As a sister to a beloved brother who died in a prison in Texas, at the age of only 43 years old, I am seeking prison medical care reform.
The medical care in the prisons of Texas is atrocious. Something needs to be done to change this system. Many inmates are dying needlessly
because no one seems to care about them as human beings; therefore, they are being treated inhumanely when it comes to their medical needs.
My brother died of renal cell carcinoma. If the cancer had been caught early, as it should have been, he would not have died. Below is my
account of my brother's cruel treatment at the hands of the prison officials and the medical staff of the Texas Department of Corrections:
Around June 18th, 2004, my sister, Mariam, called to tell me the shocking news she had just learned from my brother, Larry Duplechain,
regarding the possibility that the pain he had been feeling in his shoulder for so long, may be bone cancer. My brother had been complaining
for over a year about pain in different parts of his body before his cancer was finally diagnosed. In June of 2003, while looking at an x-ray
of his chest, Larry noticed that there was a spot on the x-ray of his lungs.He asked the doctor if that spot should be there. The doctor
told him "no". Larry then asked the doctor "shouldn't we find out what that spot is?" The doctor just blew him off and told Larry he "was not
that worried about it"...
Larry then started having severe pains in his lower back. He complained over and over again about this acute pain to the medical staff at the
prison. An x-ray was finally ordered and the doctor noticed "something" on the x-ray. Larry was told that he had severe arthritis and that it
was unusual for someone to have that severe a form of arthritis at his age. He was told to exercise more. Larry continued to complain about
this severe back pain, but no one would take him seriously.
Larry then started having severe pain in his right shoulder. Again, he complained about this awful pain. Once more, his complaints were
ignored. The doctor finally ran an x-ray of Larry's shoulder area and told him that nothing was wrong with his shoulder again, he needed to
"work it out". The pain only worsened. The pain became so intense that Larry was unable to use his right shoulder and arm anymore. Due to not
being able to raise his arm because of the pain it would produce, his right arm shrunk to half the size of his left arm. Larry started to lose
a lot of weight. Still, his complaints that something was seriously wrong were ignored. According to letters that Larry wrote his family, the
pain was constant and unbearable. These are the words he used in one letter to describe the pain in his shoulder: "it burns and throbs and just
plain-out keeps me in really agonizing miserable unbearable pain that goes on for every second of every minute and every minute of every hour
and every hour of every day, 24-hours of every day, 7-days a week. And this is nonstop too! And I am very serious about that! Even my cellie goes,
"God, I've never seen anyone in so much pain"- I mean, I actually rock back and forth all the time! I hurt that much! I literally have to rock myself
into completely total exhaustion before (hopefully) I am able to get some sleep. As a matter-of-fact, I probably slept in the last 3 days - a good
3 or 4 hours! And that is the truth. I canıt sleep at all with all the ungodly constant pain that I've been enduring for so-so-so-long." He also
wrote a medical complaint about this pain, describing it in much the same way - and no one would help him.
Larry complained to the prison officials again and again. The doctors would only give him Motrin for the pain. He told them that he needed an
MRI done - that the pain was deep in his shoulder. Larry was told that would never be done because that test was too expensive. He even wrote a
letter to the warden begging him to just come and look at him - to see that he was not "faking it", that the pain was real and he needed help.
Larry was hoping that if the warden saw how thin he was and how small his right arm was compared to his left arm, that he would get Larry some help.
The warden never bothered. Larry wrote Mariam with names of people to write that may be able to give him some help. She had written to several of
them at the time she learned of Larry's grim diagnosis.
An x-ray was finally done on Larry's shoulder on June 16, 2004 and ONLY because the clavicle area of his shoulder had caved in. When the nurse on
duty saw Larry's shoulder, she was appalled. The x-rays showed many white spots on Larry's right shoulder, his chest and down his right arm. He was
told that these spots could possibly be bone cancer. These x-rays were sent over [by computer??] to one of the doctors at John Sealy Hospital. When
he viewed them, he told the doctor at the Estelle Unit to get Larry over to John Sealy as soon as possible - on an emergency basis. It took Larry
three weeks to actually make it to the hospital in Galveston. When Larry finally did arrive at the hospital, all that was done for him were a few
tests were taken. Once it was determined that his cancer was in his kidneys, his lungs and his bones and was terminal, he was not given any further
medical treatment. The only medication that was given to Larry for his severe pain was Tylenol 3 (until my family obtained the help of an attorney -
and only because we contacted an attorney).
Once Larry was sent back to the Estelle Unit, he was told over and over again that his cancer was treatable (they even made Larry believe that he may
not have cancer - that the doctors were waiting to run more tests to be sure that he did have cancer, and if so, what kind of cancer it was). Time
after time, he was told that he would be going to John Sealy hospital to have these tests run which would determine what kind of cancer he had, but
then he would never be sent. His pain only worsened. Again, the only medication provided was Tylenol #3. There would be times that Larry would stand
in line for 2 hours so that he could get his pain medication, only to be told when he got to the window that no pain medication had been authorized
for him (and at this time it had been determined that the bone loss in his shoulder was so severe that his shoulder bone was no longer attached to
his arm!).
My family and I wanted to know what Larry's prognosis was, but no one, and I mean no one, would tell us (or Larry). I must have spoken to over 20 people
at the Estelle Unit and at John Sealy hospital. All I ever got was the run around - when I called Estelle, I was told Larry's medical records were at
John Sealy hospital. When I would call John Sealy, I was told that his medical records were at the prison. Again, no one would give us a diagnosis or a
prognosis - even though Larry had signed papers stating that both Mariam and I could have access to his medical records. The Texas prison system has
protected itself from giving out any information when it comes to the health of someone's loved one. I feel that the reason for this is because they
know they are harming so many individuals in the prisons, and they don't want anyone to know how many deaths have been due to plain old medical neglect
and indifference to the health needs of the inmates in these prisons.
After finally contacting an attorney, I was able to get some information on Larry. I spoke to Mr. Powers from the Estelle Unit and he told me that
they thought Larry had renal cell carcinoma. From his research (on the internet, mind you), he did not believe that Larry had more than 3 - 8 months
to live. This was such devastating news to my family - especially when we knew that Larry had been complaining and crying out for help for so long
and when we were told (by doctors and nurses outside of the prison system) that if this cancer were caught early, it was very curable. God had provided
symptom after symptom so this cancer could have been caught early, but the uncaring people at the Texas Department of Corrections refused to "listen"
to these signs, and therefore, I blame them for my brother's death.
The next week when my sister Mariam and I went to visit Larry we asked him what the doctors have been telling him about his illness (at this time his
arm was in a sling because he no longer had enough bone in his shoulder to hold it. He was in extreme pain and still only getting Tylenol #3 for his
pain). He said that no one was telling him anything, except to say that he had cancer (but they still weren't sure it was cancer) and they thought they
could treat it. However, no one was treating him and he did not understand why. We decided that Larry needed to know the truth, so we told him what Mr.
Powers had told me about his diagnosis. He looked shocked. He then started crying, because he knew he would never get out of those prisons walls alive.
This was one of the hardest days of my life. Larry was not allowed contact visits that day, and I wanted to hug him and comfort him, but there was a
wall between us. It was devastating to watch him walk back to his cell to deal with this news alone. He then asked us to play this song at his funeral -
"Please Don't Judas Me". The words to this song are attached. I am sure there are many inmates in the prisons of Texas that can relate to this song.
The next week I called the medical unit at Estelle to find out why Larry was not getting any treatment for his cancer. As is always the case when you
call that department, I got the run-around. I was finally transferred to Denise Box who assured me that Larry was being taken care of, that he was doing
well and that his pain was being treated. She also told me that Larry had an appointment to see the doctors at John Sealy hospital for treatment of his
cancer.
The following weekend, Mariam and my brother, Louis, went to visit Larry. What they saw that day was horrendous, like something out of a horror movie.
Mariam told me that when Larry came out to the visiting area, he was barely able to walk. He tried to sit down, but could not. He said that he was having
extreme pain in his chest area. My sister told him that he had to sit down or they would not allow the visit. She said it took him about 5 minutes to
actually be able to sit down. She said that throughout their two hour visit, he moaned and cried from the pain he was in (this was only the third time
she had ever seen Larry cry. The first was at my Dad's funeral, the second was at the funeral of another brother who had been murdered). She said that
others in the visiting room kept looking at him with pity and concern. He told my sister if they were going to treat him like an animal, he wished they
would go ahead and just kill him to get him out of the pain he was in.
I was appalled and horrified when Mariam called me that night with this report: Larry told her that on Monday of that week, he was told to get his
belongings because he was going on the chain to John Sealy Hospital. When he reached down to pick up his typewriter, he got such a severe pain in his
chest area (we were told later it was due to his lung cancer) that it took his breath away. He said an EKG was done and he was told that nothing was
wrong with his heart and he was sent back to lock-up (he was not in lock-up due to anything he had done, but because, supposedly, there was not a bottom
bunk for him anywhere else). He was never sent to John Sealy that week. He again requested/begged for help/relief from his chest pain. Another EKG was
done. Larry said that the nurse on duty was upset that she had to work and was very rough with him. When he complained to her that she was hurting him,
she got even more perturbed. After she completed the EKG, she left the pads on his body. When he asked her if she was going to remove them, she told
him to keep them as a present and refused to remove them. What a dreadful person she must be! Larry said that the pain continued all week and when he
attempted to sit or lie down, the pain become so severe it was unbearable. So what he would do (all week, mind you) is stand up until he was so exhausted
that he had no choice but to lie down. He said when he finally got into a lying down position, it was a huge struggle to get back up (he had now lost all
use of his right arm). So, when the guards would come to give him his food or medicine, he would ask them if they could please bring these items to him
(because he could not get up fast enough for them). They refused to do this for him. When he could finally get up (which was extremely painful for him to
do), he would ask the guards if he could have his food or medication, and they would tell him that he should have gotten up when they came by the first
time - so he was not given his food or medication the entire week, if he happened to be lying down when the guards came by! This is unbelievable!!! If
the prisoners from Iraq had been treated this way, it would have made front page news. Shame on the employees of the Estelle Unit. Shame on their
supervisors for not doing anything about their actions. Shame on the Texas Department of Corrections for allowing this type of treatment to occur to the
inmates they are responsible for treating humanely!
When it was time for Larry to go back to his cell, he asked Mariam to beg the warden on duty (come to find out, there was no warden on duty that day -
which we were told is illegal) to not make him undress when he returned to his cell, because the pain was so horrific. Of course, this was not allowed.
Mariam decided she could not go home and leave Larry in that condition. She spoke to a sergeant on duty and told him of Larry's condition. The sergeant
told Mariam that he did not doubt that Larry was in pain, but that was not his problem - it was up to the medical department to help Larry. Not knowing
what else to do, Mariam decided to go to the sheriff's department down the road from the prison to see if they could get Larry some help. The officer on
duty told Mariam that they were always having to rescue inmates that needed medical treatment at the Estelle Unit. He called their medical department and
told them that they needed to make sure Larry was being treated. He then told Mariam that the medical staff at the Estelle Unit would give Larry some
type of treatment now because they knew [this officer] had to do a report and this report would go to their supervisors. Mariam called the medical
department later that night to check on Larry, but everyone refused to give her any information about him. Mariam was told that they did not have to give
out that information to an inmate's family. However, as stated above, Larry had given written permission allowing Mariam to receive medical information
about him.
Monday morning, I called the medical department to see what was being done for Larry. I spoke to Mr. Powers, who told me that Larry just happened to be
there right then - that he was complaining of severe chest pains. He denied that Larry was in the condition that Mariam described to me on Saturday. He
said that they were treating Larry. I called my attorney to tell him what was going on. He called Mr. Powers and was told that Larry was being sent to
John Sealy hospital because there was nothing else they could do for him there. He also told my attorney that a reporter and someone from a senator's
office had called about Larry's condition (we had written letters to them regarding Larry's lack of medical treatment for his shoulder pain). I feel that
this is the only reason Larry was finally sent to John Sealy hospital. I believe in my heart that the employees at the Estelle Unit would have left Larry
to die (in severe pain) in lock-up, as many other inmates have done in the past, if we had not contacted people outside the prison system. Mr. Powers
told me later that afternoon that many inmates pretend to be in pain just to get attention, trying to convince me this was the case with Larry. He had
the audacity to say this even though he was fully aware that Larry's body was full of cancer and that his shoulder was no longer connected to his arm
bone. How awful that this man is being paid to treat the inmates' medical conditions at the Estelle Unit. How very sad...
When we went to visit Larry at John Sealy hospital, [as my sister from Colorado said] the look on his face resembled the face of someone who had been in a
Nazi camp. It was a look of someone who had been terrorized for a long time. Two of Larry's doctors came to talk to us and told us their
diagnosis/prognosis. They confirmed that Larry had renal cell carcinoma and that it probably started in his kidneys (which I believe the x-rays were
showing almost a year earlier), spread to his lungs and then his bones. She stated that they could remove his kidney, but that would only "buy" Larry a
couple more months of life. If he did want the kidney surgery, he would have to go back to the Estelle Unit to recuperate. Larry started crying and said
that he could not bear the thought of going back there [because of their cruelty]. He decided that he would rather be sent to hospice then have to go
back to that hellhole. Therefore, he was moved to the Michael Unit Hospice on August 13th, 2004.
According to a report done by Samantha McClanahan, an employee with the Offender Family Hotline, whose job it is to review medical neglect complaints by
family members of inmates, Larryıs medical condition/complaints were completely ignored. She sent this report to the University of Texas Medical Branch in
Galveston (whose responsibility it is to take care of the medical needs of Texas' inmates). I was told that I could not get a copy of this report because
I had contacted this department by phone - so they only had to answer me "by phone". Again, more secrets...
It got to the point where Larry could not feed himself or get something to drink by himself. The employees at the hospice would bring him his food and
water and just leave these items by his bed. If he ate or drank - fine, if he didn't, that was fine with them, too. The only time he was able to eat or
drink anything, was when my sister and I were visiting and we could help him. However, we could not visit before 10 a.m. and we had to leave by 5:00 p.m.
To add more cruelty to everything Larry had already suffered at the hands of the employees of the Texas Department of Corrections, Larry was not allowed
to go home to die in peace with his family. Even after an "early parole" board employee came to the hospice, saw how thin Larry was (he had lost more than
60 lbs. by this time) saw that Larry had a catheter (it took too much out of him to walk to the toilet every time he had to urinate), saw that Larry had
lost all use of both of his arms due to his cancer, the parole board refused to review Larry's case so that Larry could be released from prison and die
somewhere else other than in those prison walls. I would like to know why they have so much power - the power to refuse to allow someone to spend their
last days with their family. Mostly, I would like to know how these men and women sleep at night...
I tried for over three weeks to get a priest in to see Larry to receive the sacraments of the Catholic Church for the dying - first, at the prison in Estelle,
then at the prison hospital in Galveston, and then at the hospice. However, as was the case when trying to get any help from someone employed at TDC, no one
would help get this accomplished. But, by God's good grace, Larry did receive these sacraments. One Tuesday while I was going to visit Larry in the hospice,
I asked the person taking me to Larry's room, if a priest was there at the prison (I had been told he came there on Tuesdays). I was told that he was there,
having Mass. Well, lo and behold, this priest walked right past us. Larry was able to receive the sacraments after all. Finally some light in all this darkness...
Before his death, it came to a point where Larry could no longer swallow or talk. This was very difficult to watch, because he wanted to talk to us so
desperately and he would try his best to relay some message to us. Sometimes, we could understand him, but at other times we couldn't. This would leave all
of us frustrated and sad. Three days before my brother passed away, he was forced - by the Texas Department of Correction's employees in Palestine - to take
a shower, which meant he was pulled out of his bed, put in a wheelchair and wheeled to the shower area - to be sprayed down with soap and water (this occurred
every two days. He was told if he refused to take a shower, he would be locked in his room). This was an extremely painful, humiliating, needless thing to do
to him (we found out later that Larry and his family could have requested a bed bath - but no one told us of this fact until Monday, when we asked why he could
not be bathed in a different manner).
After watching Larry suffer through this shower ordeal (seeing him sitting up in the wheelchair, unable to talk or move on his own, with drool running down
his face), I felt the urge to recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy prayers by his bedside, as he was sleeping. I asked Our Lord to please show His divine mercy
by ending Larry's suffering. I prayed that He would allow Larry to peacefully pass away, soon. Of course, I cried during the entire prayer, knowing I would miss
Larry terribly if my prayer were answered, but at the same time, realizing how overjoyed and relieved I would be once Larry's life was no longer being controlled
by these cruel and uncaring prison officials and he was no longer suffering - and he was in Heaven, at last. Jesus answered my prayer and my dearly beloved brother
died the next day, which was September 22, 2004. He died early in the morning, before visiting hours, so he died without his family by his side. I do believe in my
heart, though, that Jesus was there to take Larry with Him to heaven - away from that horrible, horrible place that had been his home for the last six years of his
life...
During my brother's illness, the people that showed him the most kindness, the most compassion were other prisoners. For ex., Larry needed a pillow for his shoulder
that had become detached from his arm - and it should have been authorized by the medical staff. Of course, this never occurred. Therefore, out of compassion, a
fellow inmate gave Larry his pillow. When Larry was in the hospice, a fellow dying prisoner (a convicted murderer, in fact), gave Larry his fan and also allowed Larry
to borrow his slippers so that Larry could go for a walk outside. Larry lost his prisoner I.D. when he was transferred from the hospital to the hospice. Therefore,
he was not allowed to purchase anything with his commissary funds. One day, Larry wanted to buy an ice cream, but he was told that he could not use his commissary
funds until they gave him another prisoner I.D. (which could take 6 weeks). Mariam and I were also not allowed to purchase this ice cream for him. Therefore, another
prisoner (who has since passed away) used his commissary monies to buy an ice cream for Larry (several times). Another inmate would help Larry cover himself with
blankets when he got cold during the night and at times when we were not allowed in the hospice - something the nurses were never around to do. All of these prisoners
could have gotten into a lot of trouble for these acts of kindness; however, it was worth the risk just to help another one of their fellow prisoners who was suffering
and dying. I never saw any compassion of this kind from the employees at TDC. Yet, everyone at TDC considers these inmates as the ones who are less than human.
During this terrible ordeal, my sister and I met many families whose loved ones were dying in prison due to medical neglect. As was the case with Larry, most of their
loved oneıs deaths could have been prevented had someone cared and taken their complaints seriously, months earlier. Listed below are some brief facts of other horror
stories we were made aware of during the months we visited my brother during his illness:
While waiting in the waiting area of John Sealy Hospital to visit Larry:
(1). On August 7th, 2004, two guards came in saying they had brought a woman inmate from Gatesville with a broken leg to be treated. Because the employees at John
Sealy Hospital did not have the paperwork for her, they told the two guards they had to take her back to Gatesville until they received the paperwork. These guards
begged and pleaded with the employees at the hospital to leave the inmate there (they said she had moaned and screamed out in pain the entire 5 hours to the hospital).
Finally, after about 30 minutes, the hospital employees agreed she could be admitted, after a doctor agreed to sign the needed paperwork. I would like to know how her
leg became broken, in the first place.
(2). August 8th, 2004, a woman was there to see her son who was on life support. She said his pneumonia was not taken care of while he was at the Estelle Unit (the
same unit my brother was in, by the way). She did not know if he was going to survive.
(3). August 11th, 2004, a woman's daughter had been complaining over and over again about not feeling well. She was ignored until she collapsed. She was in the
hospital due to kidney failure.
(4). August 11th, 2004, eight family members were called to the hospital to be given the sad news that their loved one was not going to make it. We were told that he
had been complaining for awhile about not feeling well. He was told that he was just lazy and trying to get out of work. The family was too distraught to discuss the
details of his illness.
While visiting Larry at the hospice:
(1). September 1, 2004, two sisters were there visiting their brother, who was dying of cirrhosis of the liver. Same old story - He died several days after my brother's
death.
(2). September 1, 2004, a woman was there visiting her dying husband. He was in prison due to DWI, and was scheduled to be released in April of 2005. He had been
complaining for a long time that he was not feeling well. His complaints were ignored. He complained to his wife that he was so ill that he could not stand up, but
they were forcing him to work anyway. He was finally sent to John Sealy Hospital and his wife was overjoyed that he was finally going to get treatment. However, this
joy was short-lived. She found out several days later that his body was full of cancer and that he was not expected to live much longer. He passed away a week or so
later. This inmate was only 42 years old. Did he deserve this death sentence? Did any of these inmates deserve their death sentences? Do any of the inmates that will
be dying in the future of medical neglect by the staff at TDC deserve death sentences, when they were not given a death sentence by a judge or jury for their crimes?
After reading the words I have written above, wouldn't you agree that something needs to be done about the Texas Department of Correction's medical system? These
unjust and unnecessary deaths did not just affect the inmates who died. These deaths affected their loved ones, as well. My family suffered along with my brother and
we will be suffering the loss of his life for a very long time to come. This kind of hurt is not something we will get over easily - we have flashbacks of his
suffering on a daily basis. Just imagine that any of these individuals just happened to be someone you loved as much as we loved these individuals. Better yet, imagine
that you were the one who were losing your life due to medical neglect. How would you be feeling? How would your loved ones be feeling? How would you want to be treated
if you were in prison and feeling ill? (Don't think this couldn't happen to you - I know my brother never planned to spend time in prison, but he did). Just imagine
that, if you would...now, answer this question. Would you want the prison medical system to be as it is now, if this were you?
Lisa Duplechain
Albuquerque, New Mexico
· from a U.S. prisoner | U.S. Penitentiary
· from a prisoner's family | Albany, NY
· from a prisoner's family | England, UK
|
