HIV, HEPATITIS C, and Tuberculosis
FDOC Celeste Kemp, Inmate Grievances ; FDOC Fred Schuknecht, Inspector General of DOC ; FDOC Public Affairs
January 2000
NUMBER SIX
SPECIAL REPORT - PRISONS
In the Big House
Major media coverage of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National HIV Prevention Conference last August put the spotlight again on the grim reality of HIV in American prisons. The latest Bureau of Justice statistics reveal that nearly 7 million people are incarcerated in the United States.
[sic: 7 million in the criminal justice system, 2 million currently behind bars. kl]
The HIV rate in prisons and jails is eight to 10 times greater than in the outside population:
AIDS accounts for almost one-third of all prison deaths.In 1997 it was estimated that 19 percent of people with HIV in the United States have spent some time in prison. African-American women, incarcerated faster than any other group, also have the highest HIV infection rate among women, both in and out of prison. Women make up a greater percentage of the HIV-positive prison population than men do, an overlooked issue. Yet prisons continue to be built at an alarming rate, although not fast enough to alleviate the miserable conditions of prison overcrowding. In California all federal prisons operate at more than 200 percent capacity. Most alarmingly, comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs exist in only 10 percent of state and federal prisons and 5 percent of jails. Nineteen years into the epidemic and still only two state prison systems -- in Vermont and Mississippi -- and four jails -- in New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.-provide condoms. As a rule, prisons forbid sexual activity, and no additional systems have made condoms available since the early '90s. Latex dental dams, meanwhile, are not available to women. Bleach, used to disinfect syringes, is strictly forbidden in a majority of prisons, and prisoners who use it are severely punished. Those caught with even clean syringes often face criminal charges in the courts.
HIV is not the only epidemic: hepatitis C has replaced HIV as the fastest spreading disease behind the walls. The latest statistics show that
nearly one-third of all people infected with hepatitis C in this country have passed through the correctional system. National estimates of hepatitis C in prison are 17 to 19 percent, but surveys of individual systems show up to 40 percent infection rates.
Yet little is being done to treat or to educate prisoners about Hepatitis C.When it comes to HIV treatment, the picture is equally bleak. Most prison systems say that they make triple-combination therapy available to prisoners with HIV. But a national survey of jails and prisons conducted by Ted Hammett, Ph.D., of Abt Associates Inc., a Cambridge-based research firm, shows that a combination of factors, including high medication costs, denial and fear of HIV by inmates, mistrust, uneven clinical competence, and lack of uniform treatment standards may limit the availability of appropriate HIV treatment regimens. Across the country, prisons take various approaches to address the HIV crisis within their walls.
In the following pages, we've looked at a model program, the pros and cons of segregation, the trend toward privatization of prison health care, and the state of HIV prison activism. We've also profiled four advocates on the inside and outside who are role models pushing for better care and support for the thousands of people with HIV who remain behind bars.-The EDITORS Prison Project Coordinator: Rachel Maddow Consultant: Judy Greenspan
January 2000
Copyright © 1999 2000 HIV Plus
All rights reserved.
Last modified 11/24/1999. HIV PLUS
For More Information
Contact any of the following organizations for more on hepatitis C, its treatment, support groups, and Internet mailing lists.
American Liver Foundation
1425 Pomptom Ave.
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
1-800-GO LIVER (1-800-465-4837)
Hepatitis C Research Foundation
1502 Russett Drive
Warminster, PA 18974
215-672-2606
Hepatitis Foundation International
30 Sunrise Terrace
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009-1423
1-800-891-0707
www.hepfi.org
National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse
2 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3570
301-654-3810
In addition, two helpful publications are available on-line from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or by calling CDC at (404) 332-4555:
Hepatitis C Fact Sheet--www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/c/fact.htm
Hepatitis C Questions and Answers--www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/c/faq.htm
As you see, I researched this subject and sent out a large mass email alert!
Thanks for sending this out. If you did not do this for this person, we would not know. Sure we do advocate work, but if someone shares information with us and we research, we become more knowledgeable. I did. Thanks for helping me to become educated. I love to research. Especially if it is an area of interest.
So I found, also, that there is an epidemic and no one is doing a thing about it!
Like I sent it out to ALL MY PRISON Contacts, and I have MANY! So you and the prisoners should hear from people. Tell your two folks that they should get some mail (: Tell them "Hello" for me. They have my support. Have them keep you updated and I will get their information out for them. Across the NATION! I will drop them a card in the mail.
Have a GOOD DAY.
Marlene Davis
OH, MY GOD!
This is terrible, Kay Lee. May I use part or all of this info on my site at http://www.bellaonline.com/family/family/addiction_and_children?It's not my topic, but with more & more of our kids being arrested & incarcerated for drugs, this could affect us all. 60% of the 2 million? My God, that's 1.2 million people! That is an epidemic that can harm all of us. What in the hell is the prison system going to do?
Now, for a problem close to my home. I am in contact with a Mom whose son is in jail in Portland, Ore. He is drug addicted as well as bi-polar. She fears he is getting drugs in jail (like, yeah)! he has stopped taking his medications, he is defiant & angry as can be. I have been down this road with my son, before his death. This woman is frantic, she is afraid she will also lose her son. I am not familiar with Oregon's laws, she lives here in Washington State & needs someone to help her thru the red tape. I can only lend support & understanding, & try to find her some help.
Susan H
When my brother was dying of hepatitis C the doctors and nurses were frantic to try to get my sister and I not to even touch him with bare hands. His doctor said that hepatitis is even more easily transmitted than AIDS because you can get it from exposure to ANY body fluid.
Also, people can have hepatitis for up to 10 years without knowing it, during which time they can spread it. That means that unless those in prisons are diagnosed and TOLD they have it while they're in, they can transmit it to their visitors via kisses, and their visitors can carry it into the community. In AR they don't let prisoners know when they're found to have hepatitis or AIDS because that saves them years of treating them, and by the time they realize they have it, it's usually too late to save their lives. With what is KNOWN about what some kitchen prisoners do to the food, one person with hepatitis in the kitchen could infect the entire population.
Plus, sick prisoners who don't know they're sick don't know to safeguard their loved ones and those with whom they come into contact when they're released. With what is KNOWN about what some kitchen prisoners do to the food, one person with hepatitis in the kitchen could infect the entire population. Have you seen my Blood Cows site? The AR prison where my brother was incarcerated ran a plasma program through which they KNOWINGLY AND DELIBERATELY harvested plasma from prisoners they KNEW had AIDS and hepatitis and sold it to pharmaceutical companies called fractionators which made it into medicines from which MILLIONS of people worldwide are dead and dying. PLUS, the secondary infections will continue to the end of time unless science finds vaccines or cures for these diseases. They have actually killed people whose grandparents and great-grandparents aren't even born yet.
This is the issue that got me into prison reform, and is the true passion of my life. I LIVE to see the ADC Director and Medical Administrator brought to justice for this atrocity, as they were the ones who were RNs in the Infirmary at the time they ran the plasma program - which is THE REASON they hold their powerful jobs today. PLEASE check out that site, Kay and see how people die from this disease the DOCs so blithely spread through the prisons by having people infected with hepatitis working in their kitchens. And I guess it happens everywhere, because I know it does in AR. I STRONGLY suspect that the prisons spread it intentionally. As I told the Chairman of the Arkansas Parole Board, I think AR has adopted it as their "final solution" to prison overcrowding. At the very least, they don't do NEARLY ENOUGH to control it!
In Solidarity,
Linda Tant Miller
prup@justice.com
PRISON REFORM UNIT DAY
IS JULY 14, 2001
PRUP
Dear Grandma Kay;
I don't know if you remember me from the Action Class for Cannabis Therapeutics, or the Walk and Roll for Therapeutic Cannabis, but I sure remember you. Your inspiration has caused me to become more involved in examining the prison issues surrounding our POdW's here in Delaware.
Recently, I have been contacted by a few inmates in the Delaware prison population with tales as horrifying as those coming out of Florida (not that this is surprising). The inmates tell me of HVC being rampant, unsanitary, overcrowded conditions, and guard and inmate brutality that goes unchecked.
These are brave men, who certainly deserve attention to the terrible conditions, but I fear (though they say it is so bad someone has to say something) that they will be further tortured and beaten. One thing they report is that the "extraction unit" will, for the slightest infraction (if one has been singled out) will enter the inmate's cell, and use a stun shield to beat and shock them to the ground. They push the shield in their face, against their nose, and three or four guards will get on the shield and jump up and down. Then, they hog tie the inmate face down and the commander will give a command to "Extract Inmate". But just as they stand fully upright, picking the inmate two - three feet off the ground, the commander orders, "Release Inmate", and they drop them on the ground. They do this three or four times before they actually remove the inmate from t he cell, and may do it several more times before they get to "discipline" (solitary), where, still hog tied, the literally throw the inmate into the cell. He may remain hog tied for several hours, and one inmate was left that way for nearly a day and a half. They have also been known to re-enter the solitary cell, and do the pick up and release routine several more times before they finally remove the plastic handcuffs.
Inmates are not being feed properly. They do not get nutritious foods, and not enough of that. There are inmates working in food services that have HVC and AIDS, as well as TB. Inmates in solitary frequently are forced to go for days without food, and then are told they must be hallucinating from being locked in a cell with no windows. Infected, contagious prisoners get no treatment. None. Injured or otherwise ill inmates get little, if any medical treatment. They put mentally ill patients in general patients, and deny them proper medication. The most frequent ploy being used is that they don't accept previous diagnosis, but have their own doctor re-diagnose the inmate/patient. Of course, the "illness" they find (if they find one) is usually not what other doctors have found. So inmate/patients frequently do not get the correct medications (if any). Psychotic patients get re-diagnosed as being "just stressed out" and their lithium, trazidone, depacote prescriptions changed to mere valium, or something similar. This, of course, does nothing for their illness, and many of them end up attacking other inmates or guards, which brings us full circle to the "Extraction Team" process.
I know none of this will surprise you, I am not surprised. I am horrified, as I am certain you are. But, (now I get to the core) where do I go from here? Should I encourage more inmates to write to me? Should I proceed immediately? What should I do first, contact prison officials and politicians, or go straight to the press?
Any advice would be deeply respected and appreciated. I am quite new at dealing with this part of the terror of the war on liberty. I want and need to do something, but I don't want the men and women in the prisons to suffer yet more because of me.
Hempman
Richard J. Schimelfenig
rschimelfenig@earthlink.net
Dear Mr. Moore, [copy to Gov. Jeb Bush]
I am an American Zen Buddhist priest and the Executive Director of The Engaged Zen Foundation, a Buddhist Human Rights and Prisoner Advocacy Organization.
Lately I have been receiving reports of dangerous overcrowding in Florida prisons and the spread of Hepatitis C through kitchen services staff. I am concerned about the health consequences of these issues and I would like some information from your office.
How are incoming prisoners screened for Hepatitis? How often is testing done? What steps are being taken to insure that food preparation workers are disease free? What treatment is being provided for prisoners who are diagnosed with Hepatitis C? How is the department of health involved in Hepatitis C outbreaks in the Florida prisons?
I would also appreciate receiving information on the population levels in all of the Florida facilities over the past eighteen months.
In dynamic peace,
Ven. Kobutsu Malone, zenji
kobutsu@engaged-zen.org
Dear Kay - This was a chilling story! What do you suggest we try to do? How about the news media? Where is Jasper, anyway?
Cathy Stanton
TO: Dixie Parker
Greetings,
I'm writing in regards to the deplorable acts of spreading a deadly disease within your prison population.
This is potentially a situation that will soon be out of control. What steps is your Office taking to ensure the safety of the inmates there? Or, halting the probability of spreading the virus beyond the prison walls..?
I urge you to look past the lies the Prisons would have you believe. Protect the prisoners and the Public from Hepatitis C..!
Thank you!
TO: Michael Moore
I do not believe that the situation in your prisons there, was brought to the attention of the American people, before it was brought to yours.
What are you doing about remedying the problem? You are accountable to the citizens of Florida, and responsible for the MANY inmates in your charge. Are you being responsible, Sir? Are you doing all you can to keep them alive & healthy? I hope so. There are many people across America watching to see if YOUR job is being done right.
Governor Bush,
There are MANY people aware of the situation concerning this deadly disease being spread, purposely perhaps, in at least two prison complexes there. And, many people watching to see what, if anything, you do to stop this insidious tactic.
Are they not dying fast enough or you? What kind of man are you, to look the other way when you have the power to change this situation? I'll tell you. The kind that does not belong in a power position in America, where we still make the pretense of being a free country.
With your brother, George, now our President, you need to understand that your actions reflect on him. Since he must make the pretense of being 'respectable and 'compassionate', so must you.Do it for him. Do it to salvage your image. I'm not concerned with your motivations, only with your actions to save lives within your Correction system. I doubt that every inmate in these facilities were given the death sentence. So, it's YOUR responsibility to see that they stay alive. The buck stops with you.
The eyes of America are on you, Mr. Bush. And, we're impatiently waiting to see if you will act on this, in a timely fashion. Let's see what you're made of...
Regards,
Cher Ford-McCullough
o.k. I'm in - how do we get started on this one ?? Show me the way and I will follow. We must help them all - I might not have as much time since I am out of the house 11-12 hours a day - but even 1/2 hour at night I could do something.
thanks --
Bernice Hickey
In Joeys letter (I believe I sent you a copy), Joey states he believes he has been infected with Hep C by injection.
Ms. King, Mom of Joey Hipp, Prisoner at Polk CI diagnosed with Hepatitis C.
Can you contact the Department of Health in Florida? Have you gone to the news media with this?
Dianne Malloy
Venceremos Sister Kay!
I must be out of the loop. Where is your prison-related site at on the Internet? I am going to forward this to about my favorite one THE PRISON ACTIVIST RESOURCE CENTER.
Venceremos!
Peter S. Lopez
Humane Liberation Party
PrisonSucks.com Research Library
Contact Kay Lee
2613 Larry Court
Eau Gallie, Florida 32935
510-528-4603
