Health Horror Stories
"These stories of health abuse are not independently verified by the editors of this website. However, all of the women have agreed to a HIPPA release to any qualified attorney willing to take their case, or to an investigative reporter from the media."
Are These Some Of The Reasons Perryville Residents Have Such An Alarming Rate Of Cancer?
This took some deep digging, and investigative interviews to finally nail down what is labeled “Not for human consumption”. The prevailing answer was it’s the “mechanically separated chicken” inmates call shmeat.
But no! It is something much more diabolical, and so hush-hush, that even the white shirts won’t talk about it. It comes in a brown cardboard box, unlabeled except for the initials TVP. What is this? Textured Vegetable Protein.
The reason it’s an issue is that the product contains HEXANE which is used in the manufacturing process. HEXANE is a known carcinogen. This is the stuff that is mixed with the chicken parts to make it go farther.
The only fake sweetener available to prisoners, both in the kitchen and on the commissary, is Aspartame/Saccharin. The FDA says this is a carcinogen.
Keefe makes three shampoos, two body washes, and a dandruff product marketed to prisoners. ALL of them contain *pyrethezone zinc* and *cocamide DEA* . These chemicals are outlawed in 14 states and the FDA requires a warning label on all products. (California inmates can’t buy them because they’re banned)
Warden, Would You Eat In A Restaurant That Had No Dishwasher?
We were astounded to learn that San Carlos has NO DISHWASHER. How that escaped our attention for so long is mystifying, but we recently had a slew of letters about it.
In interviewing residents that worked at Carlos kitchen, we were able to get a clear picture of the “dishwashing” procedure. There are 3 sinks….the 1st sink is where they spray off the food on the tray. The next step with the 2nd sink is an alleged “disinfectant” which they are dunked in, then on to the 3rd sink of rinse water.
The people interviewed said they were rushed by the Trinity staff and couldn’t thoroughly clean the trays. Reportedly, the cups and sporks were only given a cursory rinse.
Several letters divulged alleged mold growing profusely in and around food prep tables. Guess who is calling the Health Department? US!
No-Care Naphcare sued for $26.75 Million!
This was the verdict in Washington State, for the death of Cindy Hill after being denied care for a ruptured a intestine. Naphcare was accused of “subjecting inmates to risk of serious harm” and “putting profits over the medical wellbeing of inmates.”
The complaint declared Hill’s condition was treatable and her death preventable. Ms. Hill was found in her cell in a fetal position on the floor screaming in pain. Unable to stand or walk she was dragged across the floor on a blanket to see Naphcare’s RN. The nurse gave her no treatment. Later that day Hill was found dead in a pool of blood and vomit.
What will Naphcare nurses do to YOUR loved one at Perryville? It might be wise to call/write Governor Hobbs to get this vicious vendor out of Arizona prisons.
Maria is the new Pedro
We just got this from a source inside. "An officer whispered to us that Maria is the new Pedro." We reported earlier that it appeared that the San Pedro unit was where the inmates testing positive for COVID-19 are being quarantined and isolated from the rest of...
Thank you – Public pressure works once more.
We won the mattress war! (Read the original story here.) Thanks to readers, families, and friends writing and calling, medical mattresses have been restored to the elderly. No more bruised hips.
“Letter From A Dead Woman”
( a letter passed to us---names of medical personnel deleted for this post. We have no way of verifying, but this woman has a right to her opinion.)"Letter From A Dead Woman"My name was Debra R, but Perryville saw me as a number. I died on Jan. 11, 2020, while in...
D.W. HERNANDEZ ABOLISHES EXTRA MATTRESS FOR THE INFIRM!
Received this directly from an elderly inmate. "All of us in gray hair, some with hip replacements, wheelchairs, walkers, canes and elderly, were appalled when the officer stormed through San Carlos today taking our double mattresses. Our MEDICALLY APPROVED extra...
She’s only an inmate…
American Friends Service Committee has collected and donated much-needed supplies to prisons state-wide. Among those supplies were 1800 masks. The masks donated to Perryville however are still in the warehouse, along with masks donated by other organizations. And it...
Unsung Hero of the Night
This is from an inmate on the San Carlos unit. It's nice to hear good news once in a while. "I would like to commend an officer for his excellent service to the well-being and safety of the inmates. His name is Marcione, and he works graveyard shift on San Carlos. All...
Update 5-10-2020
We have a few reports from inside to share with you today. We just found out from 2 trusted staff about the gal with COVID-19 symptoms that got taken out of A-bay in San Carlos (reported on 5/4/2020) .....no one cleaned or disinfected her cubby! Then hours later some...
From the 5-6-2020 Town Hall
5-6-20: Reportedly from inmates that attended a Town Hall meeting, 65+ women will get no special treatment. All chronic care individuals will be "screened" regularly for "symptoms". Covid-19 tests allegedly on site and will be "administered as deemed appropriate". As...
Update 5/5/2020:
We hear that two more inmates from the COVID-19 exposed San Pedro unit were transferred to San Carlos A Bay yesterday. Both of those inmates indicated that they finished only 12 days of the 14-day quarantine before being moved into this vulnerable population. Many of...
Update 5-4-2020: Here we go!
Remember we mentioned in the last update that inmates from San Pedro, where 2 staffers have (supposedly) been diagnosed with COVID-19, were transferred out of the unit just 2 days after it was announced that no transfers would happen? Well...5 days later two...
Update 4-28-2020
First - some good news. The two LPN's named in the previous update are now wearing masks. A repeat of the informal survey at pill call on Tuesday morning returned a 100% compliance report. Did our naming names help? No idea, but we are very happy with the report. Now...
Update 4-24-2020
Maybe it's just us, but wouldn't you expect medical professionals like nurses to be at least as conscientious about personal protection as the average grocery checker? Apparently not. As recently as yesterday two LPN's were reportedly seen treating inmates and not...
I was in prison for 17years and have seen so many people die in front of me It’s traumatic and I have PTSD from it. Medical never helped me for my heart problems, never took tests, just told me I have congested heart failure and didn’t do anything for me. I saw it every day. They never helped us, made us always feel like we were lying and would send us away. Making people work in the kitchen who have scoliosis, heart problems, people who have AIDS and Hep C as well as other STDs. There’s rat poop on our kitchen food, birds all over our trays that we eat off of making us all even sicker, black mold everywhere. We can’t breathe in our cells due to all the mold and crud in our walls, vents, and coolers. They are trying to kill us – they don’t care and the money they get for us does not go to us. There is so much more.
I’ve been sexually attacked by the CO police officers twice. I have my whole life to account for in there and I’m surprised I made it out after 17years. They have medium inmates on max yards getting assaulted and they don’t care. They say it is due to no room. They also send you to max yard as punishment without ever getting tickets. It’s all retaliation. They will ruin your life if you don’t do what they want. They make up lies, yep the sergeants, if you refuse to work because you don’t feel good. I heard a Sergeant say “Oh you’re going to hurt yourself” then cuff her up and put her in isolation when the girl never said it. I’ve seen it all, believe that.
Hi Cynthia! I’m not sure if you’ll see this but I am so sorry for what you went through. Thank you for sharing a glimpse of your story. I would love to ask you questions as I am exploring ideas for my doctoral capstone and am interested in issues in the AZ Women’s Prison. Is there any way we could talk further?
That was my friend 😭 she was cool ag and funny. I feel bad I had to leave San Carlos for Cruz. But fck their medical center, the whole prison is fucked up and corrupted. I’ve been out for 8 months now and I still remember everything like yesterday especially with health care. Like can the prison do an upgrade and fix their shit or will more ppl have to die like my friend here? It’s fucked up because I knew she was having a hard time in the beginning getting her shots. We both came from the same county. She wasn’t even a criminal like person. She was fun, bright and very smart, like she could’ve went to college. She had alot planned for herself…damn I love Jowell thank for the laughs and being a loyal friend. Rest in Paradise
Yeah, she was a very cool person to know. She would hug you when she saw you with a big smile. She was always cool to everyone, no hate or anger in her heart but she probably did towards ADOC health employees
I was incarcerated for 9 years and just released March 2024. In 2019, my stomach swelled up and I looked 9 months pregnant. They told me I had impacted stool and had me drink a laxative. The pain got worse, I couldn’t breath or walk and this went on for 2 months. My family contacted the ACLU and prison and finally in February 2020 I was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with Stage 3 Ovarian cancer. I was in the hospital for 10 days and started chemo. I went back to the prison and was expecting chemo every 3 weeks. It took over a 3 weeks for me to get scheduled for my next chemo. In May, I had just came back from chemo and was told I was packing up and being sent to San Carlos. I had to load and unload all of my belongings after a day of chemo and was being transferred to a yard with 1300 women. I then had surgery to remove the cancer in July and once released from the hospital was sent to Maria and put in a cell, by myself with no A/C. I had to move everything by myself and carry a chair out to take a shower. I had an incision from belly button to my pubic bone. Finally after 2 weeks, I was sent back to Carlos. I was told later that I had peritoneal cancer and not ovarian, after I had had a complete hysterectomy. I never had a follow up PET scan to make sure the cancer was gone. In March of 2023, I started seeing a new oncologist, Dr. Benjamin and he finally ordered a PET scan and saw that I had cancer again in the same area of my stomach. I had surgery again in May and started six rounds of chemo. Between the medical Dr’s John and Johnson my medical treatment at the prison was horrible. They didn’t give me anything but Tylenol and Excedrin for the pain and I had to fight to get an extra mattress and extra milk for protein shakes. If I didn’t have my family to support me and stand up for me I would have died. I applied for clemency 2 times and because I wasn’t dying in 3 months, I was refused. Something needs to change with the health system and prison.