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."
The Death Van
Why do the ladies at Perryville call it that? This particular van is described by the residents as ancient, filthy, no a/c or heat, and NO STEP STOOL as required by policy.
Try this in your van or truck tomorrow…. first put a belly chain on, then handcuff your arms to that, and don’t forget to shackle your feet so you can barely move. Then imagine you’ve had major surgery of some kind, or a broken leg, or 3 feet of intestines removed. Try to get in the van with no help from the officers, except screaming at you of course. If you’ve made it that far congrats, you’re probably under 30. Now imagine it’s August and it’s 118 degrees…..and they stuff you in a van with no a/c. Petty cruel huh?
When Paul Whelan came back from 5 years in a Russian prison, and he started describing what the conditions were, I really swore he was talking about Perryville.
San Carlos Women Going Blind
No judge sentenced these three women to a life of blindness, but incompetence by Carlos staff, and No Care Naphcare, has increased the odds of total vision loss for the women. Patient #1: Had cataract surgery at the American Eye Center in May of this year. The patient alleges she woke out of surgery twice to hear the surgical team arguing over what “playlist they were going to have on speaker”. The 2nd time she woke up she heard, ” OK, let’s have Latin music then.” Two weeks later patient #1 called an ICS as the inserted lens came out of her eye….the surgeon had forgotten to stitch up the wound, AND he left the coating (which should be removed) on the lens, so she had a raging eye infection! Perkins Eye Center correctly ordered eye drops, but Perryville pharmacy GAVE HER EAR DROPS to put in her eyes!!!! Patient #1 is totally blind in the left eye and has 2% sight in the other.
Patient #2 was transferred from North Dakota DOC late in the evening. She had eye surgery recently while in ND, so their medical department had helpfully wrapped her medications in tamper-proof tape. When #2 arrived at Perryville intake, the guard took her medications and told her “Well, you won’t be needing this here.” and threw them in the TRASH right in front of her. The patient screamed, “Those are post-surgical medications I need to heal my eyes!” The guard was unmoved and said, “You’ll get new ones.” Six months into her Arizona incarceration, she still has not received her eye meds. Her eye pressure is off the chart, which gives her tunnel vision, headaches, pain, and dimmer vision every day. Welcome to Arizona.
Patient #3 is 75, and suffering from glaucoma so bad that a doctor told her, “Your optic nerve is thinning from the pressure, it’s urgent you have laser surgery so you don’t go blind.” That diagnosis was in May. Perryville scheduled surgery with Eye Doctors of Arizona, Dr. Matthew Heller, in July…..HE DIDN’T SHOW UP! The surgeon didn’t show up for surgery. (After all, she’s just an inmate.) In August the computer showed two bookings for surgery, so in their incompetence, they canceled them both. So here it is September, four months passed “urgent” for surgery, and the elderly lady is having headaches, blurred vision, peripheral loss, and double vision. Optic nerves don’t grow back folks…when its gone it’s gone.
Readers, call Director Ryan Thornell and read this article to him.
ACLU Source: “Appalled by Carlos Medical Department”
Reportedly, ACLU staff were shaken and appalled when they found out there was only ONE full-time Provider during the week, and one part-time Provider on the weekends, for THIRTEEN HUNDRED and EIGHTY women! No Care Naphcare is getting worse, not better.
So many women with life-threatening illnesses are denied care. Treatments and appointments are canceled without notice. Medical grievances have skyrocketed, but they don’t expedite treatment…. they only pave the way for litigation if the inmate can afford it. Most can’t…. so they suffer.
An insider within the department quoted one of the Providers as saying, ” I’m thinking of quitting because I can’t treat my patients the way they ought to be treated. Naphcare and this administration don’t care if these inmates live or die.”
The two-day visit by the ACLU turned up serious issues, and heartbreaking stories to impart to Judge Silver this month. For-profit vendors like Naphcare, and the prison machine of the DOC, will never give inmates quality health care. That will only be achieved by RECEIVERSHIP which means the Feds take over the system.
Google and research what great things were achieved in California state prisons when they went into receivership!
New Data from World Prison Brief
This organization counted 2,068,800 US citizens incarcerated. That is an astounding 25% of the world's total prison population. Keep in mind we comprise only 4.17% of the world's total population in 2023, giving America the highest per capita rate of incarceration....
Overcrowding In Perryville Causing Mental Health Crisis
Overcrowding is not the only reason for the mental health disaster that affects the ladies here, but it's a big contributor. The crowding is most felt in the dorm-style units, as there is absolutely NO PRIVACY. The lights burn all day and night....imagine trying to...
Guard Recounts Sad MAT Story
We have reported on this misguided MAT program, that turns clean and sober women into opioid addicts again....FOR MONETARY GAIN. Research revealed the culprit is the Republican-led legislature. Of course. We were fortunate enough to interview two women recently...
WOMAN WITH ONE LUNG MADE TO BREATHE 2nd HAND SMOKE FOR TWO YEARS!!!!!
The DOC and San Carlos administration has come to an all-time low. This sweet, shy, lady who lost a lung in a traffic accident, has been condemned to breathe toxic fumes from the smoking bathroom. Her cube is only a few feet from A bays designated smoking bathroom. (A...
MAT Program at Perryville—Is the DOC Keeping Inmates Addicted?
MAT stands for Medication Assisted Treatment. This program is extremely controversial, and it's difficult to know where to start. To be in this program, the inmate should have had a previous opioid addiction. There is reportedly a questionnaire that asks the inmate...
PREGNANCY FROM HELL/Perryville Style
(Whew. I just finished a 2-hour interview with this new mom....and I'm exhausted. I'm forwarding this to the media, Judge Silver, Director Thornell, and Governor Hobbs.). Ms. Thomas in her own words. "I've never been in prison before, I've never been in trouble...
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....
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...
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...
When CO LUCID Is Bay Officer Women Must DEHYDRATE Themselves So They Don’t Get A Ticket!
We have an eyewitness on A bay in San Carlos that has made records of CO Lucid's denial of bathroom breaks during count. Here they are: 6-29 11:43 to ? no announcement of count cleared at 12:11pm 7-12 10:40 to 11:53 7-24 10:45 to Noon This officer makes the elderly...
Televerde Office: We See a Constant Stream of Ambulances Going Into Perryville.
The Televerde office is located on a corner by the main vehicle gate. With this vantage point, they can see the ambulances and which Units they go to all day. The workers reported that they have seen an unprecedented amount of ambulances and fire trucks entering...
Two Guards Go Out Via Ambulance On 7-19-23 From Cruz
Two male guards were rushed to the hospital with heat exhaustion. What is strange is their office, called the bubble, has a/c. How many women need to be rushed to the hospital because they have no cooling at all?
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.