Medication Error

I received a phone call asking me to write this blog. A mom called to tell me about this inmate who received the wrong heart medication. The inmate is now permanently in a wheelchair. The inmate had to have a pacemaker and the pacemaker is not working correctly. The doctors are going to try stents in the heart along with the pacemaker to see if that will make the pacemaker work correctly. However, that will not correct the fact that the inmate will never get out of the wheelchair.

Medical Staff

When inmates ask to go to medical there is a waiting period. And when they go they are seen by LPN’s RN;s Nurse Practitioners, and Providers. Doctors are usually not there. Usually they give you Ibuprofine and water and send you back to your cell. To see a doctor  or get antibiotics you have to go back several times.  When you go to medical you have to pay $ 4.00 to – $20.00 depending on the prison and the state that the inmate is in. Funny I thought medical is supposed to be free considering that the Government adds medical into the amount when adding how much a day to charge to house the inmate per day. To get any test done you have to have major health issues.

EKG’s

Ekg’s being done and inmates being told they have heart mummers but ekg’s only read electrical waves. Heart mummers are not electrical. So, inmates are getting wrong information about their heart and they may have heart problems but may not diagnosed correctly.

What needs to change:

Medical training is needed. Medication training is very much needed. Knowing what can happen when given the wrong medications, allergic reactions and signs and symptoms can make a huge impact on treatment. This kind of  training would prevent another incident like this one from another inmate from becoming permanently paralyzed.

My heart goes out to this inmate and his family.

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