Two stories, in a huge list of similar orthopedic stories from Perryville.

Patient #1 fell at the kitchen and came down hard on her knee. She received the usual dismissive treatment from medical, with no ice chrono or promise of an x-ray. Her knee was the size of a basketball for a week before the nurses would even look at it. They put her off for 6 weeks before giving her an x-ray, and finding out the knee was broken in 2 places. Another 3 months went by before she saw a real doctor. He shook his head and told her he’d have to re-break it and do extensive reconstruction before she could walk on it again.

Patient #2 fared no better with her broken wrist. Medical had no time for an x-ray until 2 months later, and that showed her wrist broken in two with a chip out. Another two months for “urgent” orthopedic consult, and the doctor was amazed the prison let her arm knit crooked, with her fingers being numb. The orthopedic doctor said this would require extensive complex surgery to even restore partial use of her wrist and fingers.

Naphcare cripples.

Lori has extreme arthritis that affects her joints, especially the hands. Six months ago she had a reputable surgeon in a hospital reconstruct her right hand….it went well.

Since then, Naphcare has had cost cutting front and center. Lori was thinking she was returning to the same place and doctor for her left hand, but she grew concerned as her van parked in a strange part of town. They went to a strip mall with the usual fast food joints, and one sign that only said “surgeon”.

The guards took her through the back alley where she met a surgeon she’d never seen before. The nurses (?) took her history and wrote down her allergies. It was plain the prison hadn’t supplied this doctor with any information about his new patient he was about to operate on.

When Lori explained the complex surgery she received on her other hand, the doctor said, ” Uh, I don’t do that kinda work. I just cut the nerves so you don’t feel pain.” Lori was horrified but was afraid to refuse for a host of reasons, retaliation being one of them. As she vacillated, the doctor grew impatient and said, “Ya wanna get rid of the pain or what?!” So, against her better judgment she complied.

Lori told the staff TWICE she was allergic to all opiates, Demerol, Morphine, ect. They put a red band on her wrist. At some point during the operation they injected her with Demerol, and she went into anaphylaxis shock!! Who didn’t see the red band on her wrist?!! They had to yank out her breathing tube, causing trauma, pushed Benadryl into her to stop the reaction.

The guards carried Lori, who was in a stupor, into the van and back to the prison, where they unceremoniously dumped her on a bed with no medical supervision for four hours!! The next morning her left arm was wrapped up, but no instructions given.

She started to really drink water, the Demerol was still in her system, and that’s when she had a secondary anaphylaxis incident where her throat closed up. A college educated inmate knew enough to keep her airway open, call for 911 and direct them to give her an epi pen before the ambulance arrived. The bay officer and so-called nurses had NO IDEA what to do to save Lori’s life….but a smart inmate did. The next few days for Lori were painful. Besides the surgery, she had sores inside her mouth and throat from the shock.

No Care Naphcare, how do you sleep at night?

(We received 6 signed eyewitness statements about this alleged incident that occurred on San Carlos January 22…Ed)

The eyewitness writing the grievance states, “Erica was on her tablet phone and couldn’t hear the Sergeant calling her. To get her attention, Sergeant Everett grabbed her arm, and that startled Erica, so she jerked her arm free. That movement accidentally knocked Everett’s coffee out of his hand. That so infuriated the officer (6’2, 225 lbs) that he kicked the inmate’s legs out from under her (5’1, 102lbs) and threw her to the pavement.

Erica is disabled, one leg is shorter so she has a lift, and recently had surgery for a complete hip replacement. After Sergeant Everett got Erica on the ground, he pressed his knee into her back. He yelled at her to stop resisting, and she answered, ” I’m not resisting, your knee is where my surgery was and I’m trying to straighten my leg…it hurts!” He allegedly ignored her, cuffed her, and put her in a restraint chair.

Erica was sent to Cruz reportedly without seeing medical. She allegedly suffered facial and chest abrasions, as well as great pain in her spine and hips.”