Not an Emergency? Not at ESP
Posted By MTWT - Chris on June 28, 2009 
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This came to us by email from the family of an inmate at ESP. The inmate takes medication for high blood pressure and two forms of nitro-glycerin for chest pain. The high blood pressure and chest pain started after being denied treatment for excruciating pain associated with degenerative disc disease. These are not medications that should be started and stopped because someone did not do their job correctly.
This inmate made three requests for his heart medication. He wrote: This is my third (3rd) kite to medical requesting that you refill my medications. I’m now completely out of high blood pressure medication and nitro-glycerin for my heart. Why does this happen every month when I request refills?
Response from the Supervisor: NOT AN EMERGENCY. MEDICAL HAS BEEN NOTIFIED AND IS AWARE OF YOUR CONDITIONS.
MTWT would like to know why, if Medical is aware of his “conditions”, are they not treating him in a timely manner for conditions that can cause death? Even with a big class action lawsuit hanging over their heads, the medical staff at ESP continues to show deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.
This angers me! How could being without your heart medication not be an emergency? Let me see them allow their doctors let their medications run out and not refill it for days after it’s gone. These inmates can’t just switch doctors and rely on the ones the state provides for them.
What the medical staff needs to understand is that working inside of a prison doesn’t give them the right to harm others because you can get away with it. The medical care in Nevada prisons is the most inhumane I have ever come across. I have never seen a bunch of medical professionals act like they are God over these inmates. There is no way they could get away with this kind of practice in a public hospital, that is why the work inside the prison system, they can’t work outside with the general public, we can fight back.
If something happens to this inmate, I hope the state has to take care of his family for the rest of their lives. People wonder why their taxes are so high, this is great example.
Gracie
Some people think that they must continue to punish an inmate if they feel the crime is a horrific one. Doesn’t that make your act just as horrific? Our “justice” system has convicted and sentenced these inmates. They have been given their punishment. You can complain that you don’t like your tax dollars keeping inmates alive, but it isn’t your place to see that it happens. If you don’t like the system then go through the PROPER channels to try to change it. We probably all imagine justice for certain crimes; however, imagining and handing out that justice are two different things. The decision of whether to act on that thought or not distinguishes us from animals. I don’t want to stand in front of my maker and have to explain why I felt I had the right to punish someone after they were serving their sentence. I don’t believe he will buy it!