deaths, Walden found patients with
life-threatening diseases who were kept in their cells. Others suffered
unnecessary episodes of severe hypoglycemia. One prisoner was taken off his
inhaler despite chronic heart disease and failure, and another suffered an
almost two-year delay in the diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer.
Corrections administrators say most inmates are healthier and getting
better medical care than they did when they were free. But even the poorest
person outside prison has options that prisoners don't CMS spokesman Ken
Fields said he couldn't comment specifically on individual cases, but said
CMS "provides medical care that's evidence-backed and medically
necessary, and those services are provided at the community standard of
care." The company, founded in 1979 and based in St. Louis, Mo., has
prison and jail health care contracts in 26 states, with 80 employees in
Michigan. Corrections says CMS has performed adequately and saved the state
nearly $10 million a year, partly by negotiating cost-effective specialty
care contracts with outside physicians. But sworn statements by experts
filed in federal court in 2002, after reviewing thousands of documents,
showed that dozens of prisoners with urgent and emergency symptoms were not
seen for days. Nor did nurses respond properly to written medical requests,
sometimes called kites. In some cases, treatment denied or delayed meant
unnecessary suffering. A patient with a suspected broken shoulder had an
appointment scheduled six days after his written request. One patient
vomiting blood was not seen for five days. An inmate requesting a
four-point cane because he kept falling and injuring himself did not get an
appointment. In other cases, poor medical care probably led to death.
Earlier this month, Dr. Robert Cohen, the associate monitor on medical
issues for Hadix, informed U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen of Kalamazoo
that many prisoners with chronic medical problems, including seizure
disorders, HIV infection, hypertension and diabetes, had not received their
medications for about five days. You won't hear much about any of these
cases. Screwups and poor quality care are shielded by the secrecy of prison
life in general, the confidentiality of medical records, and the rights to
withhold information that private companies enjoy, even when they get
millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Malpractice suits, which could
discourage poor medical practices, have little effect on prisons.
Unsympathetic juries, hurdles to getting inmates' medical records, and
compensation caps under the Prison Litigation Reform Act discourage
attorneys from taking any but the most serious and clear-cut cases.
April 22, 2004
Hepatitis C infection among Michigan prisoners is less widespread than
feared -- affecting an estimated 13.8 percent of the population -- a new
study finds, but the state still needs millions to treat inmates at risk of
developing liver failure, corrections officials say. "I am
highly skeptical because it's so out of whack with what other states have
found, and there's no good independent reason why Michigan should be any
different than any other state," said David Santacroce, an assistant
professor of law at the University of Michigan who has reviewed 200 records
of infected inmates. Santacroce and other critics charge that
Michigan corrections officials and a private company the state uses for
medical care, Correctional Medical Services based in St. Louis, Missouri,
are not treating inmates properly. "There are hundreds, if not
thousands, of people dying of this disease because the Michigan Department
of Corrections and their primary health provider, CMS, does not want to
spend the money," Santacroce said. (Lansing Bureau)
Hepatitis C
infection among Michigan prisoners is less widespread than feared --
affecting an estimated 13.8 percent of the population -- a new study finds,
but the state still needs millions to treat inmates at risk of developing
liver failure, corrections officials say. "I am highly skeptical
because it's so out of whack with what other states have found, and there's
no good independent reason why Michigan should be any different than any
other state," said David Santacroce, an assistant professor of law at
the University of Michigan who has reviewed 200 records of infected
inmates. Santacroce and other critics charge that Michigan corrections
officials and a private company the state uses for medical care,
Correctional Medical Services based in St. Louis, Missouri, are not
treating inmates properly. "There are hundreds, if not
thousands, of people dying of this disease because the Michigan Department
of Corrections and their primary health provider, CMS, does not want to
spend the money," Santacroce said. (Lansing Bureau, April 22,
2004)
Middleton
Jail,
Middleton, Massachusetts
April 20, 2006 Boston Herald
Just like the 1938 melodrama “Prison Nurse,” passions boiled over
behind bars for real-life slammer medic Sandra Rosa when she became fevered
for a caddish con she met inside the Middleton jail. But Rosa’s romance did
not have a happy ending. By the time the 25-year-old LPN unchained her heart
from Felix “Flex” Melendez - a violent felon she bailed out so they could
be together - Rosa had lost her job and been bloodied and robbed by her
dream man. “No comment,” Rosa said yesterday outside her home in Lowell,
her lip no longer swollen from where Melendez’ fist landed two weeks ago
after he allegedly picked her pockets of $1,300 during a makeout session in
her brother’s borrowed Cadillac. Melendez, 26, of Methuen, whose numerous
convictions include armed robbery and heroin dealing, was awaiting trial
for larceny when he fell into a forbidden flirtation with Rosa, a nurse in
the jail’s infirmary staffed and run by Correctional Medical Services. It’s
unclear for how long the couple canoodled in the can, but word on the
prison grapevine eventually reached Essex Sheriff Frank Cousin’s security
team. On March 29, after love letters Rosa wrote Melendez were seized from
his cell, she was escorted off the property. “Based upon information we
received, there was some familiarity between the nurse and the inmate that
was inappropriate,” said Cousin’s spokesman, Paul Fleming. Fleming did not
identify Rosa by name, but said she was employed by CMS. CMS declined to
comment.
Minnesota
Department of Corrections
December 14, 2011 AP
A former inmate in St. Cloud who says he suffered eye and skin damage after
an adverse drug reaction is suing the state prison system's medical
provider. Forty-nine-year-old Teddy Korf of Pine City has filed a federal
lawsuit against Corizon Inc., formerly known as Correctional Medical Services.
He claims that medical officials prescribed him a drug in 2007 used to
treat bipolar disorder and epilepsy, even though he had no history of
either. He says the drug had serious side effects that caused his skin to
blister and slough off, and his corneas to deteriorate. He claims that
medical officials prescribed him a drug in 2007 used to treat bipolar
disorder and epilepsy, even though he had no history of either. Corizon
attorney Charles Gross declined to comment to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Korf already reached a $275,000 settlement with the state Department of
Corrections. His lawsuit asks for damages in excess of $75,000.
Mississippi Department
of Corrections
June 22, 2005 Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the St.
Louis-based health care provider for inmates at Mississippi's Parchman
prison, alleging prisoners have been misdiagnosed and received inadequate
treatment. The federal lawsuit against Correctional Medical
Services, Inc., one of the nation's largest for-profit medical providers
for prisoners, was filed Wednesday on behalf of 1,000 inmates at Parchman's
Unit 32. Other defendants are Chris Epps, the commissioner of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections, deputy commissioner Emmitt Sparkman
and other agency officials. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in
Greenville. "We're hoping that the lawsuit is going to make a
big difference in conditions in Unit 32, which we really do think are so
grossly inhumane as to amount to torture," said Margaret Winter,
associate director of the National Prison Project of the ACLU.
June 22, 2005 ACLU
National Prison Project
WASHINGTON, DC-Citing the extreme health risks faced by nearly 1000 men
confined in a Mississippi prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and
the law firm Holland & Knight today filed a lawsuit against one of the
country's largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners.
"Correctional Medical Services has a national reputation for providing
prisoners with grossly inadequate medical care," said Margaret Winter,
Associate Director of the ACLU's National Prison Project and lead attorney
in today's lawsuit. "We believe
that Correctional Medical Services' already poor reputation will sink even
lower when its treatment of Mississippi prisoners with life-threatening
conditions and serious mental illness is exposed to public view and
judicial scrutiny." Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS), a
for-profit private corporation, currently holds contracts in 27 states, including
Mississippi. In April 2003, the
state of Mississippi contracted with CMS to provide medical, mental health
and dental care to prisoners incarcerated at the Mississippi State
Penitentiary at Parchman. Today's
complaint, filed on behalf of about 1000 men confined in Parchman's Unit
32, the prison's supermaximum security unit, builds upon litigation brought
in 2002 on behalf of death row prisoners housed in the same unit. Among other issues, it charges that
officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and CMS routinely
deny prisoners access to humane treatment. Jeffery Presley, 24,
contracted a serious "staph" infection while in Unit 32. A CMS doctor initially misdiagnosed his
condition as a spider bite. Over several days, Presley's
condition grew worse and he pleaded for additional medical treatment. His infected joint became grotesquely
swollen and leaked blood.
Ultimately, the doctor removed a section of Presley's infected leg
and prescribed Tylenol to dull his pain. In another incident, a disturbed,
deaf-mute prisoner was left for months in his cell on the special needs
psychiatric tier, without a mental health evaluation or any attempt to
communicate with him. His cell
became filthy and he was allowed to remain unwashed for weeks. Correctional staff threw things at him to
get his attention, and when he threw things back, he was cited for rule
violations. "Treating people
suffering from mental or physical illness with disrespect and indifference
is abhorrent," said Stephen F. Hanlon, a partner with Holland &
Knight and co-counsel in the case. "Correctional Medical Service's
improper actions in Mississippi and in other parts of the country violate
the Constitution." The Mississippi State Board of Medical
Licensure had disciplined and temporarily restricted the medical licenses
of at least three physicians at the Parchman prison. The CMS medical director was cited for
habitual drug use, and the prison's chief psychiatrist was restricted
because of a history of patient sexual exploitation and sexual
harassment. Elsewhere, CMS has
established a pattern of hiring doctors with troubled backgrounds.
According to a 1998 investigation by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, nine CMS
doctors working in Missouri had been disciplined by licensing boards.
In Michigan, where the company provides care to prisoners statewide and the
ACLU has litigated issues regarding inadequate medical care, CMS has come
under scrutiny for its attempts to save money by limiting prisoners'
referrals to outside medical specialists.
A federal court found that excessive delays in providing prisoners
with referrals contributed to three deaths during an 18-month period. Five
other prisoners who died during the same time period also experienced
significant delays in treatment. "CMS has a shameful record of jacking
up corporate profits by turning a blind eye to the urgent medical needs of
sick prisoners," said Winter.
"I am hopeful that today's lawsuit will make it impossible for
this company to keep on conducting 'business as usual' in Mississippi
prisons." Today's lawsuit, Presley v. Epps, was filed in U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi by attorneys Winter
and Gouri Bhat of the ACLU's National Prison Project, Hanlon and Cecily
Baskir of Holland & Knight LLP, Mississippi civil rights attorney
Robert McDuff and Ranie Thompson of the ACLU of Mississippi. To read
today's complaint, go to: <http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=18558&c=26>.
To read about the ACLU's other work regarding Correctional Medical
Services, go to:
<http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=18367&c=26>.
Mobile
County Metro Jail, Mobile, Alabama
January
28, 2006 Mobile Register
A woman who was jailed in Mobile last year went into a diabetic shock and
nearly died because officers and medical staff denied her proper medication
and ignored her problems, a federal lawsuit claims. The suit, filed last
month in U.S. District Court, seeks unspecified damages from Mobile County
Sheriff Jack Tillman, Warden Mike Haley, the private company that provides
medical services and several employees of the firm and the jail. Lawyers
for the Mobile County Sheriff's Office and Correctional Medical Services
denied the allegations in written responses filed in court this month.
Lofton, 33, was booked into the jail Feb. 23 on a charge of driving on a
revoked license. The insulin-dependent diabetic was not evaluated until 10
hours later, according to the complaint. The lawsuit states that Lofton
told medical personnel that she takes two shots of insulin every day, but
staffers did not provide her with any insulin until 4 p.m. the following
day. At that time, according to the suit, medical staffers at the jail gave
her insulin from a bottle given to all diabetic detainees.
March 5, 2005 Mobile Register
A federal prisoner who was being held at Mobile County Metro Jail tried to
commit suicide shortly after officials took away his anti-depression
medication, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court. Sean
Gaston Atwood's lawyer asked a federal judge in December to transfer the
man to a federal medical facility. The motion, which Chief U.S. District
Judge Ginny Granade granted Dec. 9, states that Atwood tried to hang
himself less than a month after his arrest Oct. 27 for escaping from the
custody of U.S. marshals. Atwood had been prescribed a drug called seroquel
by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, but Metro Jail staff took it away amid
concerns that other inmates had abused the medication, according to the
motion. Assistant Federal Defender Lyn Hillman said jail staff indicated
that they had banned the medicine because some inmates had been using it to
get high. She said a doctor should have examined her client and replaced
the drug with another medication. Jail Warden Mike Haley declined to
discuss Atwood's case in detail, citing federal privacy laws regarding
medical treatment. He said medical personnel working for Correctional
Medical Services, a St. Louis firm hired by the jail to provide health
care, determine which drugs inmates receive. Haley referred other inquiries
to Dr. Charles Smith, a Mobile psychiatrist who works for Correctional
Medical Services. "Within that one question that you have asked, there
are a half-dozen thorny questions, difficult questions," said Smith,
who declined to comment further.
Monroe
County Jail, Monroe County, NY
August
9, 2011 Democrat and Chronicle
Monroe County and its former jail health care provider have agreed to pay
$275,000 to the family of a man who died of a heart attack in the jail in
2007. Attorneys for the family of Orlando Samuels had argued in a lawsuit
that medical officials at the jail ignored Samuels' heart condition,
causing his death in May 2007. In court papers, attorney Mark Valerio
contends that Samuels — who was jailed on a parole violation — "was a
known cardiac patient and was on four medications to control his heart
condition." Samuels "was not provided with any of his heart
medications for the nine days that he was at the jail before he suffered a
fatal heart attack," Valerio writes. Jail health care provider
Correctional Medical Services Inc. had experts who argued that Samuels'
"history of cocaine and alcohol abuse" was central to the death,
and not any neglect by jail officials, records show. The company admits no
fault in the settlement. Insurance for Correctional Medical Services, or
CMS, will cover the settlement, papers state. Attorney fees will be
deducted from the settlement, which was approved last month by a federal judge.
The county no longer contracts with CMS and last year sued the company,
seeking $2 million in contractual restitution for alleged staffing
shortages while CMS ran jail medical care. Court records show that the
county and CMS agreed to dismiss that lawsuit last month. CMS handled
medical care at the two county correctional facilities from Jan. 1, 2004,
through March 31, 2008. Attorney Christopher Thomas, who represented CMS,
declined to discuss the county's lawsuit against the company. Court records
in that case show that in 2007 Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn and
then-Undersheriff Dan Greene complained to CMS about staffing shortages and
questions of whether inmate prescriptions were being properly filled. The
medical staffing at the jail had been "alarmingly short," the
county alleged, and Sheriff's Office and CMS officials met to discuss the
problems "on or about May 5, 2007." May 5, 2007, was the day
Samuels died.
December 16, 2009 Democrat and Chronicle
Monroe County and the Sheriff's Office have sued the former medical
service provider at its jails, alleging that the company did not provide
staffing as promised under a contractual agreement. The county is seeking
$2 million, according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 9. The St. Louis, Mo.-based
Correctional Medical Services, or CMS, provided medical and mental health
services at the county's two correctional facilities from Jan. 1, 2004,
through March 31, 2008. The original contract with CMS lasted three years
and was then extended by the county. The lawsuit alleges that "CMS
failed to provide staffing at the (jail) facilities pursuant to the terms
of the contract" and that the staffing shortages existed
"throughout its term." The allegations, which CMS officials are
challenging, come just more than a month after Monroe County Sheriff
Patrick O'Flynn was re-elected. Sheriff's spokesman John Helfer said the
suit's timing was dictated by the county's need to preserve a legal remedy
against CMS. The statute of limitations on contractual suits can be six
years from the time of an agreement. Helfer said the sheriff and other
officials would not comment further because the litigation is pending. For
the same reason, officials said, they could not comment on why the contract
was extended if there had been problems. CMS officials challenged the
allegations. "CMS fully complied with the terms of our contract with
Monroe County, and we dispute the assertions made in the lawsuit that has
been filed," said CMS spokesman Ken Fields. "CMS provided quality
services to the inmate patients at the Monroe County Jail. In fact, during
our tenure, the facility achieved re-accreditation from the National
Commission on Correctional Health Care for the quality of its health care
program. "CMS is hopeful that this matter can be resolved amicably,"
he said. Correctional Medical Services has twice been sued by the families
of inmates who died in the Monroe County Jail. In 2004, 16-year-old Javon
Leggett hanged himself at the County Jail. The family alleged that the jail
gave inadequate mental health treatment to the teenager. The state
Commission of Correction, which investigates jail deaths, arrived at a
similar conclusion. The commission determined that CMS failed to provide
adequately trained mental health providers and recommended that the county
review whether the company should be retained. In 2008, a federal judge
dismissed the lawsuit, deciding there was not proof that CMS was
responsible for the death. In the second incident, Orlando Samuels, 42,
died of apparent cardiac failure at the jail in 2007. His family alleges in
a lawsuit filed this year that medical officials ignored Samuels' heart
condition. Again, the Commission of Correction also faulted CMS,
maintaining that Samuels' wait to see a physician after he was first jailed
was excessive. O'Flynn answered in a response that the jail had complied
with the "applicable standards of care" with Samuels first
meeting with a physician. Mark Valerio, the attorney for the Samuels
family, declined to comment. Federal court records show a settlement
conference is scheduled for later this month, though the conferences are
not uncommon in federal court and not necessarily a sign that a resolution
to the litigation is near.
July 6, 2009 Democrat and Chronicle
The family of a Monroe County jail inmate who died in 2007 is suing the
Sheriff's Office and the former jail medical services, alleging that jail
officials didn't provide him medications he needed for a heart condition.
The lawsuit from the family of Orlando Samuels contends that he was denied
prescribed medications even when he asked for them; that one physician
suggested he be given aspirin after Samuels complained of heart pains (he
never was given the aspirin, the suit alleges); and that a defibrillator
malfunctioned because of a defective battery after Samuels collapsed with
apparent cardiac failure at the jail. A 2008 state Commission of Correction
report, obtained through the Freedom of Information Law, also faulted jail
officials and Correctional Medical Services Inc. in the death of Samuels,
who was 42 when he died on May 5, 2007. The commission provides oversight
of conditions in jail and prison facilities. The commission recommended a
disciplinary investigation into the actions of a nurse for several lapses,
including "failure to complete an initial medical assessment of a
known cardiac patient." A letter from Correctional Medical Services
officials to the commission says the company did fire the nurse after
Samuels' death. A spokesman for Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said
the sheriff would not comment on pending litigation. However, in a response
to the commission report, O'Flynn defended the actions of jail employees.
For instance, the commission criticized jail officials for the fact that
Samuels did not see a facility physician from the time he was admitted to
the jail until his death nine days later. O'Flynn noted in his response
that state regulations say each inmate should be seen by a physician within
14 days of admission, meaning the jail did comply "with the applicable
standards of care." Attorney Mark Valerio, who filed the lawsuit for
the Samuels' family and fielded questions on their behalf, said jail
medical officials clearly erred by not dealing with Samuels' known heart
issues. "The main concern is that this was a known heart
patient," Valerio said. "He was on heart medication. He was not
given those medications the nine days prior to his death. "That should
not have happened," he said. According to commission records, Samuels
did submit a sick call request and was scheduled for a May 8 visit to the
jail physician. The commission said Samuels told a deputy that the date
should be fine because he did have possession of "my nitro
pills." The lawsuit contends that Samuels was denied other medication
he needed to control his heart condition. When Samuels collapsed at the
jail the morning of May 5 he could not be revived with a defibrillator
"due to the fact that the battery in the device was defective,"
the lawsuit states. The county no longer contracts with Correctional Medical
Service, or CMS, for jail medical care. The letter from CMS officials to
the Commission of Correction outlines improvements the company made after
Samuels' death while stating that these "subsequent remedial
measures" should not be construed as "an admission of negligence
or intentional fault."
August 23, 2007 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
A state commission has concluded that a private company gave inadequate
mental health treatment to a teenager who hanged himself in Monroe County
Jail. A report by the state Commission of Correction stopped short of
saying that Correctional Medical Services Inc. of St. Louis, which
contracts with the county to provide medical care to jail inmates, was
responsible for the death of 16-year-old Javon Leggett on Aug. 29, 2004.
But the report charged that: A Correctional Medical Services employee who
wasn't trained to deal with high-risk inmates or depressed adolescents was
assigned to Leggett after what might have been a previous suicide attempt
six weeks before Leggett's death. Leggett wasn't referred for follow-up
mental health care or medication even though he was interested in both, and
was removed from suicide watch three days after the apparent suicide
attempt. The company was at fault for failing to provide properly trained
mental health providers and recommended that Monroe County review whether
it should continue to retain the company. Despite the report, however, the
county renewed its contract with Correctional Medical Services on Jan. 1.
The one-year extension was for $7.5 million. The report marks the second
time that a state investigation into an inmate death at the jail has
sharply criticized private companies for inadequate medical or mental
health care. In May 2002, the Commission of Correction said inmate Candace
Brown died in September 2000 when she received "grossly and flagrantly
inadequate care" from Prison Health Services Inc. after her opiate
withdrawal was untreated. Prison Health Services of Brentwood, Tenn.,
provided care in the jail from 2000 to 2004, when Correctional Medical
Services replaced it with a three-year, $17.7 million contract approved by
the County Legislature. Prison Health Services agreed to pay $450,000 to
Brown's family to settle a lawsuit. The report on Leggett's death, issued in
March 2005, was kept private until it was filed earlier this year as part
of a lawsuit against the county and Correctional Medical Services by
Leggett's mother, Loretta Leggett. Rochester lawyer Van Henri White, who
represents Loretta Leggett, said the critical report has prompted him to
seek a settlement with the county and the company. "They've refused to
talk about settlement," he said. "I've tried everything to
convince these people that this is a case that should be settled." A
spokesman for the county declined to comment about the case because it
involves pending litigation. A spokesman for Correctional Medical Services
said he couldn't comment about the case because it involves confidential
mental health records. Both the county and the company have filed legal
papers seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that they acted
properly. In its papers, Correctional Medical Services said its care to
Leggett met or exceeded the standard of care and maintained that it's
uncertain whether Leggett committed suicide or accidentally hanged himself
while attempting to get transferred from the jail to Rochester Psychiatric
Center. Leggett was charged in May 2004 with assault and robbery. He
pleaded guilty on Aug. 20, 2004, and was expected to receive five years'
probation and six months in jail. But a deputy found him dead in his cell,
hanging from a sheet tied around his neck, on Aug. 29, 2004. Six weeks
earlier — on July 16, 2004 — Leggett was found under his bunk in what was
documented in medical records as an attempted hanging. Leggett, who had a
sheet around his neck, said he was stressed out but denied a suicide
attempt. Correctional Medical Services assigned an employee who had a
master's degree in social work — but was unlicensed — to perform a "lethality
assessment" of Leggett to determine whether Leggett was in danger of
committing suicide. Leggett was watched constantly as a suicide risk until
July 22, when the social worker decided Leggett was feeling better. After
seeing the social worker again on July 26, Leggett had no more mental
health follow-ups, the Commission of Correction said in its report.
"Overall, the evolution and treatment afforded Leggett was
inadequate," the report said. "There was no referral to a
psychiatrist, psychologist and nurse practitioner to evaluate Leggett for
medication. There was no treatment plan, no follow-up for release after
constant supervision, no monitoring, no medication."
New
Castle Correctional Facility, New Castle, Indiana
July
29, 2009 The Star Press
A medical worker at the New Castle Correctional Facility was arrested
this week after she allegedly tried to smuggle marijuana and tobacco into
the institution. Ann J. Oakes, 31, Milton, was preliminarily charged with
trafficking with an inmate, possession of marijuana and trafficking
tobacco. She remained in the Henry County jail on Wednesday under a $44,400
bond. State police said Oaks was found to have the bundles of marijuana and
tobacco, along with rolling papers, hidden in her pants during a search
when she arrived for work Tuesday morning. Oakes, a qualified medical
assistant working for Correctional Medical Services, which provides health
care to prisoners, has been suspended without pay pending an investigation.
Authorities said Oakes acknowledged that she was bringing the substances to
an inmate, and anticipated being paid for her efforts by a co-conspirator
outside the prison. Oakes' arrest came three weeks after Cynthia Ann Angel,
44, Centerville, was arrested for allegedly trying to throw a package, containing
cell phones and tobacco, over the prison's walls. Angel had pleaded guilty
in December to a trafficking charge stemming from a similar incident.
New
Jersey Department of Corrections
August
12, 2008 The Star-Ledger
Correctional Medical Services said it plans to lay off 949 workers in
New Jersey next month, after losing its $85 million contract for prison
health care services in the state to the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey. CMS, a private St. Louis firm, notified the state it
would begin the layoffs on Sept. 30, a day before UMDNJ begins providing
service to New Jersey Department of Corrections inmates. A majority of the
workers facing layoffs are expected to be offered jobs with the university,
UMDNJ spokesman Gerald Carey said. "Current employees of Correctional
Medical Services have been encouraged to apply for positions with UMDNJ and
we are in the process of reviewing those applications," Carey wrote in
an email. CMS lost its contract earlier this year, and protested that the
switch to UMDNJ was made through an interagency award, not a competitive
bidding process. "The Treasury Department's decision to award a no-bid
$100 million plus annual contract to a state entity will increase the state
payrolls by several hundred workers, costing New Jersey taxpayers millions
of dollars," CMS spokesman Ken Fields said in a statement.
April 27, 2008 Asbury Park Press
The administration of Gov. Corzine is awarding a no-bid pact to the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to provide medical care
for New Jersey's prison inmates. The move, which the administration views
as a money-saver, is being scrutinized by some who fear the shift might
actually cost the cash-strapped state, and by extension its taxpayers, more
than its deal with a private contractor. These critics worry UMDNJ is
ill-equipped to handle the job. Federal investigators found that the
state-financed health-care university fumbled away more than $400 million
through fraudulent and wasteful spending, though it has recently instituted
reforms. Also, UMDNJ has a foggy track record in care-giving to prisoners.
UMDNJ in 2005 got the state's OK to provide mental-health care for the
inmates, and costs thereafter shot up — 50 percent over what what the
private company that was doing the work charged, said John Paul Doyle, a
former Democratic assemblyman who now represents the company. State
Treasurer David Rousseau, disputing that amount, has said he foresees
nothing to indicate costs would now go up. "It is expected the UMDNJ
arrangement will reduce the state's overall costs," Rousseau told the
Senate Budget Committee." Since the mid-1990s, the physical and dental
care for the 27,600 state inmates — plus another 14,000 held in county
facilities — has been provided by Correctional Medical Services, of St.
Louis, whose latest New Jersey contract is worth $85 million. Last October,
the state's inspector general issued a harsh report about CMS, saying it
overcharged and had been out of compliance with its New Jersey contract. "It
should be competitively bid," said Sen. Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon,
the budget czar of the Republican caucus. "The lowest bidder should be
awarded the contract. That could be in the private sector or the public
sector."
April 15, 2008 Star-Ledger
Correctional Medical Services is fighting the state's decision to cancel
its $85 million annual contract to provide medical, dental and
pharmaceutical services to state prisoners. The company filed a protest
letter Friday, alleging that the state's decision to replace it with the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey violates state bidding
laws and could cost the state $50 million more a year if history is a
guide. John Paul Doyle, a former Democratic assemblyman who now represents
the company, wrote that the state's cost for providing mental health
services for inmates jumped nearly 50 percent in 2005 when it switched from
the St. Louis-based company CMS to UMDNJ. "Based on past history and
the current budgetary crisis in New Jersey, this unadvertised award,
remarkably made in the midst of the existing four-year contract with CMS,
makes no sense for the state of New Jersey," Doyle wrote in his letter
to the state Treasury Department. He also said the company would forgo a
4.73 percent increase to cover costs associated with caring for the 27,600
inmates in state prisons and an additional 1,400 in mates being held daily
in county facilities until a state cell is available. During a Senate
Budget Committee hearing yesterday, state Treasurer David Rousseau disputed
that it would cost $50 million more to use UMDNJ to provide medical, dental
and pharmaceutical services to state prisoners. "We see no basis for
this contention," Rousseau said. "In fact, based on the
assessment of costs and charges, it is expected the UMDNJ arrangement will
reduce the state's overall costs." He said the state hopes to save
$3.4 million in built-in profits for CMS and another $5.5 million by
enrolling in a pharmaceutical plan --for which CMS cannot qualify -- that
caps how much UMDNJ will pay for medication. The treasurer did acknowledge
that the state's payroll costs would be greater because it will have to
hire more staff, including some of the 800 medical workers who now work for
CMS, and pay them fringe benefits. Rousseau also took issue with CMS'
numbers on the mental health services contract, saying the state's cost
jumped from $33 million to $43.4 million when it switched, not $49 million
as the company claimed. He added that the price jumped because the state
hired more workers to satisfy a federal settlement that governs how the
Department of Corrections cares for mentally ill prisoners. CMS spokesman
Ken Fields said the figures came from public budget documents, but "in
any event, it's a significant increase over one year compared with
CMS."
April 1, 2008 Star-Ledger
The state has canceled its $85 million annual contract with a St.
Louis-based company that has provided medical, dental and pharmaceutical
services to state prisoners since New Jersey privatized its inmate health
care system in 1996, officials said yesterday. The state Treasury
Department notified Correctional Medical Services on Friday that it planned
to replace it with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,
the state's medical school, according to a copy of a letter obtained by The
Star-Ledger. UMDNJ already provides mental health services for state
inmates. CMS, whose contract expired last night, had sought a 4.73 percent
increase to cover costs associated with caring for the 27,600 inmates in
state prisons and an additional 14,000 inmates being held in county
facilities until a state cell is available. "The state has decided
that it is in its best interest to contract with the University of Medicine
and Dentistry to provide all of the inmate health care services,"
wrote Alice Small, acting director of Treasury's Division of Purchase and
Property. The move ends a contentious 11-year relationship with CMS that
was launched during then-Gov. Christie Whitman's push to privatize
government services. It comes months after the state auditor and the state
inspector general issued separate reports critical of the company. It also
gives the state-funded university a shot in the arm as it tries to emerge
from federal oversight that documented more than $400 million in fraudulent
and wasteful spending. The state told CMS it would need to continue
staffing inmate health services for 180 days so UMDNJ personnel can get up
to speed. Treasury spokesman Tom Vinz said the state believes the new
arrangement, which will be enacted through an interagency compact rather
than through public bidding, will "improve both the bottom line as
well as services." He said officials don't know exactly how much the
state would save. "We believe that overall costs will be extremely
competitive with the current contract and that the expanded partnership
will result in new economies, efficiencies and conveniences that benefit
the state," Vinz said. The cancellation came as a shock to CMS, which
employs more than 800 health care professionals in New Jersey to handle the
state inmate contract, said spokesman Ken Fields. He said the rate increase
was pegged to the Consumer Price Index but "was well below the rate of
inflation facing all other areas of health care in New Jersey."
"The state has been extremely satisfied with our work and has never
given us an indication that they would prefer to make a change in
contractors," said Fields. "We are disappointed that the state
appears to have started a process that would not include getting any
competitive bids. It has been our experience that state and local
governments feel that a competitive bidding process results in the best
value for them." UMDNJ spokeswoman Anna Farneski said the new
agreement is "an enormous vote of confidence in UMDNJ's abilities to
effectively deliver care to a population in need of comprehensive
services." The state paid the medical school $49 million last year to
provide mental health services for inmates. Attorney Patricia Perlmutter,
who reached a class-action lawsuit in 1999 against the Department of
Correction on behalf of mentally ill inmates, said canceling the CMS
contract is the end of "a failed experiment." "For years,
they delivered very poor service to the prisoners in the state," she
said. "There certainly was improvement over time. The number of
complaints we would receive did diminish the last year of contract term.
But overall they didn't deliver what they promised."
October 16, 2007 AP
For the second time in two years, an audit has found that the Corrections
Department failed to adequately monitor its multimillion dollar contract
for inmate dental services. Monday's report by Inspector General Mary Jane
Cooper mirrors a 2005 audit by Treasury's contract compliance unit. Both
concluded that Corrections could not guarantee that inmates were getting
services that were paid for or that the state wasn't overpaying the
provider, Correctional Medical Services. The inspector general also found
that Corrections did not fine the provider for missing deadlines spelled
out in the contract, even though it could have collected $1 million or more
for screenings that were not conducted within a specified time of a new
inmate's arrival. The quality of medical and dental care was not
considered. Both reports blamed Corrections' automated systems for being
incapable of collecting and retaining the data necessary to monitor
compliance with the contract. Correctional Medical Services was awarded a
two-year, $168 million contract in April 2005 to provide health services to
about 40,000 inmates a year, including a dental portion worth $7.5 million.
The contract was renewed for one year in April, Corrections spokesman Matt
Schuman said. The report says the contract dictates that certain services
be performed within specific time frames — and gives Corrections the
authority to assess damages for missed deadlines — because of concerns over
provider performance that developed during a prior health services
contract. An initial Treasury audit in 2005 showed that Corrections did not
have an automated information system capable of providing data to monitor
the contract. When a system was finally put in place, it relied on the
vendor to enter data, the inspector general's report shows, and had flaws.
Schuman said Monday that Corrections had not yet seen the report and would
have no comment. Ken Fields, a spokesman for Correctional Medical Services
in St. Louis, Mo., also said he was unfamiliar with the report and could
not comment.
February 28, 2007 The Star-Ledger
Criticizing the state for trying to shirk its responsibility to provide
inmates adequate health care, the New Jersey Supreme Court today ordered
the prison system to develop regulations on how to notify inmates when they
have a serious medical condition. In its unanimous ruling the high court
also ordered the Department of Corrections to give inmates access to their
complete medical records and to correct those records if they are
inaccurate, since both are essential to adequate medical care. "This is
a major victory for the medical rights of prisoners," said Princeton
attorney Bruce Afran, who argued the case on behalf of a New Jersey State
Prison inmate. "Every other patient in the state has a right to their
own medical records and the state was refusing that right to prisoners. The
court has now reversed that." The case stems from "one inmate's
odyssey to correct an erroneous entry in his medical records," Justice
Virginia Long wrote in the court's opinion. The inmate, identified only as
J.D.A. because he fears retribution in prison, suffers from hepatitis C, a
potentially fatal liver disease. He tested positive for the disease in
2001, but a prison-contracted doctor misread the test results and noted in
his file the virus was "not detected." When he learned of the
mistake two years later, J.D.A. filed paperwork to have it changed.
Correctional Medical Services, the private company responsible for treating
New Jersey's 27,000 state inmates, refused to change his medical chart
because it was "a legal document" that cannot be altered, court
records show. Corrections, meanwhile, claimed only CMS had the
"ability to make changes to an inmate's medical record."
February 5, 2007 The Star Ledger
Walking across the courtroom, Jerald Albrecht fell and hit the floor. It
was emblematic, perhaps, of his status among the righteous that no one rose
to help him. The convict, a sick man, tripped over his leg shackles.
Albrecht, 50, is suing a company paid nearly $100 million a year in public
funds to provide health care to 27,000 state prison inmates. He contends
Correctional Medical Services Inc. of St. Louis failed to provide timely
diagnosis and treatment of an often fatal disease that infects him and a
large number of fellow inmates -- hepatitis C. He is not the first inmate
to sue -- handling the infection among convicts is a controversy that has
raged for five years in New Jersey -- but he is conducting a complex legal
trial completely on his own. Albrecht, imprisoned for robbery 22 years ago,
has no lawyer, no legal training, not even a bachelor's degree. And he is
clearly not well. He is up against (literally) Philadelphia lawyers and a
judge who has thrown out much of his case by refusing to allow witnesses on
which he relied heavily. Federal District Judge Anne Thompson in Trenton
cannot help his case, but some of her rulings seem unduly harsh. For
example, she enthusiastically allowed a volunteer attorney -- Bruce Afrin
of Princeton -- to help Albrecht conduct a direct examination of himself,
but then stopped it, in front of the jury, for no apparent reason. She
dismissed Afrin, saying the process wasn't "working," but did not
explain why. Albrecht recovered. He elicited dramatic testimony from his
own expert witness -- Esteban Mezey, a liver specialist from Johns Hopkins
University, who was critical of his treatment. He held up well under
cross-examination from the Philadelphia lawyers. And, the other day, the
day he fell, Albrecht conducted his own cross-examination of the company's
expert witness, a professor named Carroll Leevy, and the contrast with what
the legal pros did was remarkable. Thompson harried Albrecht as he tried to
ask questions, but let Leevy deliver long, unsolicited lectures as
responses. His speeches ate up the inmate's time and often sounded, not like
testimony, but arguments for the company paying him $2,500 that day to
testify. In the end, however, the performance helped Albrecht. One issue is
the amount of medication he received once treatment, delayed for months,
finally began. Leevy insisted a lesser amount -- given by the company --
was appropriate, but Albrecht got the doctor to admit that he prescribed
more of the drug for his own patients and wrote at least one scholarly
article recommending a higher dosage. More important, Leevy, a professor at
the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, showed little
patience and no compassion for the likes of Albrecht, a man who must
navigate a courtroom in a beige prison uniform, shackles and a fever. And
who falls without help. Leevy said the nearly two-year delay in treating
Albrecht "would not make a significant difference," in his
condition but, under Albrecht's questioning, Leevy conceded he would never
treat his own patients that way. "It's always pleasant to have things done
in a timely manner," said Leevy, who then added, in a bizarre moment,
that Albrecht may even have benefited from the delay because, while he
wasn't being treated, new, more effective medications were developed.
Pleasant? Meanwhile, damage to Albrecht's liver worsened. Then, while
discussing drugs to be used, Leevy said even his private patients might not
have access to the best medications. "Unfortunately not being in
prison and not being able to get free drugs," he said, they couldn't
afford them. The comment drew gasps from the audience and dark stares from
jurors. Who could imagine that, no matter what Albrecht did to deserve
time, he was "fortunate" to be in jail, suffering from a fatal
disease? After his testimony, he was asked whether the comment was "a
little harsh." No, said Leevy, because "that was the
reality." The testimony reflected an attitude that Albrecht and other
inmates want courts, want everyone, to see: State prisons and their private
contractors were in no rush to diagnose and treat thousands of inmates
suffering from hepatitis C. Because prisoners are bad guys. Who wants to
spend money to help them? Never mind that returning sick prisoners to
freedom creates health risks for the general population. And never mind, no
matter what he did, Albrecht is a citizen with constitutional rights. As
well as a mean guitarist who persuaded a thoroughly nonjudgmental Wynton
Marsalis to come to the prison to give a master class to a jazz combo
Albrecht started. And, most of all, even in shackles, Jerald Albrecht is a
man.
December 21, 2004 The Record
Others spoke about how it was a "day of promise." Bringing in the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to manage mental health
care in the state prison system creates a unique partnership between
academia and the judicial system, they said. But as state officials were
all smiles during this October announcement, Chris Kosseff, who heads
UMDNJ's University Behavioral HealthCare division, painted a darker, more
realistic picture of the mental health care crisis in state prisons. Facing
a group of health professionals, state officials and reporters at the
Department of Corrections' Trenton headquarters, Kosseff read from a study
published by the Human Rights Watch that talks about how many prison mental
health services are "woefully deficient, crippled by understaffing,
insufficient facilities and limited programs. Beginning Jan. 1, UMDNJ will
provide behavioral health services to the state's 27,000 prisoners - 13
percent of whom have some form of mental illness. UMDNJ will replace Correctional Medical
Services Inc. of St. Louis
as the state's prison mental health care provider.
October 30, 2004 Daily Journal
A state Department of Corrections employee has filed a lawsuit alleging
sexual harassment by a clinical social worker and five other unnamed
defendants, according to court papers filed with Gloucester County Superior
Court. The suit, filed
Tuesday, claims that licensed social worker Robert Stanley subjected
Southwoods State Prison employee Tony Valentine to "a pattern of
sexual harassment" and "engaged in a pattern of retaliatory and
defamatory activity" designed to embarrass him, according to court
documents. Valentine filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Division
in Nov. 2003, leading to an investigation. The EED concluded Stanley's
actions were inflammatory, and recommended his employer, Correctional
Medical Services, take remedial action, which the lawsuit alleges was never
taken.
New Jersey prisons failed to tell
hundreds of inmates that they were infected with the potentially fatal
hepatitis C virus, in many cases withholding the information for more than
a year In a mass notification prompted by a Philadelphia Inquirer
investigation, New Jersey prison officials told 421 inmates in the last two
weeks of July of their infection, a medical audit shows. Uninformed
patients can spread the blood-borne disease through shared drug
paraphernalia, sex and possibly even blood droplets on shared toothbrushes.
In fact, 21 prisoners were recently released into the community without
being told they were infected, according to the audit. Art Caplan, a
medical ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, said that failing to
tell patients about a potentially life-threatening condition was a
fundamental breach of standard medical practice. "The key moral issue
is that every person, including a prisoner, has a right to know his health
status," Caplan said. The prisons' private medical vendor,
Correctional Medical Services (CMS), said some of the 421 inmates had been
told prior to July but it had not been noted in their electronic files.
(Bradenton Herald, October 7, 2002)
New Jersey State Prison
October
30, 2008 The Times of Trenton News
Two workers at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton were indicted on
charges related to smuggling cell phones to inmates. In an indictment that
was handed up Monday, Darlene R. Sexton, 44, of Trenton was charged with
five counts of official misconduct and two counts of unlawful use of a cell
phone in a correctional facility, said Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for
the prosecutor. State Corrections Officer Lisa Whittaker, 32, of Trenton
was indicted on two counts of official misconduct and one count of
hindering apprehension, DeBlasio said. Whittaker allegedly gave
investigators from the Department of Corrections false information during
their investigation of Sexton. It's the first indictment of a corrections
worker by Mercer County authorities for cell phone smuggling, DeBlasio
said, although in mates and others have been indicted on charges of
smuggling cell phones at other correctional facilities. Last year the
Department of Corrections fired 52 prison officers, some of them for
smuggling contra band into the prisons. Sexton, a registered nurse employed
by New Jersey State Prison Correctional Medical Services, was allegedly
involved in an "unduly familiar relationship" with Arlington
King, an inmate, officials said. Sexton allegedly committed misconduct by
bringing cell phones to King and Craig Reid, another in mate, while they
were incarcerated between Jan. 8 and Nov. 17, 2007, DeBlasio said.
Officials at the St. Louis-based company, which no longer has a contract
with New Jersey to provide medical services for the prison, could not be
reached for comment late yesterday. Sexton, however, "maintains her
innocence," said her defense lawyer Robin Lord. "She's not a
public official so I don't know where they're going with that charge. She
is employed by a private company. I'm going to file a motion to have the
indictment dismissed." Sexton was charged with providing
"contraband" to several in mates incarcerated at the prison.
November
18, 2004 Daily Record
Former Chester resident Craig Szemple, who is serving three life terms for
murdering three people, will be allowed to continue his lawsuit against a
state prison medical group he claims neglected to give him physical therapy
he needed immediately after elbow and wrist surgery, a state appeals court
has ruled. As a New Jersey
State Prison inmate, Szemple underwent two surgeries related to carpal
tunnel syndrome on Nov. 7, 1996, on his right wrist and elbow. The surgeon
ordered physical therapy to begin "ASAP" but Correctional Medical
Services, the conglomerate with the contract to administer health services
to some 26,000 state prisoners, did not arrange for Szemple to have a
physical therapy evaluation until March 17, 1997.
Acting as his own lawyer, Szemple in November 1998 sued Correctional
Medical Services and the state Department of Corrections, alleging that he
was given substandard care and his wrist and elbow worsened as a result of
not receiving immediate physical therapy. The medical group tried
unsuccessfully several times to get Szemple's lawsuit dismissed. Its
lawyers finally succeeded in 2003, when a judge in Mercer County dismissed
the lawsuit, mainly on grounds that a chiropractor whom Szemple wanted to
use to prove his case was not qualified to do so. The appeals court, in its opinion released
Wednesday, reinstated Correctional Medical Services as a defendant in the
lawsuit, saying that the chiropractor is qualified to give his opinion
about the treatment Szemple received.
New
Mexico Department of Corrections
July 17, 2009 New Mexico Independent
A new lawsuit filed in federal court this week accuses a former corrections
department contractor of medial malpractice in its care for the state’s
prisoners, the Albuquerque Journal reports today. The lawsuit names Wexford
Health Sources Inc., Corrections Secretary Joe Williams, medical
professionals and others on behalf of a former Penitentiary of New Mexico
inmate named Martin Valenzuela, 52, who now lives in Texas, the paper
reports. According to the complaint, Valenzuela was serving an eight-year
prison sentence at the Santa Fe prison in 2006 when he developed a urinary
tract problem that led to an emergency hospital admission. The complaint
describes lack of medical attention leading up to a January 2007 surgery,
lack of a policy for follow-up care and the subsequent loss of medical
records by the prison and the hospitals, according to the paper. This is
not the only lawsuit against Wexford that alleges improper care. Others
have been filed previously. Here’s an excerpt of the Journal story: Wexford
is also defending against a lawsuit filed by an inmate who claimed he was
essentially lost in the system for purposes of chemotherapy he needed to
treat colon cancer, although he was housed within a few hundred feet of the
Los Lunas prison hospital. Michael Crespin’s medical malpractice lawsuit
was filed in 2008, but he died before his attorneys could persuade a court
to order a videotaped deposition in the case. The lawsuit, now being
pursued by a personal representative on behalf of Crespin’s estate, has
been mired in a fight over what documents must be produced by Wexford.
Lawyers for the estate are demanding documents related to financial
contributions, gifts, meals, entertainment by Wexford company officers
between 2001 and 2008 to Gov. Bill Richardson, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish or any
of the political action committees that might have supported them,
including Si Se Puede PAC and Moving America Forward PAC. The Journal story
goes on to list still other lawsuits that allege improper medical care,
including one in which four women allege sexual assaults, batteries and
rapes by former Correctional Medical Services employee. Another has been
filed by the family of a federal detainee who died while awaiting a
deportation hearing in southeastern New Mexico is alleging medical
negligence. Wexford Health Sources was cited often for problems when it
held the contract to provide health care in New Mexico’s prisons. It
eventually lost the contract. A May 2007 audit by the Legislative Finance
Committee found gaping holes in the delivery of care provided by Wexford,
including too few physicians, dentists and optometrists on staff, according
to two prison health experts that visited five facilities in February and
March of that year. Wexford also failed to issue timely reports on 14
inmates who died at correctional facilities in 2006, the audit found. The
Santa Fe Reporter, meanwhile, did extensive reporting on the health care
delivered in New Mexico’s prisons and first uncovered the lapses.
Oaks
Correctional Facility, Eastlake, Michigan
December 1, 2004 Lundington Daily News
A former Oaks
Correctional Facility physician pleaded guilty to four counts of tax
evasion with a total tax liability of $139,794. Dr. Daniel Smalley, 56,
formerly of Wellston now of Ludington, is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30
p.m. Feb. 22, 2005 at the Lansing Federal Building. On
June 28, 2004, Smalley was arrested at the Baltimore Washington
International Airport, in Baltimore, Maryland, after returning from Ghana,
West Africa. According to a complaint filed in June 2004, during the years
1997 through 2002, Smalley was employed at both the Baraga Correctional
Facility, Baraga, and at the Oaks Correctional Facility, Eastlake, working
for several different companies, including Genesys Integrated Group,
Wexford Health Services, the State of Michigan, and Correctional Medical
Services. In 1996 and 1997,
Smalley provided Genesys with what U.S. attorneys are calling a false W-4
form, claiming to be exempt from all federal income taxes. In 2002, the IRS
submitted a notice of levy to Correctional Medical Services to collect
taxes due and owing from his wages. Each count of conviction carries a
maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Orange County Jail, Orange County,
California
August
17, 2010 Voice of OC
Another "no-confidence" vote is making the rounds among the staff
at the Orange County Correctional Medical Services division, which provides
primary and specialty medical care for thousands of inmates across the
county's jail system. This is the same division that has triggered a series
of grand jury reports in recent years along with a critical look last year
from the county performance auditor after two controversial deaths. Both
inquiries into the Correction Medical Services division found problems with
equipment, staffing and communication from managers. And a year later, the
union representing medical workers at the jails says things have gotten
worse. The no-confidence vote hovers at 96 percent, officials disclosed
this week. Staffers are experiencing historic low morale, union officials
argue in official letters sent to the Health Care Agency this summer.
Doctors won't take the job, and nurses are being left alone in the field
and are confronted nightly with needlessly dangerous situations. County
officials, including CEO Tom Mauk, acknowledge communication problems but
question the veracity of the 96 percent no-confidence vote. In general,
they say, the union is misrepresenting the problems facing nurses and
doctors in the jails. Officials point to a low death rate compared to other
jail systems in the United States. However, a 2009 performance audit did
find that the county has paid out over $1.2 million in recent years to
defend 55 claims and lawsuits stemming from problems with jail medical
care. Union officials say county leaders are flirting with disaster.
"There currently are no regular, full-time physicians employed in CMS
[Correctional Medical Services]. Two part-time contract physicians serve
the approximately 5,000 inmate patients at the jails," wrote Lisa
Major, assistant general manager at the Orange County Employees
Association, in a May 13 letter to Heath Care Agency Director David Riley.
"This alarming attrition rate creates a hazardous situation not only
for the patients and patient safety but also for the nursing staff,"
Major wrote. The no-confidence petition circulated among the jail medical
staff -- the second petition since 2007 -- directly takes aim at the Health
Care Agency leadership for failing to address staffing shortages and
failing to provide inclusive leadership. "The perception persists that
licenses are threatened due to the likelihood of errors as a result of the
demands placed upon existing personnel to maintain a high level of care
with limited access to physicians and other clinicians for support,
direction and assistance." A 2009 performance audit at the jail found
that many of the problems facing medical staff are longstanding and have
potential for significant problems. "Since the 2002 state budget
deficit, which resulted in significant program reductions, CMS [Correctional
Medical Services] has had difficulty fulfilling its mission in an efficient
and effective manner," concluded the report.
Ouachita
River Unit,
Malvern, Arkansas
September 5, 2005 Northwest Arkansas News
Over the past five months, at least eight staff members have resigned or
been dismissed from their jobs at the Ouachita River Unit in Malvern over
allegations of improper relationships with inmates, smuggling contraband or
personal drug use. In late April, two nursing assistants were ordered off
prison grounds, also for becoming "too friendly" with inmates.
Both women worked for Correctional Medical Services, a St. Louis company
that provides health care to more than 13,000 inmates under a $38 million
contract. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained a copy of a disciplinary
report that cites a sexual relationship between an inmate and one of the
nursing assistants. The report said that a sergeant found letters printed
on an infirmary computer by the nursing assistant that were intended for
the inmate and that provided evidence of a sexual relationship. Department officials referred all questions
about the nursing assistants to the St. Louis-based company that employed
them. Company officials declined to comment about why the women were barred
from prison grounds.
Palm Beach County Jail, Palm Beach, Florida
September
22, 2005 Palm Beach Post
It took 20 months, $15.6 million, the deaths of several inmates after
receiving questionable care and an epidemic staph infection for former
Sheriff Ed Bieluch finally to replace the private medical provider at the
Palm Beach County Jail. To the benefit of jail and court employees,
lawyers, contractors, inmates and the public, current Sheriff Ric Bradshaw
is not as indifferent or incompetent with the new company. Just 10 months
into its two-year, $20 million contract, Correctional Medical Services Inc.
has been warned that Sheriff Bradshaw will not tolerate cost overruns and
poor service. The sheriff invited a competing company to tour the jail last
week and offer an "assessment." CMS had been told to expect an
external auditor, not a competitor. But the unusual, if sneaky, tactic was
effective. As Sheriff Bradshaw said, "We got their attention."
CMS, low bidder last summer to replace Prison Health Services, contracted
to spend $900,000 for care of inmates needing treatment at a hospital or
clinic. Already, that cost has reached $3.3 million. Prescription-drug
costs also are over CMS' budget. Not surprisingly, CMS blamed its
predecessor for higher-than-budgeted expenses. "Quite frankly," a
CMS spokesman said, "there were a number of cases left by the previous
provider that needed to be addressed." There are other remnants of
Prison Health Services' poor performance. Just last week, a circuit judge
ruled that Rosanne Bilello could sue Prison Health Services, a former jail
doctor employed by the company and the sheriff's office for punitive
damages in the 2003 death of her husband, Patrick Bilello. Ms. Bilello says
that while her husband was an inmate at the jail, he begged for medical
treatment, but Prison Health Services ignored him. Other inmates had
complained that PHS denied medications to patients, particularly drugs for
psychiatric care. In one case, a county judge released a schizophrenic
inmate after learning that PHS had failed to give him any medicine. So
Sheriff Bradshaw is correct to not wait for things to get worse with CMS.
Sheriff Bieluch hired CMS with more emphasis on cost than quality, refusing
even to consider a bid by a Wellington-based team of doctors who missed the
deadline by a mere seven minutes. Notably, he hired CMS just months before
leaving office. Sheriff Bradshaw's attention to a new prospective bidder
should remind CMS that the incumbent is replaceable.
September 21, 2005 Palm Beach Post
The health provider for county jail inmates could be in danger of losing
its contract because of cost overruns. Jail officials fired a warning shot
to Correctional Medical Services Inc. this month by announcing that
external auditors would be examining its operation as part of a contract
review. Instead of auditors, a team of executives from a competing health
provider showed up at the the jail last week for a tour of CMS' operation.
"We got their attention," Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. CMS took
over inmate health care Oct. 1 with a two-year contract for about $10.1
million a year. In just 10 months, the costs of sending inmates out for
hospital and clinic care soared to $3.3 million. CMS is responsible for
$900,000 of the costs under its contract. But during a full 12 months, the
cost to the sheriff's office could reach more than $3 million. In addition,
pharmaceutical costs slipped over CMS' contract ceiling, meaning the
sheriff's office will pay about $326,000 out of its own pocket for inmate
medications. CMS pays the first $800,000 for medicines. CMS blames the
previous provider, Prison Health Services Inc., for the cost upsurge. CMS
officials said they were surprised that the notice of a visit by
"external auditors" turned out to be for executives from Armor, a
competitor based in Coconut Creek in Broward County.
Pima
County Jail, Pima, Arizona
July
3, 2009 Arizona Daily Star
The mother of a 28-year-old man who hanged himself in the Pima County jail
has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Correctional Medical Services,
the company that provides medical care at the facility. Keith Kehl, 28, was
found dead in his cell a little after 4 a.m. Aug. 1, 2007. He was hanging
from a bedsheet tied to the upper bunk. According to a lawsuit filed in
Pima County Superior Court, Kehl was not placed on suicide watch despite
the medical staff knowing he was having visual and auditory hallucinations
telling him to harm himself. On June 30, 2007, Kehl's depression was rated
at 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, the lawsuit states. He was also known to be
having suicidal thoughts. The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted in
April to settle a claim filed by the family, agreeing unanimously to pay
$125,000 to Rose Martin, Kehl's mother.
May 2, 2009 Arizona Daily Star
A Pima County jury acquitted a registered nurse Friday on 10 charges
alleging that he sexually abused three female inmates while working at the
Pima County Adult Detention Center. Christopher Erin Johnston, 36, was
accused of touching each of the women's breasts inappropriately, rubbing
his genitals on a woman's back and forcing the same woman to touch his
genitals. Lauren Murata, one of the eight jurors on the case, said the jury
was initially split 6-2 in favor of not guilty but after some discussion
reached its ultimate decision. The jury deliberated four hours. "We
believe the state didn't sufficiently prove its case," Murata said.
"There were several possible witnesses and items we would like to have
seen that would've helped support the state's case."
November 18, 2008 Zonie Report
The mother of a Tucson teenager claims officials at the Pima County
Jail ignored several warning signs about her son’s suicidal tendencies,
leading to his death just days after he was incarcerated. Daryl Marie
Kramer is suing the county, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and Correctional
Medical Services, a St. Louis-based government contractor that administers
medical care in the jail, on behalf of her deceased son, Brian Kramer. In
November 2007, Daryl Kramer grew concerned about her son’s mental health
while he was on probation, the complaint states. It does not mention the
details behind his probationary status. She called her son’s probation
officer and told him to return Brian to the jail as an act of “tough love.”
She claims she told the officer that Brian had attempted suicide three
times recently, including once in the previous week. She claims she asked
the officer to put him on suicide watch. When Brian Kramer was admitted,
jail officials noted that he had a small wound on his wrist that he had
purposely re-opened, according to the complaint. This and other jail
reports revealed several “red flags” that should have alerted the jail to
Brian Kramer’s problems. He was placed on suicide watch initially, the
complaint claims, then removed and put into the general prison population a
few days later. The complaint also claims that he was not receiving Zoloft
or other medical treatment for his mental health. Two days later, Brian
Kramer tried to hang himself in his cell. He was taken to the hospital and
pronounced brain dead upon arrival, after which he was taken off of life
support and his organs were donated for transplants. Daryl Kramer is suing
for negligence and wrongful death. She is represented by Tucson lawyers
Michael and Jack Redhair. The case is before Judge Michael Miller.
July 15, 2008 The Arizona Daily Star
Conmed Healthcare Management Inc. on Monday signed a $220,000
transitional contract with Pima County to provide medical services for
inmates at the county jail. The contract will allow Conmed to develop a
plan for the jail to switch from its existing provider of medical, dental
and behavioral health services by Aug. 1, the company said. The Board of
Supervisors approved a two-year, $18.5 million contract with the current
provider, Correctional Medical Services, in 2006. Citing poor quality and
lack of contract compliance -- such as meeting staffing levels and
providing timely care -- the county decided to drop the provider. Conmed,
based in Hanover, Md., said it currently serves jails and prisons in 31
counties in six states, including Arizona.
July 2, 2008 Arizona Daily Star
Citing poor quality of care and lack of contract compliance, Pima
County will drop Correctional Medical Services as its medical-care provider
at the Pima County jail. Correctional Medical Services is the largest
provider of detention medical services in the country. The Board of
Supervisors approved a two-year, $18.5 million contract with the St.
Louis-based company in 2006. The contract represented an 18.6 percent
increase over the previous contract with Tucson-based First Correctional
Medical, which had served the jail since 2002. At the time, Supervisor
Richard Elías said he was concerned about cost-cutting measures in the
contract and complaints made against the company in other states, but
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said he was satisfied with the
company's answers. However, two years later, Pima County officials say the
company has failed to meet basic expectations laid out in its contract,
including meeting staffing levels and providing care in a timely manner.
"Our feeling is they have not met our requirements for quality care at
the jail," said Dr. Fred Miller, Pima County's chief medical officer.
In a memo to the supervisors, Huckelberry said CMS had five administrators
and four corporate liaisons in the 26 months of the contract, leading to
inconsistent leadership. The company failed to collect $1.3 million from
the contract because it didn't meet staffing requirements. And court
officials recently expressed concern about the quality of psychiatric care
provided in the jail, including psychological evaluations done by a nurse
practitioner. The qualifications of those doing evaluations at the jail
came up during a recent hearing involving a murder suspect. In a bench
conference in Pima County Superior Court, Judge Nanette Warner said she had
big problems with the company. "I have huge issues with the quality of
the staff, the quality of the care. It has been a frustration for the
court," she said. "Their whole goal is how not to do any
work," she said at a later point in the conference. In a ruling issued
Thursday, Warner said the court had been told that CMS had hired a
psychologist and two psychiatrists to start doing evaluations. She declined
to comment further. But by the time the company acted, negotiations
apparently had already broken down. In the memo, Huckelberry said Pima
County sent CMS a final contract offer on June 13, and the company changed
aspects of the contract without discussing the issue with the county. He
said the company was not prepared to meet Pima County's requirements. The
supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the CMS contract for one
month, until the end of July, to allow an orderly transition. They also
voted to give a one-year, $9 million contract to ConMed Healthcare
Management, a Maryland-based provider of detention medical services. Dennis
Douglas, deputy county administrator for health services, said ConMed
approached the county some time ago and periodically provided information
about its services. He said that's why the county decided to go with ConMed
in the short term. He said the county may develop a competitive process to
look at other providers along with ConMed by the time the contract is up.
Elías said he hopes the county avoids similar problems with the new
provider. Douglas said he did not think the problems with CMS could have
been avoided through a more careful contracting process because the company
looked good on paper. "It was a good contract, a reasonable contract,
but they didn't live up to it," he said. Ken Fields, a spokesman for
CMS, said the company negotiated in good faith with Pima County, as
evidenced by the fact that it continued to hire people and provided good
services. "Correctional Medical Services has well-established policies
and procedures that are based on years of experience working in hundreds of
facilities," he said. "That experience is brought to every
community we serve, including Pima County."
October 16, 2007 Arizona Daily Star
An employee working at the Pima County jail has been accused of
sexually abusing female inmates while on the job, according to court
documents. Christopher Erin Johnston was charged with five counts of sexual
abuse and five counts of unlawful sexual conduct, according to an
indictment in Pima County Superior Court. The indictment says Johnston, 34,
had sexual contact with three female inmates without their consent between
July 30 and Aug. 5. On three occasions, Johnston touched the women's
breasts and in one of the incidents he rubbed his genitals on a woman's
back and forced her to touch them, according to the indictment. When the
incidents occurred, Johnston was working for Correctional Medical Services,
a company hired by the Pima County Sheriff's Department to provide health
care to inmates, said Sgt. James Ogden, a spokesman for the Sheriff's
Department. Ogden said he did not know what kind of work Johnston performed
at the jail, 1270 W. Silverlake Road. He said Johnston did not work
directly for the county and that he is no longer employed at the jail.
April 5, 2006 Arizona Star
Health care at the Pima County jail soon will be the responsibility of one
of the nation's largest private providers of medical care in jails and
prisons. The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved an $18.5 million,
two-year contract Tuesday with St. Louis-based Correctional Medical
Services. The company will replace First Correctional Medical, the
Tucson-based company that has provided medical care at the jail since 2002,
at the end of April. The contract represents an average 18.5 percent
increase in the yearly cost of providing care at the jail. County
Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the increased cost was driven by
several factors, including medical costs rising 7.5 percent a year, the
jail population increasing 7 percent to 9 percent a year and the addition
of seven full-time employees over the previous contract. Supervisor Richard
Elias voted no after raising concerns about aspects of the contract. For
example, the contract calls for medications to be distributed two times a
day instead of three, a change that will save the county $300,000. Elias
wondered what would happen to inmates with chronic conditions if they
needed medication three or four times a day. "I just want to make sure
we're not creating more liability by creating a situation where people
aren't getting their meds," Elias said. Elias said later he also was
worried about accountability and records transfers when dealing with an
out-of-state company. "I have a lot of concerns about Correctional
Medical Services," Elias said. "In the end, I would have been a
lot more comfortable with a local provider." Correctional Medical
Services runs 320 facilities with 250,000 inmates in 25 states. Former
inmates and family members have accused the company of providing inadequate
care and cutting corners to save money. Karen Russo, president of the
Wrongful Death Institute, has served as a clearinghouse for those
accusations. She said the company has a "facade" of providing
health care. A 2000 audit by the South Carolina Legislature found problems
with distribution of medicine, lack of planning for discharge of mentally
ill patients and workers who did not have the right qualifications. Ken
Fields, a spokesman for Correctional Medical, said many of the allegations
were years old and false.
Polk County Jail, Bartow, Florida
February
15, 2007 Orlando Sentinel
A Bartow jail nurse was arrested Wednesday after she admitted taking home
prescription medication intended for inmates. Lynda Maier, 42, of Woodbriar
Loop in Lakeland was taken into custody after she told Polk County
sheriff's detectives she took the drugs. A search of her home turned up
mostly antibiotics, according to the Sheriff's Office. Maier, who is
registered with the state as a licensed practical nurse, works for
Correctional Medical Services, which contracts with the jail to treat and
dispense medication for inmates. She has worked inside the jail since July
11. Maier faces eight counts of possession of prescription medication
without a prescription and eight counts of petty theft. She was being held
without bail pending a bond hearing.
March 31, 2001 The Ledger
The head of a local watchdog group says that health care costs for inmates
at the Polk County Jail have doubled under a new contract that he says
should have been chosen in a more public way. Sheriff's officials
acknowledge a substantial increase, about 31%, from last year's costs to
this year's, the first under the new deal with Correctional Medical
Services of St. Louis. But they do acknowledge a unique insurance
policy, prompted by a large settlement with an inmate, that costs the
Sheriff's Office $195,000 per year. The new accord ended a five-year
relationship with EMSA Correctional Care and Prison Health Services, which
bought EMSA in 1999 through a holding company called America Service Group,
which is based in Brentwood, Tenn. Comparing the final year of the
previous contract with the first year of the new one, costs increased about
31%, from $3.2 million last year to the projected $4.2 million this
year. Despite the Sheriff's Office's vehement defenses, Doug Bark,
the head of Citizens Law Enforcement Watch, a local law enforcement
monitoring group, complains that the contract has doubled the cost of
health care for inmates. And on a recent radio show, Bark speculated
that poor conditions at Polk jails and mistreatment of inmates have
contributed to higher costs. " We really had them locked
in," Kushner, County Commission Risk Manager, said. " And
it's my understanding that they complained about not being able to make
money." Col. Ken Barber, who oversees jails for the Sheriff's
Office, said," They've been squeaking for a while about not making any
money on that contract." At least $195,000 of the new contract
-- used to fund a joint insurance policy with CMS -- is a cost that most
jails do not pay. And it can be traced to a large claim filed against
the county and its health care provider in 1999, for which the two groups
are still trying to settle who was ultimately liable, Kushner said.
The joint policy was first put in place in March 2000, in the wake of the
$700,000 settlement with an inmate named Tommy Dickens. Dickens was
arrested Nov. 2, 1998, for failing to appear in court on a charge of
driving with a suspended license. Four days later, he was taken to
Winter Haven Hospital in a coma. The lawsuit filed in federal court
in 1999 said Dickens was sick when he was arrested, slipped in and out of
consciousness at the jail, acted unruly and was placed in a restraint
chair. He suffered an inflamed cheek and bruises on his wrists and
ankles. He won a $700,000 settlement last year from PHS. The
Sheriff's Office paid nothing, but there were unproven charges that Dickens
had been beaten by guards. He said the decision to place Dickens in a
restraint chair was made by health care workers, not corrections
officers. Under the joint policy, the Sheriff's Office pays the
$195,000 annual premium. With the joint policy, the two sides are
equally on the hook and are represented by county-funded lawyers.
Despite the joint policy, any future claim traced solely to medical
malpractice would be the responsibility of the medical provider. And
conversely, any claim that rested solely with the Sheriff's Office would be
the sheriff's responsibility. Other than the Dickens case, which PHS
settled for $700,000 PHS has paid a settlement in one other lawsuit during
its most recent contract stint. The company paid $25,000 in 1999 to a
woman with an IQ of 53 who was sprayed in the face with a chemical called
Freeze + after officials said she became disruptive.
Polk County Jail, Des Moines, Iowa
November
24, 2006 Des Moines Register
Polk County supervisors, concerned that a privately run jail medical
clinic hasn't pinched pennies enough, have launched a search for someone to
keep an eye on how it is operated. Supervisors voted unanimously this week
to hire a new "health services administrator" to oversee the
county's contract with Correctional Medical Services Inc., a St. Louis
company. The job, intended to be filled by a registered nurse with
managerial experience, will pay between $62,012 and $81,744 a year. County
Administrator Michael Freilinger said the new employee will be expected to
wrestle with the ever-expanding cost of medical care for more than 500
prisoners and help plan for the 2008 opening of a new 1,549-bed jail. Polk
County authorities have watched inmate medical costs increase from $1.4
million in the budget year that ended in June 2003 to roughly $2.4 million
projected for 2006-07. County officials say Correctional Medical has blamed
much of the increase on drug costs. Correctional Medical, one of only a
handful of private companies that run jail clinics, has managed medicine in
the Polk County Jail since 1998. The company has faced several inmate
lawsuits in recent years, mostly based on allegations of delayed care or
the use of substitution drugs in a bid to contain costs.
June 9, 2005 Des Moines Register
The Polk County Board of Supervisors will pay $35,000 to settle a lawsuit
filed by relatives of a man who died in the county jail after his arrest
for reckless driving. Mark Girres, a 58-year-old diabetic, died in 2003.
His daughters sued, alleging that sheriff's deputies and medical staffers
from Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis ignored warnings about
Girres' health and put off care. During the past decade, more than a dozen
inmates or their families have alleged that officials delayed or denied
treatment. Among them were two cases that the county also settled out of
court: an HIV-positive man charged with driving drunk who spent 11 days in
a coma after he said jail medical workers delayed treating his low blood
pressure, and another inmate who said she suffered permanent tendon damage
after she had to wait days for treatment of a knife wound to her hand.
Girres, a retired tree-trimmer for the city of Des Moines, was arrested
Sept. 19, 2003, after his car collided with a light pole, a parked vehicle
and a fence at an Ingersoll Avenue gas station. Girres' daughters said the
collisions were a sign he needed medical attention. Girres was booked Sept.
20. A guard noticed Girres seemed ill and recommended he be closely
watched. The lawsuit alleged that Girres was moved but not treated. He died
Sept. 22 at a hospital.
May 5, 2005 Des Moines Register
Polk County taxpayers will pay 20 percent more to provide medical
services for the nearly 17,000 people that law enforcement officials expect
to lock up next year. The county, which on average has reported a more than
5 percent annual inmate increase over the past decade, will pay $1.8
million for doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs, dental care
and mental health in the budget year that starts in July. That's $300,000
more than this year. For the seventh consecutive year, the county Board of
Supervisors will hire Correctional Medical Services, a St. Louis company,
to administer the jail health program. Supervisors have praised the company
for consistent and quality care during the years. But both the company and
the jail have been criticized by inmates and their families. After the 2003
death of Mark Girres, 58, an imprisoned Des Moines diabetic, his survivors
alleged that jail officials knew about his illness but did not fully
evaluate his health or give him needed care. Jail officials denied
wrongdoing, and Iowa's ombudsman's office investigated that and other
complaints but ruled that jail officials have made substantial improvements
that will prevent future problems. Tracie Botts of Des Moines, who spent
six months in jail last year on drug charges, offers a mixed assessment.
She claims a fellow inmate endured constant pain from a stomach ulcer and
was denied medication for months. At the same time, however, Botts said she
was able to kick her addiction to crack cocaine thanks to treatment
provided by the jail. "That other girl, she had this bleeding ulcer
and was more or less ignored," Botts said. "I got the treatment I
needed, and it worked for me. I'm a year clean and counting."
October 7, 2004 Des Moines Register
A Des Moines woman contends that Polk County Jail officials haven't kept a
promise to make "substantial and meaningful" changes to medical
policies she blames for her incarcerated son's suicide attempt last year.
Audrey Rivas said a letter from the state ombudsman's office confirmed that
jail officials acknowledged at least some mistakes prior to Robert Rivas'
attempted Tylenol overdose. The admission came three months after the 2003
death of an imprisoned Des Moines diabetic, Mark Girres, 58, who allegedly
was denied medical attention following his September 2003 arrest for
reckless driving. A Polk County lawsuit claims jail officials did not
evaluate Girres' health despite repeated warnings about his illness and
erratic behavior before his death. Rivas said the two cases demonstrated a
pattern of poor medical care at the jail. The ombudsman also faulted
Correctional Medical Services, the jail's privately run medical clinic, for
failing to adequately assess Rivas' need for a prescribed antidepressant,
which the clinic had refused to provide. The lawsuit, filed by Girres' two daughters, accuses deputies
and Correctional Medical of negligence.
September 29, 2004 Des Moines Register
Relatives of a 58-year-old diabetic arrested for reckless driving last year
have sued Polk County Jail officials, alleging that deputies and a private
medical company were negligent for allowing the man's illness to go
untreated until he died. A spokeswoman for St. Louis-based Correctional
Medical Services said patient confidentiality rules forbid any comment on
Girres' case. She stressed that medical staffers "work very hard every
day to meet the medical needs of inmate patients in Polk County."
Court papers state Girres, who originally was booked into the Des Moines
City Jail, was transferred to Polk County's custody about 1 p.m. last Sept.
20. A questionnaire filled out then shows Girres told jailers that he
suffered from both diabetes and liver cancer but that no medications were
required. Jailhouse reports
state Girres was refusing food by the evening of Sept. 20 and "does
not appear to be in good health." That night, according to the
lawsuit, Girres was transferred into administrative segregation because he
was "seemingly disoriented" and "acting and talking too
crazy" to remain in a regular cell. "The family has reviewed all
records pertaining to his incarceration," Girres' daughters said.
"We are deeply saddened by the withholding of medical attention in
spite of 12 separate documented instances in which medical attention was
clearly warranted." By Sept. 21, Girres was talking to himself,
defecating on himself, "bleeding from open wounds" to his arms
and "incoherent," according to the lawsuit. A 2002 Des Moines
Register article described more than a dozen allegations that Correctional
Medical officials delayed or denied treatment to Polk County inmates during
the company's first four years controlling a jailhouse medical clinic.
Polk County STAR Program, Bartow, Florida
July
6, 2007 Orlando Sentinel
A nurse who works with juvenile offenders in Polk County was arrested
Thursday on charges of battery and false imprisonment, authorities said.
Thomas J. Petreit, 38, is accused of slamming a woman's arm in the front
door of an Auburndale home and also striking the woman in the face, records
show. Petreit was being held Thursday at the Polk County Jail without bail.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said Petreit is a contract nurse assigned
to the STAR program and employed by Correctional Medical Services. STAR is
operated by the Polk County Sheriff's Office and is the only such program
remaining in the state. It replaced the juvenile boot camp that operated in
Polk and several other counties. Auburndale police said an officer who
responded to the house after the department received a 911 call saw Petreit
strike the woman through a window about 2:05 a.m.
Potosi Correctional Center, Potosi, Missouri
January
1, 2006 Daily Journal
A former nurse for Correctional Medical Services has been charged for
allegedly stealing prescriptions from the Potosi Correctional Center. Lisa
Peery, 41, of Farmington, was recently charged with one Class A misdemeanor
count of stealing. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in the
county jail or fined $1,000. Peery worked as a nurse for Correctional
Medical Services under a contract with the Missouri Department of
Corrections. According to court records, Peery stole prescription
medications and medical supplies from the unit and took them to her house.
The thefts reportedly occurred between January and June of this year. The
medications that were removed include a dosage of Vistaril, used for the
treatment of anxiety and tension, that was prescribed to an offender at
Potosi and a dosage of Cogentin, which is used in the treatment of
Parkinson's Disease, that was prescribed to another offender there.
Pottawattamie County Jail, Pottawattamie, Iowa
December
20, 2005 The Daily Nonpareil
Pottawattamie County spends more than $650,000 a year on health care for
inmates at the county jail, but a new way to save money might become a
reality early next year. "It's one of the most substantial costs for
the jail," said Supervisor Loren Knauss. "We are forced by
federal and state laws to spend more on medical care for inmates than what
we do for our veterans." The county has been paying a private firm,
CMS, $55,000 a month or $660,000 a year to oversee health care needs for
the county's prisoners. The firm, however, announced Monday it plans to cease
its operations in February to concentrate on larger state and federal
prisons. The Board of Supervisors gave permission to Sheriff Jeff Danker
and others at the jail who oversee the inmates' health needs to look into
the possibility of the county taking over the operation to save money.
"It could be a bunch of savings," Supervisor Delbert King said.
Under one possible alternative, the county would hire the three nurses and
the administrator currently there as county employees and contract with a
local doctor when needed. Inquiries will also be made to see if it's
cheaper for the county to purchase prescription drugs locally. CMS, a
national company, has its own drug buying policy. The staff provides 16
hours of health care daily for the more than 250 inmates currently housed
in the jail. Knauss said this new procedure might save as much as $100,000
a year. "It's a big help to the taxpayers," King added.
South Bay County House of Correction (AKA Suffolk
County House of Correction), Boston, Massachusetts
The private company that provides medical care to inmate at the Suffolk
County jail said the drug mix-up that sent five prisoners to the hospital
was a "highly unusual" mistake. Meanwhile, the mother of one of
the inmates, who asked not to be identified, said yesterday that her son
was hospitalized two weeks ago for the same reason. On Sunday morning,
inmates who were supposed to get a prescribed amount of Viracept, an
anti-drug, instead were given high doses of Elavil, an anti-depressant, by
Correctional Medical Services staff. (Boston Globe, September 28, 2001)
Three inmates at the South Bay House of Correction in Boston yesterday were
hospitalized - two of whom remained in serious condition last night - after
overdosing on antidepressants they had been mistakenly given by the private
company providing medical care at the Suffolk County facility, jail
officials said. The nurse who handed out the medication works for
Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis, the nation's largest provider
of health services for prisoners. The company's application for a four-year
contract with the state Department of Correction for at least $55 million
is pending, said department spokesman Justin Latini. At the jail yesterday
morning, a total of five inmates were found unresponsive in their cells,
according to Richard Lombardi, spokesperson for Suffolk County Sheriff
Richard J. Rouse. Their cellmates banged on the walls to alert guards. The
jail's emergency service team responded and the inmates were rushed to
Boston Medical Center, Lombardi said. Two of the five inmates did not need
to be admitted. "It would appear someone put the wrong medication in
the envelope," Lombardi said. (Boston Globe, September 24, 2001)
Prince George's County Jail, Prince
George's County, Maryland
December
5, 2008 Washington Post Demetri R. Stover was in the Prince George's County
jail awaiting trial on charges he stole $60 worth of merchandise from a
grocery store when another inmate punched him. Stover fell to the ground.
He was found convulsing in his cell less than four hours later; within a
week, he was dead. But as authorities sought to prosecute the inmate who
hit Stover, evidence emerged that Stover's subsequent treatment at the jail
might have contributed to his death. Stover, 46, was evaluated and released
from the medical ward in about five minutes. The inmate who punched him,
Octuan Gant, was initially charged with manslaughter but pleaded guilty to
second-degree assault. He is to be sentenced today. His attorney said in
court that he and the prosecution "agree the facts would not show that
the injury resulting in [Stover's] death was directly linked to the conduct
of the defendant." "The evidence would have shown other actions
by the emergency response team and by medical personnel that were the
direct link," attorney Michael D. Beach said. Beach did not elaborate.
Prosecutors did not dispute his claim. Both sides have since declined to
comment on Beach's assertion. A video recording of the Aug. 17, 2007,
incident shows that the guards who tended to Stover, 46, after the assault
handled him roughly as they took him to the medical ward. The video shows
that Stover's evaluation lasted about five minutes. "He did not get
the right medical treatment," Stover's mother, Mary Fulwood, said
yesterday. "I believe if he had gotten the medical treatment he
needed, it would have been a different story. But he didn't, and that hurts
me. What can you do in five minutes?" Vernon Herron, the county's
director of public safety, said Stover was examined by nurses with
Correctional Medical Services, a county contractor. "It is of great
concern to us that Mr. Stover later died as a result of his injuries, and
we have met with CMS and conveyed those concerns to them," Herron said
in a statement. A spokesman for the company declined to comment, citing
patient confidentiality.
Richmond County Jail, Richmond County, Georgia
August
30, 2009 The Augusta Chronicle
Since the decade began, at least nine men have died while in the custody of
the Richmond County jail. Officially, they were not guilty of anything, but
they were being held until the justice system could determine whether
charges against them could be proven. Those who died varied from a troubled
Vietnam vet to a brain-damaged traffic victim with the mental capacity of a
child. Another was a mentally ill inmate who should have been a free man,
but the paperwork releasing him never made it to the jail. All the deaths
were investigated. No criminal wrongdoing was found. The Augusta Chronicle
reviewed the cases at the urging of families and others who all seemed to
want the answer to one simple question: How could someone in the
restrictive and rigidly supervised custody of incarceration end up dead? IN
A PLACE WHERE slaying suspects and tough-talking young men live behind
steel doors and iron bars, the old, handicapped, depressed or mentally ill
can be overlooked. Charles Brunson was severely disabled when he died at
the jail March 12, 2008. The only public notice of his death was an
obituary. The severely disabled and brain damaged 52-year-old might have
never been thought of again by anyone outside his family, except that he
suffered a fatal head injury inside the county jail at 401 Walton Way. Less
than four years earlier, another inmate suffered a near-fatal head injury
that an emergency room doctor said was exacerbated because of a delay in
treatment. Like most people housed in the Richmond County jail, Mr. Brunson
had been arrested but not convicted. The Chronicle learned of Mr. Brunson
while reviewing the quality of medical care at the jail facilities because
of two recent lawsuits involving former inmates and a steady stream of
complaints sent to the newspaper by phone, e-mail, and letters written in
pencil by inmates. Since 2003, Augusta has contracted with Correctional
Medical Services to provide medical services in the county jails. This
year's contract is worth more than $4 million. CMS, the largest U.S.
corporation in the prison health care business, takes care of all medical
needs, from nurses and doctors to medicine and equipment. Maj. Gene
Johnson, who is in charge of the jails on Walton Way and Phinizy Road, said
he believes the inmates have better health care than most county residents.
Every day he meets with the registered nurse in charge of medical services
to discuss any especially troubling medical problems among nearly 1,000
inmates, most of whom Maj. Johnson knows by name or accused deed.
"They're getting better care here than they can on the street,"
Maj. Johnson said. Some are getting care for the first time in years. Many
have abused themselves for years with drugs and alcohol at a higher level
than the general population, he said. The $17.7 million budget for the
jails includes just more than $5.1 million for medical care. In addition to
the contract payment to CMS, the city is liable for any medical expenses
that exceed $10,000 for any single inmate in a single year. CMS spokesman
Ken Fields said the company provides qualified and experienced health care
professionals to see to the medical needs of the jail inmates. That quality
is recognized in the jail's accreditation by the National Commission on
Correctional Healthcare, he said. THE ACCREDITATION, however, doesn't
impress everyone. Attorney Elizabeth Alexander, the director of the
American Civil Liberties Union's national prison project, said that means
the facility can provide an adequate level of care. The way CMS and other
for-profit corporations in the business of prison health care make money is
the problem, she said. The companies get contracts by providing the lowest
bid, and the only place to cut costs is in the medical care, said Ms.
Alexander, who works from the ACLU's New York City office. Once the
contracts are set, there's no oversight of the care because the state or
local officials no longer have independent medical staff, she said. Ms.
Alexander represented the family of 21-year-old Timothy Joe Souders in its
lawsuit against the state of Michigan and CMS. Mr. Souders, who was
mentally ill, was chained to a bed for 17 hours a day for four days in a
cell that got as hot as 106 degrees, according to court documents. He died
of dehydration. A surveillance video showed Mr. Souders' experience, and
the state agreed to a $3.8 million settlement in June 2008. "We're
quite familiar with CMS," Ms. Alexander said. The company has a long
history of providing inadequate and often unconstitutional care, she said.
It's not the only poor-performing prison health care company, she said.
States and local governments go from one to the other and back again,
usually with the same results, she said. The only real solution she sees is
to use nonprofit-based medical personnel. Mr. Fields pointed to CMS' 30
years of experience in what is a specialty in the medical industry. CMS has
been a leader in the field, he said, and has developed strategies and
techniques that have improved the quality of care in secured facilities.
CMS has been named in many lawsuits, but numbers don't equate to a lack of
quality care, Mr. Fields said. He estimated that 95 percent of the suits
are dismissed or won by CMS. The Chronicle searched for lawsuits involving
CMS by using legal databases maintained by Justia.com, a private company
that provides free access to courts and other legal issues, and Prison
Legal News, a prisoner rights advocacy organization. The Chronicle found
182 lawsuits against CMS. State and local governments who have contracted
with CMS have had to pay settlements in 16 cases that totaled more than
$28.5 million. Still, CMS wins almost all of the cases, and the same is
true of state and local governments sued by inmates who complained about
the quality of health care. IN FEDERAL COURT IN AUGUSTA, inmates have sued
the county 31 times in the past decade. Nineteen suits alleged civil rights
violations based on medical services. The city won every case. Another
lawsuit, filed by the mother of a man who died of untreated pneumonia, is
pending. In most of those lawsuits, the county didn't even have to respond
to the allegations, thanks to federal legislation passed in 1995. The
Prison Litigation Reform Act was designed to curb the flood of prisoner
lawsuits in federal court. It allows judges to summarily toss out what they
see as frivolous cases. Ms. Alexander said the law and case decisions have
set the bar at a near impossible height, regardless of the merit of an
inmate's complaint. An inmate can't claim a constitutional violation based
on health care unless he suffered physical harm, Ms. Alexander said. An
inmate also has to prove the staff knew harm could happen but did nothing
to prevent it, she said. The techniques once used at the Abu Ghraib prison
in Iraq wouldn't be considered civil rights violations in the U.S. legal
system, Ms. Alexander said. The inmates didn't suffer actual physical harm.
In an opinion released in January 2007, Supreme Court Chief Justice John
Roberts wrote that trial judges and appellate courts were taking the Prison
Litigation Reform Act too far. "We are not insensitive to the
challenges faced by the lower federal courts in managing their dockets and
attempting to separate, when it comes to prisoner lawsuits, not so much
wheat from chaff as needles from haystacks. However ... adopting different
and more onerous pleading rules" is not right, he wrote. Jamie Koss is
among those whose constitutional claim based on health care was tossed out
in the Augusta federal court. He suffered a head injury in the Richmond
County jail Dec. 1, 2004. As he lay unconscious on the cement floor, a
nurse did little more than glance at Mr. Koss before deciding he was fine,
according to witness statements in the GBI file on Mr. Koss' injury,
according to his lawsuit. About seven hours passed before Mr. Koss got
help. The delay, the treating physician at University Hospital said,
exacerbated the brain damage. He is now disabled, in chronic pain and
unable to care for himself, according to his lawsuit. Mr. Koss might have
had a case against the nurse who did nothing to help him, but because she
has died, Mr. Koss had no valid constitutional challenge, the judge ruled.
Neither the sheriff's office nor CMS can be held liable for the nurse's
derogation of duty. Mr. Koss, the judge ruled, could not meet the legal
standard for such a constitutional challenge: that CMS or the sheriff's
office participated in the acts or omissions; that either had a history of
widespread abuse so that they should have known there was a risk; or either
implemented a policy that resulted in deliberate indifference. When asked
about Mr. Koss' case, Mr. Fields said CMS cannot discuss any patient's care
because of confidentiality demanded of health care professionals. After
death, federal medical privacy laws allow the release of a person's medical
information only to the executor of the estate; the person authorized
access through a health care power of attorney immediately before death; or
a person authorized by the patient while still alive to receive the
information, wrote Christine Shaffer, an Augusta attorney with experience
in litigation dealing with the privacy law and the state's Open Records
Act. Maj. Johnson said the Richmond County jail staff is doing its best to
keep watch over the inmates in the overcrowded facilities and separate
those who are vulnerable or ill. "This jail here has turned into a
mental institution," he said one particularly trying morning in June.
Georgia Regional Hospital was full and not accepting new patients, Maj.
Johnson said, and he had one out-of-control inmate who broke the
iron-restraint chair and tore the ligaments in a captain's thumb. THERE ARE
PROCEDURES SET to catch potential medical problems on the front end, Maj.
Johnson said. Every person brought into the jail is asked a set of
questions to determine whether he or she has any medical needs or could be
suicidal. A nurse is to check the answers and follow up on any potential
medical needs. Every person can fill out a request to see the CMS physician
or dentist, Maj. Johnson said, but the requests are screened by a nurse to
determine whether an inmate should see the doctor. The doctor works 40
hours a week. On any given day, the jail facilities hold a combined
population of about 1,000. A recent article in a John Hopkins University
publication found the average ratio of physician to patients in the United
States is 1 to 400. What medicine an inmate receives is up to the
physician, Maj. Johnson said. Jail staff cannot allow family or anyone else
to provide medication for an inmate because staffers have no way to verify
what it is, he said. In lawsuits, former inmates have complained that they
cannot get access to the nurses and especially to the doctor. Maj. Johnson
denies those charges. Inmates have access to medical care, and the medical
staff is trained to deal with inmates incapable of asking for medical
attention, he said. Dealing with mentally ill inmates is a huge issue for
the medical and jail staffs, he said. There have been at least five
suicides since 2001. According to GBI reports reviewed by The Chronicle ,
most had been on antidepressants. John O. Johnson was a 43-year-old repeat
offender looking at life in prison if convicted of a series of armed
robberies. After his May 21, 2003, arrest, he tried to choke himself to
death with a shoestring and he banged his head into a wall. The jail put
him on suicide watch. Mr. Johnson convinced the medical staff he was all
right, according to the GBI report. He was moved to the special needs unit
in a lock-down status, but he was allowed to have clothing and the normal
items other inmates have. The morning after he was moved off suicide watch,
Mr. Johnson was found hanging from a strip of bedsheet. He left handwritten
copies of a will and testament and letters of apology to his mother and the
mother of his children. He also left a note apologizing to the people of
Richmond County for his crimes. According to a statement given by one of
the nurses, Mr. Johnson swore he would kill himself because staff couldn't
watch him all of the time. Though not many people have died in the county
jails in recent years, the number shouldn't be the criterion for judging
the quality of medical care, said Ms. Alexander, who has been with the ACLU
Prison Project since 1981. The critical question is whether any of the
deaths were preventable, Ms. Alexander said. The only way to know for sure
is to examine the medical records, she said. If something went wrong, the
problem needs to be understood and corrected, she said. She compared it to
how the National Transportation Safety Board operates. Compared with the
number of flights every year, the number of crashes is not statistically
significant, but the board examines every accident to find out what
happened and whether there was a problem that can be corrected to prevent
another accident, she said. Though Mr. Koss' near-fatal head injury in
December 2004 was exacerbated because of a delay in treatment, when Mr.
Brunson struck his head in March 2008, the nurse took no action to
determine whether the severely disabled and brain-damaged man might have
had a brain injury, according to the GBI file. Mr. Brunson's family isn't
seeking civil unrest or damages from lawsuits. They say they just wanted to
know why he couldn't have been saved.
August 30, 2009 The Augusta Chronicle
Jamie Koss liked to drink, and his rap sheet indicates it was usually the
reason the Vietnam War veteran found himself repeatedly behind bars. Not
anymore. On Dec. 2, 2004, Mr. Koss lay unconscious on the cement floor of a
jail cell for hours as his brain bled and swelled. He recovered, somewhat,
and sued Richmond County, the sheriff and Correctional Medical Services,
the company that has the contract to provide medical services at county
jail facilities. Deputies booked Mr. Koss into jail about 6 p.m. for
disorderly conduct. It didn't take him long to start an argument with
inmate Gilbert Jacobs. He called Mr. Jacobs names and questioned his
service during the Vietnam War. Mr. Jacobs responded by punching him once
in the face. It knocked Mr. Koss off his feet. Mr. Jacobs and the other men
in the holding cell would later tell Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents
that Mr. Koss' head slammed on the concrete floor about 8 p.m. One of the
men told Deputy David Copeland that Mr. Koss had been hurt, and the deputy
could see Mr. Koss had blood on his face and head. The officer called nurse
Nellie Williams, who looked at Mr. Koss from the doorway but did nothing
else, according to the GBI report obtained by The Chronicle through the
state's Open Records Act. Ms. Williams, a registered nurse, told
investigators that no one told her Mr. Koss had been hurt. He was breathing
OK and she thought he just needed to sleep off being drunk. A review of the
jail video recording shows Ms. Williams at the cell door for about 30
seconds. Mr. Koss came to after a couple of hours on the floor, the other
men in the cell told GBI agents. He got up onto one of the benches but fell
off several times. About 3 a.m., when a deputy came to move the men out of
the holding cell, he couldn't wake Mr. Koss. At the hospital, doctors
operated on Mr. Koss. They warned jail staff that he might not make it,
according to the investigative report. He did survive, however, after a
month in the hospital and many more months in physical therapy. He is blind
in one eye, unable to stand without support and cannot bathe or dress
himself. The physician who treated Mr. Koss at University Hospital said the
brain damage was exacerbated by the delay in getting medical care. In a
March 30 decision, U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall wrote that Mr.
Koss couldn't prove any jail or medical worker was deliberately
indifferent, except perhaps Ms. Williams. Because she died in February
2005, Mr. Koss didn't have a federal case, Judge Hall ruled.
South
Michigan Correctional Facility, Jackson, Michigan
July
7, 2008 Daily Telegram
A lawsuit over the death of a mentally ill, 21-year-old Adrian man
while he was shackled inside a prison cell for four days during a heat wave
two years ago has been settled in United States District Court. The parents
and three brothers of Timothy Joe Souders are to share in a $3.25 million
settlement approved in late June by Judge Bernard Friedman. The lawsuit was
completed Wednesday with a dismissal order for Correctional Medical
Services Inc., a private contractor providing medical care to inmates at the
Southern Michigan Correctional Center in Jackson where Souders died. The
state is paying $2.86 million of the settlement total with a private
insurance company contributing the remainder, said Corrections Department
spokesman Russ Marlan. The law firm of Geoffrey Fieger of Southfield is to
receive more than $1 million as its one-third fee for handling the case.
Souders’ mother and father are each to receive structured settlements worth
nearly $730,000. His three brothers are to receive structured settlements
of $200,000 each.
October 14, 2006 The Grand Rapids Press
The use of four-point restraints as punishment for prison inmates meets
the American Medical Association's definition of torture and should be
discontinued, a doctor appointed by a federal judge to monitor health care
in Michigan's prisons testified Friday. The continued use of restraints is
"likely to result in future deaths," Robert Cohen warned U.S.
District Judge Richard Enslen. He blamed the Aug. 6 death of Timothy Joe
Souders, a 21-year-old mentally ill inmate, on the fact he was shackled
atop a steel table in the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in
Jackson for most of four days during a heat wave. "While naked in bed,
he was found to be lying in his own urine and feces," Cohen said,
adding that Souders' "condition during a heat wave required constant
monitoring ... There should be no policy for maintaining prisoners in
punitive restraints. It was that policy that led to his death." After
Cohen's testimony, attorney Elizabeth Alexander, representing inmates in
the class action lawsuit, asked Enslen to issue an order temporarily
barring the state Corrections Department from using restraints to punish
prisoners. Enslen appeared inclined to issue the order, but Assistant
Attorney General Peter Govorchin stepped outside the courtroom to call
state Corrections Director Patricia Caruso about offering a voluntary
moratorium on the use of restraints. Afterward, the attorneys met with
Enslen behind closed doors, and later would not say whether an agreement
had been reached to stop restraining prisoners as punishment. Cohen's
testimony came at the end of a three-day hearing in a lawsuit aimed at
forcing the state to improve the care of medically and mentally ill
prisoners. The allegations include: The hospital and other medical units in
the Jackson prison complex are understaffed by doctors and nurses. Written
requests by inmates for medical help often are delayed for several days or
ignored. Referrals to outside medical specialists are routinely delayed for
weeks and even months while sick inmates get sicker and, in some case, die.
Prescriptions for serious illnesses often go unfilled for several days.
Last May and June, critical medications for several inmates were not
provided while the Jackson prison complex was in transition from its own
staff of pharmacists to a private firm called Pharmacorp. One inmate
testified his medication for glaucoma and migraine headaches was withheld
as punishment because he talked with attorneys in the case. Only while he
was in court and on the stand Wednesday did a guard hand him his
medication. Some of the responsibility rests with Correctional Medical
Services, the for-profit corporation that provides care for prisoners under
a contract with the state, testified Jerry Walden, an Ann Arbor physician
called as an expert witness for the inmates. "There seems to be an
indifference about care," Walden said, "and I'm concerned about
that."
South
Woods State Prison, Bridgeton, New
Jersey
November
23, 2005 Today's Sunbeam
Less than a month after a Southern State Corrections Facility employee was
sentenced here in Superior Court for having sex with inmates, a staff
member at South Woods State Prison has been accused of similar behavior.
Dawn Brown, a nurse aide at the 1,500-inmate South Woods prison in
Bridgeton, was picked up by state Department of Corrections Special
Investigations officers Friday and taken to Cumberland County Jail on
charges she had consensual sex with at least one male inmate at South
Woods. "This is something that's completely unacceptable," said
state DOC spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer. "It was consensual in the
fact that no one was raped. When you have somebody in a supervisory
position this sometimes happens." Brown, who has been charged with
sexual assault and official misconduct, was hired by Correctional Medical
Services in May 2004. CMS provides medical services at South Woods State
Prison and other state facilities throughout New Jersey.
St
Louis Justice Center, St Louis, Missouri
May
24, 2012 Post-Dispatch
About an hour after a doctor instructed St. Louis jail staff to send inmate
Courtland Lucas to a hospital immediately, medical records show, the
31-year-old prisoner collapsed in a cell and soon died. The lapse is among
a variety of medical missteps alleged in a wrongful-death and malpractice
lawsuit against the private contractor that provides medical care for the
St. Louis Justice Center. Medical records obtained by lawyers for Lucas'
family also contain a nurse's notes indicating a belief at the time that
his episodes were 'staged." Lucas died May 25, 2009, from
complications of a heart problem, congenital aortic valve stenosis while
under the care of Correctional Medical Services Inc. CMS merged last year
with PHS Correctional Healthcare to form Corizon. It provides medical
coverage to more than 400,000 inmates at 400 correctional facilities across
the country, including St. Louis, where its operational headquarters is
located. A company spokesman, Pat Nolan, said: "Corizon and its employees
work hard every day to provide quality care to thousands of inmates across
the country." Mayor Francis Slay's spokeswoman, Kara Bowlin, would not
comment on specific allegations. She noted that the city spends nearly $7
million each year on inmate health care and "takes seriously its
obligation to provide health care services to the people it confines, many
of whom come to us with serious medical problems." The suit, filed
this month by the St. Louis Lawyers Group on behalf of Lucas' minor son, Trayon
Lucas-McNairy, seeks unspecified damages over $25,000 from CMS but does not
name the city as a defendant. Burton Newman, one of his attorneys, said in
an interview: "We found several individuals who were quoted on the
record as recognizing the care that this gentleman needed, but other
individuals seem to have failed to recognize the care needed, or ignored
the care needed." It is the second attempt at compensation in the
case. A prior wrongful-death suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties
Union against the city and the health care provider, was voluntarily
dismissed last year on a legal technicality. DETERIORATING HEALTH -- Lucas,
the youngest of 14 children, was a jokester who wrote poetry and announced
a new commitment to God, his family told the Post-Dispatch in 2010. He had
been a restaurant manager but struggled with drugs, including heroin, for
the last four years of his life. Medical records show Lucas long suffered
from serious heart problems, which required several valve replacements and
a hospitalization in 2009 for swelling and an irregular heartbeat. He was
diabetic, suffered from hypertension and had a pacemaker. When he was
arrested by St. Louis police May 20, 2009, on a parole violation — he had a
record of drug and traffic offenses — he was taken to St. Alexius Hospital,
complaining of chest pain. Doctor's orders from that visit set out a plan
for checking his blood sugar and administering insulin. Later orders from a
jail physician offered a similar schedule. But Lucas' lawyers, one with a
medical degree, say evidence shows the orders were not consistently
followed. The suit refers to medical records it says reflect neglect. The
plaintiff's lawyer provided a Post-Dispatch reporter with CMS documents
that show: • May 24, afternoon: Lucas, in a narcotics detoxification unit,
shows signs of trouble. His blood sugar level is elevated, at 228. Nurses
administer insulin but don't record another blood-sugar check until the
next day. • May 24, 7:15 p.m.: Lucas complains of a fast heartbeat and
hallucinations, talking of "little people" in his room. A nurse
notes he is agitated and perspiring. A jail physician has asked to be
called about any changes in Lucas' mental status but there is no record of
such a call; Lucas' lawyers maintain it wasn't made. • May 25, 4 a.m.:
Lucas asks to go to a hospital and says he doesn't want to die in the jail.
He is taken by wheelchair to an examining room. Nurses try to draw blood
but note that it's too thick. Existing hospital orders call for a doctor's
care if his blood sugar rises above 300; it is now 325. There is no note of
any insulin being administered. • May 25, 1:10 p.m.: A nurse notes Lucas'
altered mental status and also writes that "all episodes appear to be
staged as (Lucas) easily comes back to normal conversation." • May 25,
5:30 p.m.: Lucas is found lying in his cell in a 'stuporous condition"
and answers questions 'sluggishly," according to a nurse's notes.
Insulin is administered but there is no note of his sugar being checked.
Nurses have trouble detecting his pulse and blood pressure, but ultimately
find his heart rate is high, at 160. • May 25, 5:45 p.m.: The on-call
physician orders Lucas taken to a hospital emergency room immediately. •
May 25, about 7 p.m.: Lucas is still waiting for transport. A sheriff's
deputy reports that Lucas has collapsed while sitting in a wheelchair.
Records indicate a lost minute while medical staff struggles to have the
doors to the holding unit opened by master control. • May 25, 7:10 p.m.:
Paramedics arrive and take Lucas to St. Louis University Hospital. • May
25, 7:54 p.m.: Lucas is pronounced dead. OTHER CLAIMS OF NEGLECT -- CMS
which has worked for Missouri's prison system since 1992 and has for
decades been one of the biggest inmate health care contractors, has been a
target of criticism before. It was the main subject of a 1998 Post-Dispatch
investigation, which showed that inmates died in more than 20 cases due to
negligence, indifference, understaffing, inadequate training or
cost-cutting. Such concerns rose again in 2007 after the death of LaVonda
Kimble, 30, from an asthma attack at the St. Louis Justice Center. A fire
department report, obtained by a lawyer for her family, showed paramedics
encountered delays and apathy when trying to get into the jail. Autopsy findings
showed no trace of a drug that jail nurses said they repeatedly
administered to ease Kimble's breathing. "The discovery in this case
showed they did little to nothing for her. They just watched her die,"
according to her family's attorney, John Wallach. A confidential settlement
of that suit was reached last year and fulfilled in the past few weeks.
Wallach said that "justice was done to the extent that the law would
allow..." In 2010, the ACLU alleged in federal court that an
HIV-positive John Doe plaintiff was deprived of medications for 17 days,
even though he told jail staff of his condition and his physician faxed
information about his medicines and dosages. Also that year, Vanessa Evans,
37, died hours after she complained to staff about having trouble
breathing. Jail officials said she appeared fine a half hour earlier.
Evans' family complained that the company failed to take her claims
seriously despite her history of asthma. Newman said Lucas' case is another
chapter in a sad history. He complained: "It's tragic that a man with
known medical conditions was incarcerated in the city jail and did not
receive any of the medical care that he was not only entitled to, but ...
the medical officials at the jail knew he needed."
November 19, 2010 Post-Dispatch
Medical care in city jails, already the subject of wrongful-death lawsuits,
was challenged again on Thursday with an ACLU claim that an HIV-positive
inmate was deprived of his medications for 17 days and got only sporadic
care thereafter. A lawsuit filed in federal court by the American Civil
Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri alleges that the John Doe plaintiff was
deprived of his rights at both the Justice Center downtown and the Medium
Security Institution on Hall Street. "It's inexcusable, and it's
serious," said Tony Rothert, legal director for the ACLU here. The
ACLU says this case and others reflect a pattern of failures at the
lockups. It made specific allegations in a 2009 report that accused the
jails of inadequate medical attention, inmate abuse, falsification of
reports and unsanitary conditions. The latest suit names the city and a
contractor, Correctional Medical Services, as defendants, along with the
jail superintendent, Eugene Stubblefield, and two CMS physicians, Drs.
Brenda Mallard and Susan Singer. Deputy City Counselor Nancy Kistler
responded, "Contrary to the claims of the ACLU, the records of the
inmate in question reflect that he received adequate medical care
consistent with his constitutional rights." CMS issued a statement saying
it provides quality care, saying it cannot comment on specifics because of
confidentiality laws.
October 27, 2010 Post-Dispatch
The 31-year-old collapsed from heart failure at the St. Louis Justice
Center on May 25, 2009, five days after he was arrested for a probation
violation. His family said he had been taken into custody because he missed
a meeting with his probation officer. After he collapsed, he was
transported to St. Louis University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Lucas had chronic heart disease and used a pacemaker. In a wrongful death
lawsuit filed this month against the city and the jail's health care
provider on behalf of Lucas' family, the American Civil Liberties Union of
Eastern Missouri contends jail officials failed to provide Lucas with
adequate medical care or the necessary medications to treat his condition.
"I'm just upset and angry because the system failed him," said
one of Lucas' sisters, Landa Poke. The private contractor that provides
medical care at the jail says the lawsuit's version of how Lucas died has
inaccuracies and insists its staff is "experienced and
well-trained." But ACLU officials in St. Louis say Lucas' death is the
result of what they see as a series of breakdowns at city jails, including
inadequate medical care.
October 12, 2010 AP
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a wrongful death lawsuit over
the death of a jail inmate in St. Louis, claiming he did not get proper
care for a heart condition. The ACLU filed suit Tuesday on behalf of Landa
Poke. Her brother, 32-year-old Courtland Lucas, died at the St. Louis City
Justice Center in May 2009, five days after he was jailed on a probation
violation. The ACLU says Lucas had chronic heart disease and was wearing a
pacemaker when taken into custody. The suit contends Correctional Medical
Services failed to provide proper medications or care for Lucas. A
spokesman for CMS says the company has not yet seen the lawsuit and cannot
comment on the allegations. A message left with a spokeswoman for the city
of St. Louis was not returned.
December 4, 2008 St Louis Post-Dispatch
The family of a woman who died of an asthma attack while being held at
the St. Louis City Justice Center filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday
against the medical company providing care at the jail. LaVonda Kimble, 30,
died April 11, 2007 of an acute asthma attack. She was supposed to have
been released on bond posted hours earlier in Bel-Nor, which had a traffic
warrant against her. But her release was delayed by a paperwork mixup. The
suit alleges that health workers with Correctional Medical Services failed
to properly evaluate Kimble, provide adequate care, call for emergency help
in a timely manner and use an electric defibrillator to restore her heart
rhythm. Kimble's mother, Annie Kimble, is asking for more than $25,000 in
damages on behalf of her grandson. Documents in the case include a sizzling
complaint by one of the St. Louis Fire Department paramedics called to the
scene , who noted that it took up to eight minutes to get to the patient
after arrival at the jail, and that jail nurses failed to use a
defibrillator . The medic also complained in writing that jail staff
distracted medics, and that firefighters who arrived ahead of the medic
crew said they found someone doing CPR by pressing Kimble's stomach instead
of her chest. A St. Louis Corrections Department report of the incident
found no violation of policies or procedures. Officials at Correctional
Medical Services, a national company based in St. Louis, could not be immediately
reached.
June 7, 2007 St Louis Post-Dispatch
A delay in letting paramedics into the city jail and
"substandard" emergency care by staff there may have doomed an
inmate who suffered an asthma attack, according to a blistering report by
the fire department. One of the paramedics who treated LaVonda Kimble early
April 11 wrote of commonly encountering delays and apathy on calls to the
St. Louis Justice Center, at 200 South Tucker Boulevard. And autopsy
findings obtained Wednesday showed no trace of the drug that jail nurses
said they repeatedly administered to ease Kimble's breathing. The reports
were obtained with a court order by John Wallach, a lawyer representing
Kimble's family in considering a wrongful death lawsuit. He shared them
Wednesday with the Post-Dispatch. "People don't generally die of an
asthma attack when they go to the hospital," Wallach said. "I
fully believe our evidence will show if she was treated properly, she would
have been fine." Sam Simon, the city director of public safety, pledged
to learn more about what happened, and about the medical care provided
under contract for more than $5 million a year by Correctional Medical
Services. The Creve Coeur-based private company has come under heavy
criticism in Missouri and elsewhere for years. Kimble, 30, the single
mother of a 12-year-old child, wasn't supposed to be in jail in the first
place. Her boyfriend had posted bond for her about 6:30 p.m. on April 10 in
Bel-Nor, which had a traffic warrant against her. That was about four hours
after her arrest by St. Louis police. But a release order went to the wrong
jail, a mistake that wasn't corrected until she was already dying. Kimble
fell ill about 10:20 p.m. According to jail records, she received three
separate treatments of Albuterol, a medication to ease breathing, before
she collapsed at 1:25 a.m. Firefighters from nearby Engine Co. 2 arrived at
1:40 a.m. and began CPR. Medic 5 was five minutes behind, but spent seven
or eight minutes thereafter waiting to get in, according to a report by
fire department paramedic Chastity Girolami. The delay was
"detrimental to the patient's outcome," Girolami wrote. She said
firefighters told her they had arrived to find nurses trying to perform CPR
by compressing Kimble's stomach instead of her chest. Girolami noted that
when medics asked a nurse if she had used an automatic defibrillator to try
to restore Kimble's heartbeat, "She just looked at us and asked what
we were talking about." The jail care was "substandard at
best," Girolami wrote in her report. She also wrote that a corrections
officer distracted paramedics with questions about their ID numbers while
they struggled to save Kimble's life; the medics twice asked jailers to
back off. "She kept persisting and finally my partner informed the staff
that this patient was in cardiac arrest and basically dying, and they would
have to wait," Girolami wrote. "The staff was surprised at this.
They didn't know the patient was in cardiac arrest." Kimble was rushed
to St. Louis University Hospital, where she died at 2:44 a.m. "This
experience at the Justice Center was by far my worst," Girolami wrote.
She complained, "Every time I've been to the Justice Center, it takes
10 to 15 minutes to even get to the patient. There is never anyone to guide
us and never any sense of urgency." Her report was one of a variety of
documents Kimble's family has gathered in preparation of a wrongful-death
lawsuit. The autopsy report shows that corrections officials asked for and
got a special toxicology test for Albuterol, and that none was detected.
Wallach said the medical examiner plans to send samples to an outside
laboratory for further testing. "If, in fact, she was not given
Albuterol, then the official records are false," the lawyer said,
"If that's the case, LaVonda's civil rights were blatantly violated
and it led to her death." An internal investigation concluded,
"There was no evidence that the Division of Corrections violated any
policies or procedures." But Simon, the public safety director, said Wednesday
there will be an investigation to reconcile reports from the fire
department, corrections department and medical examiner. "We need to
conclude our investigation and determine what happened," Simon said.
"What I know is these are just allegations at this point." Ken
Fields, spokesman for Correctional Medical Services, said he could not
comment on a specific patient. However, he insisted that the jail's medical
staff is trained to properly administer life support techniques, including
CPR and use of automated external defibrillators. "Our services and
equipment are in keeping with the standards of care in the community,"
Fields said. "All nurses at CMS are licensed by the appropriate entity
and are qualified to provide the care they are asked to provide."
St Louis Medium
Security Institution, St Louis, Missouri
November
19, 2010 Post-Dispatch
Medical care in city jails, already the subject of wrongful-death lawsuits,
was challenged again on Thursday with an ACLU claim that an HIV-positive
inmate was deprived of his medications for 17 days and got only sporadic
care thereafter. A lawsuit filed in federal court by the American Civil
Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri alleges that the John Doe plaintiff was
deprived of his rights at both the Justice Center downtown and the Medium
Security Institution on Hall Street. "It's inexcusable, and it's
serious," said Tony Rothert, legal director for the ACLU here. The
ACLU says this case and others reflect a pattern of failures at the
lockups. It made specific allegations in a 2009 report that accused the
jails of inadequate medical attention, inmate abuse, falsification of
reports and unsanitary conditions. The latest suit names the city and a
contractor, Correctional Medical Services, as defendants, along with the
jail superintendent, Eugene Stubblefield, and two CMS physicians, Drs.
Brenda Mallard and Susan Singer. Deputy City Counselor Nancy Kistler
responded, "Contrary to the claims of the ACLU, the records of the
inmate in question reflect that he received adequate medical care
consistent with his constitutional rights." CMS issued a statement
saying it provides quality care, saying it cannot comment on specifics
because of confidentiality laws.
June 17, 2009 St Louis
Post-Dispatch
The family of a nurse who worked at the St. Louis Medium Security
Institution filed a lawsuit Friday claiming she suffered permanent injury
when she was not given prompt medical attention after collapsing at the
jail on Hall Street in March. The suit accuses the city of St. Louis,
Correctional Medical Services, St. Louis Public Safety Director Charles
Bryson and two correctional officers for failing to provide adequate care.
Karen Thomas lost consciousness from an irregular heart rhythm and suffered
brain injury, according to the suit. Her daughter, Jeniece Henderson,
claims a properly working defibrillator could have prevented the injury.
Suffolk County House of Correction, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
October 10, 2005 WCVB TV
Federal prosecutors said they will not charge Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea
Cabral following an investigation into whether she lied to a grand jury
looking into the firing of a jailhouse nurse. The grand jury was
investigating whether Cabral retaliated against nurse Sheila Porter for
cooperating with federal authorities. An obstruction of justice charge
could have been brought if there was evidence Cabral thwarted the
investigation. Cabral was recently sent a letter notifying her that the
2-year-old investigation was closed and no charges would be filed, The
Boston Globe reported Friday. Porter had told the FBI about the alleged
abuse of an inmate at the Suffolk County House of Correction, the Globe
reported. She later told the grand jury that when she was fired, a top
sheriff's department official told her it was for speaking with "an outside
agency." But Cabral told the grand jury that the nurse, Sheila Porter,
was banned from working at the jail because she failed to file paperwork
detailing a guard's alleged assault on an inmate, according to the Globe.
Last fall, Porter, who had been working as an FBI informant since 1999,
filed a $2 million federal lawsuit against Cabral, the Sheriff's
Department, and Missouri-based Correctional Medical Services Inc. That case
is pending.
July 22, 2005 Boston Globe
New court documents contradict statements from Suffolk County Sheriff
Andrea Cabral, who has denied firing a jail employee for cooperating with
an FBI investigation into abuse of inmates at the Suffolk County
jail. The filings include a deposition from Donna Jurdak, who was the
supervisor of nurse Sheila J. Porter, the employee barred from working at
the jail in 2003. The FBI is probing the circumstances surrounding Porter's
firing. Porter has also filed a civil suit, contending she was
punished for being a whistleblower and informing for the FBI. Cabral has
said that Porter was fired for failing to file proper paperwork about
alleged abuse. It is a federal crime to retaliate against anyone for
providing information about criminal activity to law enforcement
authorities. Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Cabral
committed perjury by lying to the federal grand jury about the reasons for
the nurse's termination. Porter, who helped the FBI investigate abuse
from 1999 until she was let go, has filed a $2 million lawsuit against the
sheriff, the jail, and the private company for whom she worked,
Correctional Medical Services, saying she was retaliated against for being
an FBI informant. In her deposition, Jurdak, who was Porter's
supervisor at CMS Inc., said that after Porter's dismissal, the FBI came to
question her at the jail, but that she was afraid to speak to the agent,
she said. ''My first reaction to be honest is . . . now I am going to be
barred from the facility."
May 12, 2005 The Boston Channel
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Suffolk County Sheriff
Andrea Cabral lied to a grand jury investigating the firing of a jailhouse
nurse, The Boston Globe reported Thursday. The paper, citing two unnamed
sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, said the probe is
focused on Cabral's testimony on the firing of a nurse at the Suffolk
County House of Correction who was cooperating with an FBI investigation
into inmate abuse at the jail. According to one source, Cabral told the
grand jury that the nurse, Sheila Porter, was banned from working at the
jail after she failed to file paperwork detailing a guard's alleged assault
on an inmate. But Porter told the grand jury she was told she was banned
because she spoke to an outside agency, the FBI, the Globe reported. Porter's
employer, Correctional Medical Services Inc., said it was forced to fire
her after she was banned. Federal prosecutors are considering whether to
bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges against Cabral, a source
told the Globe. An obstruction of justice charge can be brought if there is
evidence she thwarted a federal investigation by retaliating against an
employee. Porter last fall filed a $2 million federal lawsuit against
Cabral, the Sheriff's Department, and Missouri-based Correctional Medical
Services Inc.
A longtime nurse at the Suffolk County House of
Correction says she was ordered off the property and later fired after
Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral's administration discovered she was helping the
FBI investigate allegations of inmate abuse at the troubled
institution. Sheila J. Porter, 61, who worked for a private company
that provides medical services to the jail, said she was labeled persona
non grata at the facility after she told the FBI in May 2003 that an inmate
who had worn a recording device for the federal agency had been beaten and
was in danger. After Porter was banned from the facility, her
employer, Correctional Medical Services Inc., fired her. Until then, her
evaluations had been stellar, said her lawyers, Joseph F. Savage Jr. and
Jennifer M. Goddard. ''They quoted a regulation that said you're not
supposed to speak with an outside agency," said Porter, who spoke
publicly yesterday for the first time since her termination in June 2003.
''They said: 'At the close of this business day, you will no longer be
welcome at the House of Correction.' The words are very well etched in my
mind. (Boston Globe, August 25, 2004)
Tucker Maximum Security Unit, Tucker, Arkansas
June
18, 2008 AP
Authorities say they’ve arrested the director of nursing at the Tucker
Maximum Security Unit on suspicion of smuggling bags of tobacco into the
prison. Police say 33-year-old Rolanda Barron was arrested June 9 after a
routine search at the prison turned up seven bags of loose tobacco
concealed in her umbrella. Prison spokeswoman Dina Tyler says the umbrella
also contained a cell phone, charger and four D cell batteries — all of
which are considered contraband. Arkansas State Police arrested Barron on
suspicion of furnishing prohibited articles, a felony. Barron has been
released from the Jefferson County jail on a $2,500 bond. Barron worked for
Correctional Medical Services, which provides medical services to state
prisons under a $44 million contract. A spokesman for the company declined
to comment.
Women's Eastern
Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, Vandalia, Missouri
November 26, 2004 AP
The family of a state prison inmate who complained of blinding headaches in
the days before her death has filed a wrongful death suit against the state
and the prison's health-care provider. Al'Deana Simmons, who was
incarcerated for forgery, died in July 2003 at the women's prison in
Vandalia of a ruptured brain aneurysm. She was 33. Her mother, Virginia
Terry, and three minor children through their father are seeking actual and
punitive damages, as well as compensation for attorney's fees. The
defendants include Correctional Medical Services, the Missouri Department
of Corrections and several of their employees. The suit alleges the
defendants "were deliberately indifferent in failing to provide
medical care to the decedent in that they were aware of the serious pain
that decedent was experiencing and the blindness she was experiencing, from
which an inference could be drawn that a substantial harm to decedent
existed."
September 2, 2003
Virginia Terry was thankful when her daughter, a drug addict suffering from
bipolar disorder, got locked up at the women's prison in Vandalia, Mo., for
a forgery conviction. "I thought, at least she'd be safe,"
Terry recalls. That changed when Terry's daughter, Al'Deana Simmons of
Camdenton, began complaining, in letters and phone calls home, about the
type of health care she was getting behind bars. She said prison
doctors changed her anti-depression medication. She cried about blinding
headaches. And Terry will never forget what Simmons said in their phone
conversation July 1, the day before she died of an apparent aneurysm.
"She said her head was sizzling and that she was going blind,"
Terry recalls. "The prison doctor saw her for 10 minutes and said
nothing was wrong." The case of Simmons, 33, is one of many
being explored this summer by investigators with the U.S. Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington. Investigators have been
to the prison three times and interviewed 127 inmates about the medical
treatment provided by St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services.
They also have met in St. Louis with inmates' relatives, including Terry.
She provided them with her daughter's letters and medical records.
CMS won its first Missouri contract in 1992 under then Gov. John Ashcroft,
who now as U.S. attorney general heads up the Justice Department.
Yet, in a move rarely seen by the Justice Department, Missouri's prison
system has denied the investigators the access they want. The investigators
have wanted to see the infirmary and talk to prisoners and staff at the
prison, about 70 miles northwest of St. Louis. Prison officials wouldn't
allow it, instead telling federal investigators they could talk to prisoners
only in the visitation area during normal visiting hours. That kind
of restriction to a prison setting is rare, happening only a handful of
times in the Justice Department's 23 years of work using the Civil Rights
of Institutionalized Persons Act. The act was passed by Congress in
1980. It empowers the attorney general to investigate the conditions at
these institutions and file lawsuits to remedy "a pattern or
practice" of unlawful conditions. A spokesman for the Justice
Department declined to comment. Tim Kniest, spokesman for the
Missouri Department of Corrections, said investigators weren't permitted to
"walk around unescorted" because of safety concerns. Kniest said
that, if the investigators make arrangements with the Missouri attorney
general's office, they can have a tour. The investigators work with
the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division. That section's
job is to protect constitutional rights of people confined to institutions
such as state-run nursing homes and prisons. $80 million a year
Correctional Medical Services is the nation's largest prison health care
provider. It has contracts to provide medical care for about 228,000
inmates and prisoners in 27 states. In Missouri, CMS' current
five-year contract, renewed in late 2001, covers medical and mental health
care for the 29,500 prisoners in Missouri's 21 prisons. The cost to the
state is about $80 million a year. It is based on a fixed per-day price
(now at $7.50) for each housed inmate. That cost pays for everything from
Band-Aids and aspirin to inmates' prescriptions and catastrophic health
care. There are about 1,700 female prisoners in the Vandalia prison.
There are women prisoners in Chillicothe, but the federal investigators
have not visited that prison. CMS has been the subject of controversy
in recent years. A five-month investigation by the Post-Dispatch in 1998
found more than 20 cases nationwide in which prison and jail inmates died
as a result of alleged negligence, indifference, understaffing, inadequate
training or cost cutting by private health care companies. Many of the
cases involved CMS. (STL Today)
Vermont Department of Corrections
October 13, 2005 Rutland Herald
The state will likely hire a Virginia company to provide mental health care
to inmates of the state's prisons. For several years, Dr. Paul Cotton has
been doing that job, although his company has come under criticism in a
state auditor's report by prisoners' rights advocates and the state
employee's union. The Department of Corrections is negotiating with winning
bidder MHM Correctional Services Inc. of Vienna, Va. If the state and the
company can reach a final agreement, MHM is tentatively scheduled to take
over in February. The contract will likely be for two years or more. After
a 2004 audit by then-state auditor Elizabeth Ready - which found that
Cotton's company had billed for services that were not provided - the
company returned $143,000 in a settlement with the state.
March 21, 2005 Corrections.com
Providing quality healthcare and lowering costs are challenges that
drive many corrections agencies towards private companies. But once the contract is signed and the
deal is done, departments can't turn a blind eye to what's going on in
their facilities; they need to manage those contracts with private service
providers to ensure that they are getting what they bargained for. Vermont
learned this lesson the hard way when seven inmate deaths in a year's time
prompted the DOC and the State Auditor's Office to take a closer look at
healthcare, among other things, at the state's correctional
facilities. Both the Auditor's
Report and the report ordered by the Vermont Agency of Human Services found
that the DOC needed to step up its contract oversight. Chief among those
contracts that required better monitoring was the department's arrangement
with Correctional Medical Services (CMS), the state's inmate healthcare
provider. According to the Auditor's
Report, the state suffered financially from ineffective monitoring of the
CMS contract and had no real way to evaluate the quality of the services
the company was providing to inmates. Since the reports were released last
year, the Vermont DOC has committed to improving the way it does business
with private contractors. The agency
believes it took a step in the right direction in early 2005 when it
entered into a contractual agreement with a new healthcare provider, Prison
Health Services (PHS).
November 11, 2004 Times Argus
The company recently awarded a $26 million contract to provide health care
to Vermont inmates has been the subject of more than 1,000 prisoner
lawsuits and complaints from officials of states where it has done
business. The details of Vermont's contract with Prison Health
Services are still being worked out, according to Deputy Corrections
Commissioner Sister Janice Ryan, who said they will "address the
concerns raised by Vermont inmates and advocates,'' but declined to
elaborate. Prison Health Services, which beat out four other companies for
the three-year contract to provide health care to Vermont inmates that is
scheduled to take effect on Feb. 1, is a Tennessee-based firm that provides
services to about 235,000 prisoners nationwide. Medical treatment in
Vermont prisons has been problematic. In May, state auditor Elizabeth Ready
criticized the Department of Corrections for not adequately monitoring the
delivery of health care by Correctional Medical Services (CMS), which is
under contract to provide health care through January. Ready also
criticized CMS for billing Vermont for services that were never provided. At least one other state that has used Prison Health
Services was disappointed with its performance. Maine declined to renew its
contract with the company because of "performance problems'' said
Maine Corrections Department spokeswoman Denise Lord. An outside audit of the company's work
there found numerous problems, including insufficient review of patient
charts, inadequate provisions for patient privacy and insufficient peer
review of physician performance.
Laura Ziegler, advocate on mental health
and inmate rights, made the suggestion at the start of a public hearing
Wednesday sponsored by the Department of Corrections. The department is
about to solicit bidders to provide medical care at the state's prison facilities
and asked for comments on the guidelines it plans to send out to potential
contractors. Barry Kade of Alliance for Prison Justice told
corrections officials that inmates certainly have opinions about the
medical care they receive now. He's been making monthly visits to Northern
State Correctional Facility in Newport for seven years. "The most
consistent complaint I've heard is about medical care." Although
the department planned to close the public comment period by Monday, Tom
Powell, clinical program director, agreed with Ziegler's suggestion. He
promised to provide copies of the guidelines to inmates, invite their
comments and allow extra time for their responses. The state would
like to begin advertising for a new medical care provider by the end of
August, with bids due Oct. 1. The winning bidder would take over medical
care in the prisons by Feb. 1. Correctional Medical Services of St.
Louis provides health services and could submit a bid to continue. The
state, however, has drawn up new requirements for the services _ such as
providing an ombudsman to settle disputes between care providers and
inmates. Theresa McAvinney, a registered nurse who recently left the
clinic at the prison in Newport, said at Wednesday's hearing that she saw a
gap between the kind of care required on paper and the kind of care
delivered. "I had to intervene in many cases of men who were
neglected," she said. Other nurses who work at prisons raised
labor issues that they said ought to be addressed in a contract with the
next medical provider. Deb Moore, a registered nurse practitioner at
the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, urged officials to require
in-depth orientation about security issues for all new health workers.
"Nobody trained me," said Moore, who has worked at the South
Burlington jail for two years. Job training and orientation would
help retain nurses, Moore said. Turnover is a significant problem at the
Chittenden jail. (Channel 3 News, July 29, 2004)
The Department of Corrections has scheduled hearings
for the public to comment about the health services that should be offered
to inmates at the state's prisons. Corrections Commissioner Steve
Gold says this is the first time the department has held public hearings
before seeking bids for a health care contract. One hearing was to take
place Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel in South Burlington. A second is
scheduled for Thursday at the Holiday Inn Express in Springfield. The
state contracts with Correctional Medical Services to provide health services
at state prisons. The contract runs out this year but has been extended to
February. Health services in the prisons cost the state $7 million a
year. Gold expects the cost to increase by 10 percent or more under the
next contract. A rash of inmate deaths has put the health care system
at the state's prisons under scrutiny over the past year. In one case
investigators concluded that prison officials failed to respond promptly
and adequately to an inmate's repeated pleas for medical care. His condition
became so serious he couldn't recover. (Wcax.com, July 29, 2004)
Wyoming Department of Corrections
July 16, 2006 AP
A few weeks ago, the state of Wyoming paid $50,000 to settle a federal
lawsuit in which an inmate at the state prison at Rawlins charged he had
been denied adequate medical care. This week, another inmate has filed a
federal lawsuit claiming that he, too, was denied adequate medical
treatment by the same doctor and private medical services company at the
Rawlins prison. In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, inmate Craig Blumhagen,
50, charges that medical staff at the Rawlins prison refused his requests
for treatment of pain and vomiting he suffered over several months in 2003.
Blumhagen names Dr. John Coyle and Correctional Medical Services, a
Missouri company, as defendants in the case, together with state
corrections department personnel. Correctional Medical Services held the
contract to provide medical services at the prison for six years before
losing the contract to a competitor last summer. Blumhagen's lawsuit
charges that Coyle began prescribing Blumhagen daily doses of ibuprofen for
treatment of back pain in 1999, at which time Blumhagen weighed about 150
pounds. In May 2003, according to the lawsuit, Blumhagen told Coyle and
others that he was experiencing nausea and abdominal pain. The lawsuit
states that a nurse at the prison told Blumhagen in August 2003 that Coyle
wasn't going to treat his pain and that he should, "grieve in your
heart and get over it." By December 2003, the lawsuit claims,
Blumhagen was down to 110 pounds and frequently vomiting brown material
that looked like coffee grounds. The lawsuit states that Coyle noted that
month that Blumhagen's request for narcotic pain medication was evidence of
"continued drug-seeking behavior." Blumhagen is serving prison
time on drug charges out of Laramie County. The lawsuit states that
Blumhagen collapsed in late December and that a guard in the prison
infirmary called for an ambulance to take him to the emergency room at Memorial
Hospital in Rawlins. A surgeon at the hospital determined that Blumhagen
was suffering from severe ulcer, the lawsuit states. Medical staff at the
hospital transfused Blumhagen with red blood cells to raise his hemoglobin
level before surgery to address the ulcer. The lawsuit says hospital staff
told Blumhagen that his long-term use of ibuprofen was the probable cause
of his ulcer and that he could no longer use such medications. Bruce Moats,
a Cheyenne lawyer representing Blumhagen, said Friday that prison inmates
are incarcerated to serve their time, "not to be denied proper medical
care when they get sick." "The care that my client has received
did not live up to the standards of humanity and decency required by the
law, and adhered to by the people of Wyoming," Moats said.
June 21, 2006 Billings Gazette
The State of Wyoming has paid $50,000 to settle a federal lawsuit
brought by a former Wyoming prison inmate who blamed the state Department
of Corrections and a private company that provided medical care to inmates
for the loss of his lower right leg. Salvatore Lucido, a diabetic, filed
the lawsuit in April 2004 charging that he developed sores on his feet when
the staff at the state prison in Rawlins refused to give him appropriate
shoes. Diabetics often have poor blood circulation in their feet, which
means that injuries may be slow to heal and prone to infection. Lucido
contended that prison officials and Correctional Medical Services, a
private company that provided health care to inmates, delayed taking him to
a hospital where his foot might have been saved. The lawsuit states that
the officials hoped that if they delayed getting Lucido medical care,
"that his release date of April 23 (2003) would arrive before it
became too apparent that hospitalization could not be delayed any
longer." The lawsuit states that prison officials took Lucido to a
hospital on April 18, 2003, more than three weeks after a nurse had noted
that he needed emergency surgery to try to save his foot. The lawsuit
states that he was taken to the hospital "after his foot literally
exploded from the infection and swelling." His lower right leg was
amputated on May 2, 2003. U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson has scheduled a
trial to start Tuesday in Lucido's remaining claims against Correctional
Medical Services and Dr. John Coyle. The lawsuit states Coyle provided
medical services for inmates at the state prison. An independent audit last
year found that some inmates hadn't receive timely health care because of
record-keeping problems caused mainly by changes in the private
contractors. Correctional Medical Services, a Missouri company, had held
the contract to provide inmate health services at the Rawlins prison for
six years before losing the contract to a competitor, Prison Health Services,
last summer. Linda Burt, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union in Wyoming, said Wednesday that her office continues to get many
complaints from inmates at the Rawlins prison about health care,
particularly from inmates who are diabetic. "I don't think you can do
(prison) medical care privately and do a good job, and I don't think you
can do it for profit and do a good job," Burt said. "It's
extraordinarily difficult, and I haven't seen any success in that
area."
September 19, 2005 Star-Tribune
Wyoming Department of Corrections officials hope a new $10 million-a-year
contract with Prison Health Services will save them some health care costs
in the long run. Unlike the department's previous contract with
Correctional Medical Services, the new private health care provider will be
an umbrella entity responsible for all medical, dental and health services
and other programs for the state's four penal institutions. Prison Health
Services of Brentwood, Tenn., will subcontract for some of these services
and also assumes 100 percent of the risk with no caps on catastrophic
claims. PHS, like CMS and another predecessor, Wexford, has its critics.
The May 2005 issue of Prison Legal News said PHS has been the target of
lawsuits over inmate health care in New York, New Jersey, Nevada and
Florida. Linda Burt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union for
Wyoming, said the volume of health care complaints from inmates has
remained the same from Wexford through CMS and now to PHS. "It's still
one of our big concerns," Burt said. She said she looks carefully at
all private prison providers. "Nothing has ever shown me that private
providers in the prison system work well. It doesn't matter whether they
are private providers of the entire prison or just health care," she
said. She noted that both Wexford and PHS also were sued. "I think the solution is an in-house
solution," she added. "If you're working for profit in that kind
of system, you can't provide the appropriate care and be a for-profit
system. I think it's almost impossible to do that."
April 10, 2007 AP
A Missouri company that was responsible for providing health care to
inmates at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins wants a federal judge
to toss out a lawsuit in which an inmate claims he was denied necessary
treatment. Inmate Craig Blumhagen charges in his federal lawsuit that
medical workers with Correctional Medical Services denied his requests for
treatment of pain and vomiting for several months in 2003. CMS held the
contract to provide medical services at the prison for six years before
losing the contract to a competitor in 2005. Back-pain prescription:
Blumhagen, who is serving prison sentences for drug offenses from Laramie
County, claimed in his lawsuit that Dr. John Coyle, a doctor at the prison,
began prescribing him daily doses of ibuprofen for back pain in 1999. At
that time, the suit states, Blumhagen weighed about 150 pounds. In May
2003, according to the lawsuit, Blumhagen told Coyle that he was
experiencing nausea and abdominal pain. Blumhagen's lawsuit states that
Coyle dismissed his requests for narcotic pain medication as
"continued drug-seeking behavior." In December 2003, the lawsuit
states, Blumhagen was down to about 110 pounds when he collapsed and was
taken to the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Rawlins. A surgeon at
the hospital determined that Blumhagen was suffering from a severe ulcer.
Hospital staff told Blumhagen that his long-term use of ibuprofen was the
probable cause of his ulcer and that he could no longer use such
medications, the lawsuit states. Headed to trial: Blumhagen's lawsuit is
scheduled to go to trial next month before U.S. Judge Alan Johnson in
Cheyenne. Besides seeking damages from CMS, the lawsuit names state
corrections officials as defendants. CMS filed papers in February asking
Johnson to throw out the lawsuit. The company stated there were no issues
of material fact in dispute in the case. Johnson held a hearing on the
company's request Monday in Cheyenne but didn't immediately announce a
ruling on the request. Lawyer Scott Ortiz argued that the case against CMS,
Coyle and Stephen Noyes, a physician's assistant with CMS, should be
dismissed. Ortiz said that Coyle had to consider Blumhagen's past drug use
and drug-seeking behavior in deciding what to prescribe. "He's trying
to be judicious in his use of narcotics at the same time looking for other
answers," Ortiz said of Coyle. Ortiz said Blumhagen told Coyle that
the pain centered in his lower back and sometimes his pelvis. Ortiz said
Coyle had no reports of pain in the upper stomach area, where the ulcer was
ultimately found. "They were being misled, honestly misled, by a
disease process," Ortiz said of the health care workers. Ortiz said
that Coyle and Noyes were responsible for knowing that long-term use of
ibuprofen can result in ulcers, but he said there's no evidence they were
being deliberately indifferent to Blumhagen's suffering. Megan Hayes,
lawyer for Blumhagen, said there are indeed factual disagreements in the
case. She said Blumhagen disputes the defendants' characterization of the
lawsuit "as one of misdiagnosis." Hayes said it's not a
complicated medical case. "This is a case where Mr. Blumhagen was
prescribed high doses of ibuprofen for four years," she said. While
Hayes said the CMS officials didn't believe Blumhagen's complaints of
vomiting, she said they took no steps to verify whether it was actually
happening. "It's just hard to fathom why Mr. Blumhagen submitted so
many requests for health care if he hadn't been seriously medically
ill," Hayes said.
Salvatore Lucido walks without too
noticeable a limp, considering that he's had his new prosthetic leg for
just two weeks, he said Monday. The first two artificial limbs he had
last year didn't work, he said. So since November, Lucido got around either
on crutches or in a wheelchair. Had it not been for the negligence
and cost-cutting by medical and other officials at the Wyoming State
Penitentiary in early 2003, he still would be walking on two legs, he said
during an interview at the office of his attorney, John Robinson, in
Casper. On Friday, Lucido filed a federal civil rights lawsuit
against former Department of Corrections Director Judy Uphoff, and prison
officials and employees, according to the complaint filed in federal
court. The other defendants are Correctional Medical Services, Inc.,
of Missouri; Lucido was scheduled for release from prison on April 23,
2003, and the defendants hoped that his foot would not need hospitalization
until after that, according to the complaint. "On April 18th,
more than three weeks after a nurse noted that Lucido needed emergency
surgery to try and save his foot, defendants gave in and took him to a
hospital after his foot literally exploded from the infection and swelling,"
according to the complaint. Nothing could be done then except to
amputate his blackened foot and lower leg, according to the
complaint. (Casper Star Tribune, May 4, 2004)
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