The Expanding Medical Business

The medical business spread across the country is a deadly viper lurking around every impoverished corner. It’s deadly policies on insurance spreads to every inch of every poor and uninsured individual all over the U.S. Here in the Durham County Jail, private medical business is allowed to exploit the poor & impoverished inmates from Durham County. At the moment of intake, your Medicaid is stripped from you. The longer you are jailed the more likely you are to develop major if not additional health problems due the harsh conditions the inmates are subject to. Health conditions get overlooked if they are not ‘serious’ or ‘life threatening’ or if you do not have the funding on your books to cover the $20 ‘co-pay’ charge. People are literally afraid to go to medical because they cannot or do not want to be charged or owe a $20 co-pay to handle health problems that arise within these walls. Among the many health problems inmates can develop in DCJ are high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, eye problems, UTIs, Flu and the common cold. This is due to the conditions of the inmate’s environment. The thin mat placed on the mental slab alone is enough to cause many body aches $ issues. Cold temperatures stiffen joints. The type of foods, lack of fresh water & strange, highly dyed juices cause malnutrition & UTIs. The medical unit offers nothing if you catch a cold or the flu. Canteen sells Halls & 2 Ibuprofen tablets for health issues, but that is all that is offered. Medical gives inmates Tylenol or Motrin for damn near every issue that comes to them. Here are several individual issues that have happened since my incarceration at DCJ. All are [examples] of how [Correct Care Solutions] DCJ’s medical contractor neglects the inmates:

1. A guy requested medical for 3 days straight & was not seen until he passed out.
2. A woman’s swollen knee, which appeared to have fluid in it, was neglected for several weeks. Once the pain became unbearable she was treated with Tylenol & a heat pack for 2-3 days. She was more than likely charged for her treatment.
3. A woman who thought she had a UTI was turned down for the treatment because she could not pay the $20 co-pay (no funds on her books). Later she discovered her urine was discolored because of her diabetes, which was at a very high level & was developed inside DCJ. She could have died from neglect & mistreatment of DCJ medical.
4. A young girl, age 17, went to medical due a torn hernia. She was treated with Tylenol & because the pain was so severe, she got an X-ray. Once the doctor confirmed it was a torn hernia, she was told they couldn’t do anything for her.
5. I recently had pain in my right shoulder due to the thin mats & metal we have to lie on. I was treated with Tylenol & a heat pack for two days & was not told in the medical room that I would be charged $20. I went on a Tuesday. They stopped giving me the treatment after Wednesday evening. All day Thursday my arm continued to ache. Friday morning I discovered that I owed $17 because of my trip to medical, which I rushed to finish speaking to my attorney to go to.

Many inmates are in DCJ right now because the law enforcement are lazy & are always reaching to make cases. Durham deals with a high level of petty crimes & they fill the jails to the brim with petty criminals or low level crimes or people who are not even criminals. Then, to add injury to insult, the inmates’ medical needs are neglected! I am not sure if it is because I am not from down here or what. All I know is that to many people are far too accepting of the injustices in Durham County & all across the country. Something needs to be done & just must be served!

– Conscience Mind