This just can’t wait…
And I know it’s New Year’s Eve…
BUT, I cannot stand by and say and do nothing while the DOC is allowing human rights abuse to take place in a prison in the state where I have grown up and lived most of my life.
This evening my son called me and he was absolutely forlorn, racked with pain from the newly diagnosed shingles diagnosis, told by Correction Officer Redacted yesterday that he could not have toilet paper and also denied a shower when he had not had one since Monday. If this isn’t a low point for the NJ DOC system, I don’t know what is. Denied toilet paper? Denied a shower? Really?
Redacted, as I mentioned in my email yesterday, submitted a medical slip about his rash and the nurse came on Wednesday to see him. The doctor did not see Redacted that day or the day after. Coincidentally, I wrote my email at 9:44 am Friday, and when Redacted called me yesterday late day, he told me that he had been seen at the clinic by Dr. Malta earlier. It is unfortunate that Redacted was not seen sooner as the first 48 hours of shingles is the most important in terms of beginning the antiviral drugs that are needed to relieve the symptoms more effectively. Why is there such a lag when patients need to be seen? Obviously the nurse thought he should be seen if she told Redacted that she would refer him to see the doctor.
Redacted is having extraordinary pain from the shingles and he can’t stop itching. What is being done for pain relief? Even though Redacted is already on gabapentin and receives Tylenol, it is not enough. There are remedies for shingles symptoms available. Something as simple as Calamine Lotion and other anesthetic topicals could help. Why isn’t anything available to alleviate the symptoms? I am hoping that the Acyclovir works even though it was started more than 48 hours after the first symptoms appeared. If Redacted had started treatment Wednesday, after seeing the nurse, the 48 hour window would have been met. I know what this is like from personal experience as I was on top of my health and started the antiviral within that window. Inmates are totally reliant on the medical system in place and cannot initiate anything besides that medical slip. It is important to pay attention when someone asks for help.
Redacted is overwhelmed with medical issues. His emotional frailty is obvious to me. As if that is not enough to deal with, along comes the abusive behavior of the Correctional Officer last night, who denied him toilet paper…
Along with the physical need for toilet paper and showers as this is a major hygiene issue, and I would think the DOC would want all the inmates to stay as clean as possible, there is the mental/emotional abuse factor that I believe is even more insidious. Is this the protocol that is in place? Are Correctional Officers allowed to withhold toilet paper and showers? Who is ultimately responsible? Commissioner Kuhn? Governor Murphy? In my mind, the buck stops with both of you. The power is in your hands to allow this to occur by doing nothing or for you to change the way that the prison staff behaves.
I would think that modeling behavior that is respectful of others would promote an atmosphere that is generally more respectful in the prison. I would think that the DOC would really want to instill a general model of civility in order to help the inmates live in the best way possible considering their circumstances, instead of ripping their dignity to shreds at every turn. I would think the DOC would want to help inmates to rehabilitate themselves so that when they eventually leave the system, they are able to find a way to integrate back into society in a respectful and law abiding manner.
Medical rights are human rights and that should be the norm. Toilet paper and showers should be the norm. Period.
Inaction is action. I ask all of you to consider where you stand on these issues. It is a choice to do nothing or take action to make change.
Sincerely,
Susan Guardia
