Tag Archives: medical inattention

“Yes, this is medical neglect”

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My name is _____. I come from New Jersey. Been in Durham 40 plus years. My parents are deceased. My mother passed here in Durham 7 years ago. I come from a family of 5. I am the middle child: 2 sisters younger, 2 brothers older. Me and my brother been in and out of jail and prison. We’re all locked up now. My oldest brother got 14 months and my other brother got about 2 years or less to go. So I am 47 and unemployed, but a jack-of-all-trades, master of none!!! I applaud what you’re doing and if I was free I would be standing beside you.

I am in here for a number of charges. My first violent crimes. I had gave up on the world a long time ago. But out of 47 years, this was the first time in my life that I gave up on myself. I am not a violent person but my spirit was being pulled at my so very strong demons (stress). But I believe that things happen for a reason. But now I am in jail without the bail. …

I found out today that I’ve got some medical problems. Medical drew my blood and all they state to me is that I need to stop eating fatty food. But I been here since February and now my legs are swell and they do not wish to do nothing at this time but give me a pill for three weeks and an ice pack for my triglycerides count, which is 469 and should be 200 and below. I’ve got to wait even longer to start a diet here. The nurse said that “she would let the doctor know.” Okay, it will be Monday of next week before I hear anything. … Yes, this is medical neglect. Just to give me a pill that does nothing. Something donated to the jail.

I think your Feedback is on point, and I wish to further this, because I and others need to be heard.

The Sheriff race I do not have no information on any of the candidates, but I am unaffiliated. So I received a late ballet. It was too late by the time I received it. These people here at the jail had something to do why I got it so late. …

Thanks for everything from all in here that I tell about your stand and where you stand.

– The Ferret

The pain of that green color

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…With pain and bitterness, I watch the next victim in a strange green outfit be escorted to the corner cell, Number 24, to be locked up. Answering my question, “why?”, the sad latin girl told me – “I was crying – That’s all.” One year ago, I arrived in this jail myself. It was the first time in my life. Sure, I cried from fear, despair and the unknown. After a short talk with the nurse on duty, I was put in a green outfit in that damn room 24. Three days without sheets, blankets, or underwear. With bare feet, in that green fucking robe. When I questioned why they were doing this to me, the answer was “You could commit suicide – it is for your security.”

This was absolutely a rude lie: never, ever in my life, even in here, in jail, did I want or plan to commit suicide. I was not even hysterical.

Almost everyone who is locked up here for the first time is in terrible condition. No wonder: they have no experience to compare with like repeat criminals may. They are scared – and it starts with booking already. Here is a hell indeed: dirt, rudeness, screams! The absence of any elementary respect. But you don’t dare cry here. If you cry, they think it means you will commit suicide. So, the turtle suit is unavoidable. You try to talk to the CO through the door, but who cares? You could die here of a heart attack. And what? Ok, it’s not a suicide!

Where is the logic? A crying person in despair needs comfort and understanding, not a punishment (even if it calls itself “security”). A crying person is suffering in jail already! But the serge is saying “No, put them in cell 24” and putting the crying person “under observation” for at least 24 hours.. and if they got in on Friday, for three days!

An acquaintance of mine almost cut her veins in this room. She just wanted to be noticed. And they almost missed her…!

My inmates admit if you want to commit suicide, you will find the way to do it anywhere, even in cell 24. This is true! And another truth is that the crying person (in this case, a woman) locked in this scary cell is put here to be intimidated, humiliated, and paralyzed. What else could it be?

  • F. L.

‘In the Durham County Jail, private medical business is allowed to exploit the poor & impoverished inmates’

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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

“This jail is getting worse by the day”

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Dear C—-,

How’s it going? Me? Sitting in this shit hole taking it a day at a time trying to stay out of the way and keep my head up with faith and prayer. I’ve been in here going on 14 months for murder awaiting a good plea so I can move on and put this hell hole behind me. I’m on lock back doing 20 days for having pain medication for my gunshot wounds during a shakedown. Sgt. Cole that works here took an extra mattress from me that I have medical paperwork for just to get a reaction out of me hoping to send me to the hole. I give respect to everybody that works here even when they don’t deserve it and most times it seems like its hopeless. I’ve been coming in and out this jail since I was 16 years old, I’m 29 years old now, that’s 13 years and it seems as if this jail is getting worse by the day. We don’t get let out of our cells on time, canteen comes late most days not at all and we get little to no respect. I know that this is a punishment and all but we all are still human beings and the difference between us and everybody else is that we got caught. I don’t like the way the female inmates only have one pod and the way they get treated.

Mental health nightmare

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Many times the call for help is sitting right in front of you. But can it be heard while we sit behind these narrow walls? When you arrive, medical asks if you have thoughts of harming yourself or others. If you say no, it’s brushed off and never brought up again. The mental health staff are thorough here, but only if you have a pre-existing psychiatric history! Continue reading →

‘DCJ: Same shit, different toilet’

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What’s up IOA? Thanks for writing. I’m hanging in there. Can’t really complain, God let me wake up. But as far as DCJ goes, same shit, different toilet. They find a way to make our lives worse by the day. The pod that I’m in has had a problem with our kiosk for damn near a month and the jail has still failed to fix it. Continue reading →

‘Our day is coming sooner than later’

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What’s up world? I’m so tired of being in here. I’ve been here 20 months, my life is on hold. What happened to staying out until 11:00? My kids don’t even come in at 6:45! Also, what’s up with these “no court date shown?” I can’t get house arrest because I don’t live in Durham. The struggle is real. I haven’t been charged for medical since I have been here, now all of a sudden they want to take my money. Never again will I go unless I’m half-way dead. $20 for some shampoo, really? I like to say at the end of the day they get to go home and we stuck here. Some care and some don’t. Out of sight and out of mind. But our day is coming sooner than later. They can’t hold us forever. Keep y’all head above water. Stay prayed up. God does answer prayers. Be blessed. Shout out to the girls: Melanie B, Brittany L, Ebony F, Christie L.

One year later, we remember Matthew McCain

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Matthew PancakesOne year ago today, Matthew McCain died in his cell at the Durham County Detention Facility at the age of 29. Just over a month before his death, Matthew’s daughter, Kinslee, was born while he was in jail. He never met her.

Matthew suffered from diabetes and epilepsy, two serious long-term conditions but certainly ones that can be managed with proper medical care and adequate resources. But competent medical care was never to be found at the Durham jail for Matthew, as is the case for many other people unfortunate enough to be caged there.

In the one year since Matthew’s death, there have been marches, speak-outs, and vigils; there have been balloons and candles, tears and rage. But one thing there has never been is an apology or a public acknowledgment of responsibility for Matthew McCain’s death by anyone connected to the jail, or Correct Care Solutions, the company that profits from providing detainees as little care as possible.

Sheriff Mike Andrews, whose office is responsible for jail operations, never apologized or acknowledged Matthew’s death, either, even as he glad-handed at events attended by Matthew’s girlfriend, Ashley, with Kinslee in tow.

Matthew’s death dramatically affected the lives of many people, including Ashley’s children; his mother; aunts; cousins; and friends, some of whom he got to know inside the jail. Besides the initial report of Matthew’s death that was shared with outside members of Inside-Outside Alliance by a comrade inside, many people on Matthew’s pod shared recollections of him and their own accounts of his death.

See the following: We still place his chair at the table; They do not listen; I feel they may have lied; Officials acted with neglect; There is a rumor going around; Something gotta give; Everything is a mind battle; They try to punish you for little things; Fight til you can’t fight no more

As we joined Matthew’s loved ones to press the sheriff’s office for answers about his death, we were contacted by the daughter of a man, Dennis McMurray, who had died at the jail a year before, and whose death was never made public. This fact made the brave truth-telling of detainees on Matthew’s pod all the more important and integral to the struggle.

The tragedy of Matthew’s death has helped to gain the attention of many who otherwise had not been paying much attention to conditions and treatment in the jail. Recently, the Human Relations Commission of the city of Durham published recommendations about the jail that they will share with the county commissioners and the sheriff’s office.

In the aftermath of Matthew’s death, in the struggle to obtain answers and demand accountability, we published a pamphlet, No More Jail Deaths, No More Jail. As then, we still know the only way to ensure there will be no more horrible, undignified deaths in jail is to get rid of these cages as we transform the world which produces them.

November 25, 2016 marked the day Matthew would have been 30 years old. A week later, his daughter Kinslee, full of life and spark, turned a year old. These birthdays and anniversaries hurt those who loved Matthew and they will continue to be painful. But we take today to say that we have not forgotten Matthew, and we will not forget that the jail killed him. For those who are able to, join us at the jail this evening, January 19, 2017, at 7 pm for a vigil to remember Matthew McCain.

Facebook Event: Candlelight Vigil in Memory of Matthew McCain

‘This is our life inside’

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the following letter was received more than five weeks after it was written. 

Oct 22 2016

Hello!

My name is J. B. I’m an inmate in Durham County jail scheduled to return to — County…I am in fear of serving the rest of my time in Durham due to an outbreak of scabies that the jail and medical staff have tried to cover up. I was exposed to this disease because the medical staff put the inmate who was infected in our block. I actually shook hands with him, he used the phones and showers. Two days later they removed him and the sergeant along with a nurse came in with biohazard bags and removed his personal items. Continue reading →

Remember Matthew McCain, Remember Chuy Huerta. Rest in Power!

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November 19 marked ten months since Matthew McCain was taken from this earth due to the criminal neglect of staff at the Durham County Detention Facility. Matthew would have been 30 years old next week.

It also marks three years since Jesus “Chuy” Huerta died in the back of a Durham police vehicle. The Durham Police are responsible for his death. Chuy was 17.

We continue to stand with their families and loved ones and mourn their passing, and vow to continue the struggle against the jail and the police.

Chuy Huerta and Matthew McCain, Presente!

Banana puddingEPSON MFP image

chuypresente

NoMoreJailDeathsFINAL