Last January Mustafa began having pains in his side and
difficulty urinating. As with most
medical issues in here, he tried self treatment: laying of weight-lifting, drinking more water. The pain continued. He sent first one request, then numerous
follow-up requests to be seen by the “physician” (our “medical doctor” is a
foreign-educated podiatrist; he is employed by a company contracted with DOC to
provide medical services at this and most Virginia facilities).
For two months his requests were ignored. In March, I helped him draft an “emergency
grievance” (which requires a response within eight hours). The response:
“not a medical emergency”. That
response is not surprising. As I wrote a
year ago, a young teacher’s aide with whom I worked suffered a burst appendix
and was not seen until his mother called Richmond DOC headquarters. Then, he was medevaced to MCB for a four day
hospitalization.
A week after the denial of his emergency grievance, Mustafa
was seen by the podiatrist. After a
quick rectal exam he was advised he had a “slight prostate infection” and put
on ten days antibiotic regiment. Within
a month, the pain and urination difficulty resurfaced. Mustafa again began the process of seeking
medical treatment. As before, he was
repeatedly denied access to a physician until August.
In August, a fill-in physician examined him. She’s a G.P. yet ordered no tests. Instead, she advised “you have a bacterial
infection” and placed him on antibiotics for 90 days. The pain continued.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, with no change in his symptoms,
Mustafa’s family began repeated calls to Richmond and the warden here. In an ironic twist neither the warden, nor
medical director (recently promoted to Regional DOC Medical Director) responded
to his family’s repeated request for copies of his medical file (Mustafa – in
writing – authorized their release).
Mustafa was, however, sent for overnight observation to medical and his
belongings packed up. And here is where
the real jerking around begins.
Three officers boxed Mustafa’s belongings up and at 1:40 am
they were inventoried. During the
inventory, three loose Claritin tablets were discovered. Because Mustafa (1) was not prescribed the
Claritin; nor (2) had evidence he purchased them from commissary, he was
charged with possession of unauthorized drugs – a series 100 charge – and taken
to the hole.
In the hole a third doctor – another fill-in “rent a Doc”
came to see him. He laughed when he
noted Mustafa had taken antibiotics for 90 days and then – without any testing
– said (and this is a direct quote) “your problem is all because you masturbate
too much”. Got to hand it to the doc; he
got to the meat of the problem! I can’t
begin to tell you how ridiculous all this sounds except, we are dealing with a young
man’s health.
The law (you know, that thing that must be obeyed and its
violation led Mustafa and the rest of us to be incarcerated) requires VDOC to
provide adequate health care for the incarcerated. When on-staff physicians cannot treat a
condition, DOC must send that offender to outside specialists.
Even worse, after spending ten days in the hole (the penalty
assessed by the hearing officer ), the IRD (Inmate Review Counsel – head of
counseling, Assistant Warden and Security Chief) reduced Mustafa’s good-time
earning from 4 ½ days per month (level “1”) to 0 days (level “4”). That is the role of the IRC – good time
decisions – even if the decision is harsh. However, they then went back and added further
penalties for his charge in clear violation of DOC procedures (830.1-830.3)
which can constitute due process violations.
They have denied him visits for 60 days and telephone privileges for 60
days. Is this in response to family
pressure?
Is it any wonder so many released offenders recommit?
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