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."
Snippets Overheard
Nurse Tony said to nurse Pennington, “Well, we better hurry with pill call or we’ll be on that Perryville women blog!”. Yes, ladies, my ears are everywhere:-)
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Lumley emptied out 2 wings in closed custody, to accommodate COVID inmates at that custody level. Piestawa will be COVID rehab for minimum custody.
Maria supposedly for medium custody quarantine.
Lumley staff member.
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Staff: “We will be locking down San Carlos, Wed, Thurs, and Fri. the 12, 13, and 14th, for COVID tests. Other units on Perryville the same week, or early the next. If an inmate tests positive, that whole Bay will be locked down for 14 days.”
Shortcuts in Medical?
Getting needed medication when you’re in prison isn’t an easy process at the best of times. You have to report to pill call at a specific time. You line up with everyone else needing to get their meds, standing outside in the weather. Rain? Stand in line. Heat? Stand in line. Right now it’s over 110 degrees. Stand in line.
Certain nurses make that process even more challenging (not naming names, but their patients victims know who they are.) When they’re on duty you better not be late to pill call because you won’t get your medication but they will document that it was given. Would anyone like to know what happens to the medications that should have been given to the inmates?
How they are able to complete pill-call for 200 patients each in less than an hour? According to these two nurses, they are quick and efficient when it comes to dispensing medications, No one else seems to be able to perform that fast. This is how – they pre-pop all of the meds, so who knows if they are even giving the right medication to the right individual, and they document medication as given when in fact it has not been given.
If someone from management would just stand back and watch the goings-on they would see for themselves, but the higher-ups do not want to because they don’t really want to know.
The DOC is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic
We are in touch with some members of the Directors COVID Task Force. They gather information about how things are working on the units. This committee finds additional measures to keep inmates safe. Here are the core items on their list. Let’s go through them and comment on what’s REALLY happening at Perryville.
- Soap distribution: Inmates at almost all units report difficulty getting soap, or having to jump through hoops to acquire them. They are poor quality, Motel 6, 3d world blocks of stuff. It doesn’t even lather, and girls that were using it under their arms reported blisters!
- Deep cleaning of common areas: What a JOKE! It only takes them 12 minutes to squirt 104 beds. Then when the inmates come back in they only have one paper towel to wipe with.
- Mask wearing: The guards wear masks everywhere BUT over their faces. Some wear them as beanies on the head. Beard warmers. Over mouth but not nose. Around neck. Inmates are NOT REQUIRED to wear them (see 7-16 Town Hall meeting notes). The most important mandate is not enforced.
- Social distancing: In dorm-style minimum units it’s not possible. In 2-man cells, not much better. The real problem is the lines for chow and pill call. You couldn’t put a Kleenex between them. Combine lines and no masks and it’s a recipe for disaster.
All this proves the time-honored motto of AZDOC……
“We don’t give a damn.”
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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.