Recently I watched an interview the Secretary of the Department of Corrections Mark Inch did with the Florida channel on the handling of the coronavirus. In that interview he made the comment "contrary to popular belief, we have a very good medical department." My jaw literally hit my chest. I couldn't believe he actually said that out loud in good conscious! let me tell you what our medical (ran by a for profit company called "CORRISON") is really like... First and foremost, an inmate will get the very least amount of treatment required to prevent lawsuits. however, lawsuits are still file on a regular basis. A couple of examples of that is, when the cure for hepatitis C became available the department of corrections/medical refused to administer it. A lawsuit was filed. now, it is available but you must be in the advanced stages of it. you must have liver damage! another one that comes to mind is the hernia lawsuit. a class action suit had to be done to get any treatment other than a bandage to keep the hernia from protruding. of course that bandage was useless, but medical could say "oh, he's being treated." those are just two examples but there are many many more instances.
The regular process for broken bones.... if you break a bone be it hand, foot, arm, ankle, leg, jaw etc. it doesn't matter. you go to medical and they'll give you an ace bandage and tell you you'll be put in for xrays. then you'll get five pack of ibuprophen (400mgs per pk) and advised if you need more you have to submit a sick call request. just to be clear, being seen for a sick call request takes anywhere from three to seven days. so you will be sent back to your cell with a broken bone, some ibuprophen and a seven to ten day wait to get exrayed. Then you wait at the very least a week to get a cast. so, by the time you actually see a doctor for the cast the bone has started to heal incorrectly and it must be rebroken!! so now you got a newly broken bone and some packets of ibuprophen once again. I've had and seen so many other situations of neglect, misdiagnosis, and willful malpractice. it really is ridiculous! it is not by any means a stretch of the truth to say animals get better health care services at the veterinarian than the inmate population of Florida's Department of corrections. I would like to say though, there are select nurses that really do care and do what they can for us. however, they can only do so much because their hands are tied due to the departments regulations and their employers cost trumps all mentality. I'm not an unreasonable person. I understand economics and the need for profit. what I don't understand, and what any feeling human being with a humane conscious shouldn't be able to understand, is profit trumping the wellbeing and life of ANY person be they incarcerated or not. the fact that our secretary of the department of corrections can in good conscience say we have a very good medical provider, shows the disconnect he has with us as a whole, and with what is a barely legal and most definite sub-par healthcare program he and his constituent have contracted us to. In closing I leave you with this thought.... Just because a person has made a mistake in their life, be it big or small, does that mean their wellbeing should be measured by the profit margin of the company contracted maintain it? I would hope that answer would unequivocally be NO. BY Scottie D. Allen #B01314 Union C.I. PO Box 1000 Raiford, Florida 32083 @jpay.com
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