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DALLAS, TX -- A fourth suicide among mentally ill patients treated at the Dallas VA Medical Center this year has led the hospital to close its psychiatric ward, and investigators from the national Veterans Affairs office are expected to arrive next week to assess safety. Joseph Dalpiaz, director of the VA North Texas Health Care System, ordered the shutdown after a man hanged himself April 4. The hospital stopped admitting patients to its 51-bed psychiatric unit the next day. Dalpiaz 'decided he wanted to ... give us some time to assess the environment of care and make sure things were as safe as possible in our patient unit,' said Dr. Catherine Orsak, head of mental health for the VA's North Texas health system. In January, two men who met in the hospital's psychiatric ward committed suicide days after being released. The third to commit suicide was a veteran who hanged himself on a frame attached to his wheelchair. The safety of the psychiatric ward is to be assessed by investigators visiting from the national VA offices, The Dallas Morning News reported in its Tuesday editions. Doctors sent patient records and other documents to Washington last week for review. Orsak said the hospital has spent more than $250,000 the past six months to eliminate suicide risks. Door knobs were replaced, showers curtains and plumbing were retrofitted, and light fixtures were modified to remove rigid outcroppings veterans might use in hanging themselves. While new patients are not being admitted to the hospital's psychiatric unit, 10 veterans are still being treated there. March 16, 2007 -- Boston Globe (MA)Letters to the EditorVA Treatment Of Veterans Similar To PrisonersDear Globe Editor: While we thank you for publishing our letter, 'Ills of the state's prison system', on 2/28/07, we feel compelled to describe and explain, in more depth than a letter to the editor allows, the 'ills' we referred to in that letter. As a grassroots group of family and friends of prisoners, we have a perspective, grounded in experience over many years, that the media and the general public lack access to. We have outlined some of our observations in this letter, but these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. We would like to take the next step by requesting a meeting with the Globe editors to explain why we think the Globe's understanding of the problems of those deemed mentally ill and suicide in Massachusetts prisons has been framed too narrowly, and why we think the proposed solutions will not work. To illuminate our viewpoint we ask you to consider the similarities of treatment of veterans at Walter Reed Hospital and prisoners in the Massachusetts DoC and County Corrections. If what has recently been revealed at Walter Reed is happening to people we as a society say we care about -- vets, we must ask ourselves what happens inside jail and prison health facilities to the people we seem not to care about--prisoners and detainees. These similarities include; 1) the inability and unwillingness for administrators and staff to implement positive change even in the face of repeated exposure and subsequent recommendations; 2) the disturbing ease with which medical professionals sworn to the Hippocratic oath create, perpetuate or tolerate gross medical neglect and abuse; 3) the effect of disenfranchisement created by cumulative daily degradations and abuse 4) the gag on 'inmates' to speak freely with representatives of the media and the fear of retribution; and 5) the hiring or rehiring of administrators on whose watch the abuse originated and/or accumulated. 1) For years both US Military officials with Hospital oversight and Massachusetts' DoC officials have been repeatedly 'challenged' to change their ways. In the case of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, numerous studies and their recommendations have been ignored, or worse, policy has been implemented in direct contradiction those recommendations -- security classification levels is one current example. Whereas the Harshbarger report recommended lowering security levels to aid prisoners in reentry and to cut fat from runaway guard labor costs (2nd highest in the nation), Dennehy policy and practice has resulted in increased security classification not only for individuals but for entire institutions within the system. 2) A glance at the recent 'suicides' and deaths, and prisoners currently at risk, indicates that medical neglect and/or abuse is a primary factor: 23 year old Kelly Jo Griffen, neither convicted nor civilly committed died 35 hours after arriving at MCI Framingham, a full month before the shocking murder of defrocked priest John Geoghan; Anthony Garafolo, a detainee with paraplegia developed an 8 x11 centimeter bedsore and massive infections in the care of correctional health staff before he died by 'suicide' last June; 28 year old Michael Besson, died of complications due to gross medical neglect a few months after a short sentence in the Middlesex County House of Correction. Kelly Jo, Anthony and Michael are just three victims of widespread medical neglect and physical abuse in MA prisons and jails. Carla Carvalho, a young woman whose case has finally reached court after 2 years pre-trial detention, has not yet received appropriate medical care for her treatable pre-cancer condition. This situation persists despite advocacy by concerned citizens and Ms. Carvalho's attorney, meetings between her mother and Senator Jarrett Barrios, as well as Mitt Romney EOPS Ombudsman/Undersecretary Patrick Bradley, and repeated requests for help from other relevant elected officials. 3) The cumulative effect of "mishaps" at Walter Reed has led to disenfranchisement, anger and voluntary isolation of some vets. For prisoner Steven Koumaris, a plea for protection from further rapes in October 2006 at a Health Services Unit at Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater was met with derision and taunting by Sgt. Joseph Almeida. Almeida is alleged to have told the despondent Koumaris, '.either go back in there and be the bitch, suck a dick or fight.' Staff 'treated' Koumaris by cutting his clothing off and placing him on a punitive "suicide watch." His captors, with acquiescence from medical staff, continued to laugh and humiliate him. On Oct. 12, 2006 Steven was found dead 'in a pool of blood" in his cell. He had cut his femoral artery twice and his throat once with a razor. 4) The effect of DoC media policy on prisoners is analogous to the prohibition of veterans at Walter Reed Army Hospitals from speaking to the media. In 2002, MA DoC issued media restrictions, which in practice bar access to almost every prisoner. In cases where media are granted entry by the DoC commissioner, 103 CMR: 131.10 (7) states that, 'a correctional employee shall be present for the duration of an interview.' Since DoC policy against retaliation is not enforced, the regulation is effectively a gag order. Indeed, your paper reported in 2002 that 'Massachusetts' proposed ban on unsupervised interviewing has the potential to keep inmates from speaking candidly with representatives of the media, especially about corruption within the prison system.' ('Officials plan to limit media's access to inmates, Christine Lagorio, 6/6/2002.) 5) MA DoC Commissioner Kathy Dennehy is an insider who progressed 'through the ranks' for 31 years to assume leadership of the Department in 2003. She has observed and participated in daily human and civil rights abuses perpetrated on prisoners during her tenure. She is complicit in current abuse of prisoners with physical and psychological disabilities. She muzzles the complaints of relatives and advocates who publicize the abuses with threats of prosecution. (In her November 21, 2006 response to a prisoner's sister, Dennehy warned the relative, "This material contains CORI, evaluative and or intelligence information or personal data concerning inmates, and is a confidential, non-public record matter under the laws of Massachusetts. Release of this information could lead to fines, civil liability and criminal prosecution.") Ms. Dennehy is by her own practices and policies absolutely unqualified to 'clean up' the DoC. She is more interested in public relations than in stopping rampant abuse of prisoners. Your own paper has reported that the DOC repeatedly ignores the recommendations of studies it has commissioned. To add insult to injury, the public foots the bill for the discarded reviews. The routine mistreatment of people in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of "Correction' demands constant scrutiny by the media and public. After all, the Commonwealth sentenced them AS punishment not FOR punishment. State employees are allowed to inflict extrajudicial harm with impunity. We thank the Boston Globe for the attention it has begun to focus on the behaviors of jailers, wardens and medical staff in Massachusetts jails and prison's. Sincerely, Andrea Hornbein, Boston, MA 02134 Also visit our "Prison & Police Abuse" section. |
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We are careful not to duplicate the efforts of other organizations, and as a grassroots coalition of prisoners and social reformers, our resources (time and money) are limited. The vast expertise and scope of the various drug reform organizations will enable you to stay informed on the ever-changing, many-faceted aspects of the movement. Our colleagues in reform also give the latest drug war news. Please check their websites often. |
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