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."
Chronic Punishment: AZDOC’s Deplorable Health Care For Elderly And Infirm
Instead of “rehabilitating” people in prison (physically, mentally, or otherwise), they are kept in a constant state of illness and despair. The Bureau of Justice statistics show a huge proportion of inmates are impacted by disease, disability, and mental illness.
What we want to focus on in this piece is the special needs of the elderly and infirm in Perryville. Instead of asking, “Should cancer prevalence be higher or lower in prison?” a better question is “Why should a 70-year-old with cancer and heart disease be locked up at all?”
The For-Profit healthcare vendors the DOC hires are designed to treat acute problems rather than to prevent chronic disease in the first place. Rates of medical problems are much higher for older people. For elderly inmates, the percentage of hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease is an astounding 78%!
The prison environment makes it difficult for people to pursue a lifestyle and diet that staves off these problems. Prison diets hardly promote public health. Incarcerated people are forced to eat what the public has been told for years to avoid. There is the famous “shmeat” served to Perryville women as “heart healthy protein. We know it’s chicken BY PRODUCTS…. PET FOOD is what it was intended to be. Look on your dogs’ chow bag right now and look at the first ingredient, I bet it’s Chicken By Products!
When we are sentenced to prison, why don’t they also add, ” And you will get NO fresh fruits or vegetables for the entire time you’re there.” 60% of the ladies here have disabilities. 78% for those over 65. Perryville is a makeshift nursing home!!
This is Arizona’s most wasteful, morally bankrupt policy to date. Our solution? Accelerate medical parole. Expand parole eligibility for those above 65 years old. This is known as geriatric parole. These reforms should go hand in hand with other decarceration efforts, like expanding earned good time credits.
Inmate Sucked into MRI Machine!
We just had a lengthy interview with this 37-year-old young lady. Here is what she told us. “I was going to have an MRI on my breasts at the hospital. As usual, I was chained head to foot, and accompanied by 2 guards. The MRI technician was not there, but the hospital decided to place another staff member there to substitute. This new staffer asked me to step into the room and started to explain the procedure. I specifically asked if my chains should be removed, and she said ” That won’t be a problem “.
As I moved to the bed there was a loud sound, and my body was slammed to the outside of the machine! The belly chained tightened around my torso that I felt like I was torn in two. The pain was terrible! The handcuffs cut deep into my flesh and started to bleed profusely. I felt like I couldn’t breathe and was going to pass out.
The guard tried to help me but forgot about all the metal (gun) he carries around his waist, and got stuck too.
Now the fire department is called, people scurrying around yelling, but no one will turn the damn thing off!! The big red button on the wall is right there…..I’m screaming for them to push it.. but inexplicably… no one does!
The firemen can’t come in because they have metal all over them. Someone tells me to hold on 15 more minutes….. who are these people??!!!!! I can’t breathe!
As the tech sees me turn blue, she FINALLY pushes the red button. There is a click…then merciful relief. I collapsed on the floor.
I have permanent scarring on my waist from being burned by the chains. Ditto my hands and wrist from handcuffs.”
Grievances And Complaints About Physical Therapy With Chains On
We received copies of grievances and letters regarding the “impossibility of PT when in chains.”
One gal with a titanium rod in her leg, complained to the transport officers about removing at least one leg chain so she could do the exercises. The PT therapist himself asked the officer to remove the chain long enough for him to do a proper evaluation of range-of-movement. Nothing doing replied the DOC guard.
Allegedly, the same goes for arm therapy…. chains stay on. According to the girls, they do the best they can wrapped up in metal chains that totally restrain their movement.
How can they recover from their injuries properly?
They’re going to wait until my lump is malignant! – by J.J.
For 3 months I've had a lump in my breast with a greenish discharge from the nipple. Corizon (Medical) won't get a biopsy for it because "it's too expensive and it's probably a cyst anyway." How large will it have to be before I'm seen by a real M.D? Update: After...
They’ve given me a death sentence, twice over – by T.B.
I am the product of cancer three-times over (in prison.) Being a non-recipient of adequate care, as well as normal human decency, from all involved, including medical professionals. So, in all reality, I was given a life sentence of over and over. I am only 65 years...
Leukemia Mistaken for Flu at Lumley – by T.M
Death isn't just for the old, they kill the young too, P. was a 20-year-old vibrant young woman when she arrived at the prison. After a few months, she grew more fatigued and tired. For 5 months she begged Medical to take lab tests to find out what was wrong with her....
True Story of Deceased Inmate from Santa Maria – by C.L.M.
I was K.T.s neighbor. We'd lived next door to each other for two years amd became friends. K.T. was 62 years old, walked with a cane, but was otherwise healthy. We first thought she had come down with the flu, but her coughing and respiratory distress lingered for...
Just in time – by G.V.
"I have scaly skin lesions on my face for over a year, and could not talk my "provider" into a dermatology referral. As luck would have it, a real MD walked by as I was in my wheelchair and I asked him to tale a look at my face. He said it looks like cancer, I'll...
The Guard Let Me Fall – by J.M.
I went to the hospital for heart failure. Just before I was discharged, I had to go to the bathroom. I'm 72 years old, and they had me shackled with a belly chain, hand cuffs, and feet cuffed. When the female guard started to help me up, she let go too soon and I...
Just Drink Water – by C.A.
I have had Crohn's disease for 6 years before I came to Perryville. Corizon said "it's cured" even though they gave me no treatment for it. The provider prescribed medication for I.B.S. (totally different disease than Crohn's) and that caused me to start throwing up...
Imprisoning America’s Mentally Ill
by Edward Lyon published in Prison Legal News February, 2019, page 22 Since the 1962 publication of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a mirror image of the best-selling novel’s plot has played out in U.S. prisons. Author Ken Kasey wrote a work of fiction about a...
Inmate 1997 – Interview
You may have met IM 1997 and her C.O.P.D. story here on the Smoking page, but this is what happened to her in regards to cancer. She discovered a lump in her upper-left breast in 2008. The mammogram did not show it because the lump was too far above the scope of the...
Elder Abuse at Perryville
This is not an isolated case of elder abuse at the women's prison. Sgt. G admitted to an inmate that cases of inmate elder abuse are too common here. The latest example was a 64 year old lady who uses a cane. Her 20 year old room mate didn't want to room "with an old...
Unsanitary Living Conditions
Dept. of Corrections expects us to clean our room but does not provide the necessary means to do so. We wash our floors with Suave shampoo. Shampoo is not going to kill the stomach flu or worse bacteria such as Hep C. We used to get cleaner that was blue like window...
Society, Are You Afraid of Us?
We are in our 60's, 70's, and 80's. Here is a picture of "pill call" at 9:30 am, 365 days a year, where we line up in front of Medical. Everyone in this sketch is a first-time "offender." What are we thinking? That we are resigned to leaving prison feet first, 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.