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Fascinating Topic: Prisoners Entitled to CPAP While Incarcerated?
Came across this sad story, and it raised the question for me of what rights prisoners have to CPAP in their cells:
Earlier this month, the biker called Tombstone Charlie told a judge he wouldn't last in jail without his medications and a breathing mask he wore when he slept.
Charles H. Nichols Jr. of Roanoke, as Tombstone Charlie was more officially known, was one of three men from the Roanoke and New River valleys charged in a multistate federal crackdown on the Pagans motorcycle gang. Federal authorities said Tuesday that he got his half dozen or so medicines and his mask. He was screened by the medical staffs of two jails.
But on Saturday, less than two weeks after Nichols' initial appearance in federal court in Roanoke, the 6-foot-2-inch, 400-pound 57-year-old was found dead in a cell at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., sparking rumors that something improper had happened. On the Web site of The Charleston Gazette, which reported his death, readers posted comments attributing his death to poor care or worse.
In Roanoke, his brother, Robert Nichols, said he had heard that Charles Nichols had not been able to use the air mask he wore to combat sleep apnea.
An investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service ruled out foul play.
"His medical issues caught up with him," said Brad Sellers, acting chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Steve Blando, a spokesman for the marshals service, wrote in an e-mail that an autopsy determined Nichols died from a heart attack. His air mask was in his cell when he died, Blando wrote.
Robert Nichols was glad Tuesday to hear the mask was with his brother. But he wondered if it had been working properly -- its apparatus needed regular adjustment, he said.
He agreed that his brother's health was poor, though, saying he had suffered from diabetes, had blood pressure problems and may have had heart disease.
Nichols' son, Luke Nichols, who lives in Salem, also said he wondered what had happened to his father. Charles Nichols had been too ill to ride a motorcycle for years, Luke Nichols said, but had kept a job driving a dump truck for Adams Construction Co.
As for Charles Nichols' nickname, that came from the work he had done in the family's former cemetery marker business, Robert and Luke Nichols said. Granite Memorials Inc. was started by their grandfather in the 1930s, Robert Nichols said. Charles Nichols worked there until 1994, when he was injured in a motorcycle accident, he said.
Nichols, along with Richard Howard "Reverse" Smith of Roanoke and James Vernon "Timex" Hoback of Pilot, were accused of transporting 5 pounds of C-4 explosive from one Pagans group to another, with the knowledge that it would be used in an attempt to hurt someone.
They were among 55 people charged in a federal indictment that accused the Pagans of trying to run off rival gangs via attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery and more. The case is being prosecuted in Charleston, and defendants arrested in other federal districts have been taken there to stand trial.
Nichols also had been convicted in 2002 after a much-publicized brawl among the Pagans, Hells Angels and other motorcycle gangs on Long Island, N.Y. He was found guilty of a federal assault charge and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
But Luke Nichols said there was much more to his father. "He had a heart as big as Mill Mountain," he said.
found at: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/223250
Earlier this month, the biker called Tombstone Charlie told a judge he wouldn't last in jail without his medications and a breathing mask he wore when he slept.
Charles H. Nichols Jr. of Roanoke, as Tombstone Charlie was more officially known, was one of three men from the Roanoke and New River valleys charged in a multistate federal crackdown on the Pagans motorcycle gang. Federal authorities said Tuesday that he got his half dozen or so medicines and his mask. He was screened by the medical staffs of two jails.
But on Saturday, less than two weeks after Nichols' initial appearance in federal court in Roanoke, the 6-foot-2-inch, 400-pound 57-year-old was found dead in a cell at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., sparking rumors that something improper had happened. On the Web site of The Charleston Gazette, which reported his death, readers posted comments attributing his death to poor care or worse.
In Roanoke, his brother, Robert Nichols, said he had heard that Charles Nichols had not been able to use the air mask he wore to combat sleep apnea.
An investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service ruled out foul play.
"His medical issues caught up with him," said Brad Sellers, acting chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Steve Blando, a spokesman for the marshals service, wrote in an e-mail that an autopsy determined Nichols died from a heart attack. His air mask was in his cell when he died, Blando wrote.
Robert Nichols was glad Tuesday to hear the mask was with his brother. But he wondered if it had been working properly -- its apparatus needed regular adjustment, he said.
He agreed that his brother's health was poor, though, saying he had suffered from diabetes, had blood pressure problems and may have had heart disease.
Nichols' son, Luke Nichols, who lives in Salem, also said he wondered what had happened to his father. Charles Nichols had been too ill to ride a motorcycle for years, Luke Nichols said, but had kept a job driving a dump truck for Adams Construction Co.
As for Charles Nichols' nickname, that came from the work he had done in the family's former cemetery marker business, Robert and Luke Nichols said. Granite Memorials Inc. was started by their grandfather in the 1930s, Robert Nichols said. Charles Nichols worked there until 1994, when he was injured in a motorcycle accident, he said.
Nichols, along with Richard Howard "Reverse" Smith of Roanoke and James Vernon "Timex" Hoback of Pilot, were accused of transporting 5 pounds of C-4 explosive from one Pagans group to another, with the knowledge that it would be used in an attempt to hurt someone.
They were among 55 people charged in a federal indictment that accused the Pagans of trying to run off rival gangs via attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery and more. The case is being prosecuted in Charleston, and defendants arrested in other federal districts have been taken there to stand trial.
Nichols also had been convicted in 2002 after a much-publicized brawl among the Pagans, Hells Angels and other motorcycle gangs on Long Island, N.Y. He was found guilty of a federal assault charge and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
But Luke Nichols said there was much more to his father. "He had a heart as big as Mill Mountain," he said.
found at: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/223250
Views: 3770
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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If they already have one I think they should be able to use it. I do not believe that the taxpayers should have to pay for one. I have actually done state funded studies though.
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Permalink Reply by Duane McDade on
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Them Prison folk could take the parts from that there Machine and make a bomb or something! I read about it in the Readers Di_Jest.
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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on
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LOL!!
McCord
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Permalink Reply by Sandra Ford on
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Would that be legal? It woud be withholding treatment.
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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would it be ok if the prison gave him the machine, but didn't ever check whether it were working / make re-adjustments as necessary? essentially, the same situation we civilians are in with our DMEs and doctors?
Sandra Ford said:Would that be legal? It woud be withholding treatment.
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I wonder about that too, Sandra. I know, in general, that patients incarcerated in Indiana can't be denied medication--I'm NOT as clear about "treatments" but institutions, for the most part, don't like having people die on their watch. I'd think something like apnea, which CAN be treated, would fall under the medication sub-title.
Duane's point re: making weapons out of machines, even though tongue-in-cheek, is well-taken. That stuff's rampant in prisons.....thorny issue....hadn't thought about it before.......
I s'pose they could have an apnea patient sleep in the infirmary where they're supervised, and then go back to general population during the day.......makes 'ya think, doesn't it?...........
Susan McCord
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More taxpayers money going out the window, because they would have to followup with them. But I don't see how they could get away with not treating them, because it would give their families more reasons to sue if that person died.
Mike said:would it be ok if the prison gave him the machine, but didn't ever check whether it were working / make re-adjustments as necessary? essentially, the same situation we civilians are in with our DMEs and doctors?
Sandra Ford said:Would that be legal? It woud be withholding treatment.
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They have access to medical care 24/7--if they're in trouble, they go to the infirmary or else get shipped out to a county ER that has a Detention unit for prisoners, at least around here.
Seems like there would be some protocol for checking CPAP but considering how much trouble people on the outside have with maintenance, I doubt it would be much of a priority with incarcerated patients. Don't know for sure exactly how that would get done.....I can't see prison staff transporting prisoners to a DME office, but I s'pose a DME could come in. Seems like more than most prisons would take the trouble to do, but who knows???
McCord
McCord
Mike said:would it be ok if the prison gave him the machine, but didn't ever check whether it were working / make re-adjustments as necessary? essentially, the same situation we civilians are in with our DMEs and doctors?
Sandra Ford said:Would that be legal? It woud be withholding treatment.
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Mike, I just did a mini-research on this topic. Any incarcerated person has a constitutional right to medical care and/or treatment. HOWEVER, Medicaid, Medicare, and VA do NOT pay for said care, even if the prisoner already has those benefits. All those benefits are removed while they're incarcerated--if and when they get out, they have to re-apply, at least for Medicaid.
All of which means the cost falls to the individual county/state/Federal agency to pay. Therein, probably, lies the rub......taxpayer $$ and jail/prison budgets coming into BIG play here. It's probably a crap shoot = how much can they get away with without getting sued?
Sucks to be a convict--I don't recommend it!!
McCord
susan mccord said:They have access to medical care 24/7--if they're in trouble, they go to the infirmary or else get shipped out to a county ER that has a Detention unit for prisoners, at least around here.
Seems like there would be some protocol for checking CPAP but considering how much trouble people on the outside have with maintenance, I doubt it would be much of a priority with incarcerated patients. Don't know for sure exactly how that would get done.....I can't see prison staff transporting prisoners to a DME office, but I s'pose a DME could come in. Seems like more than most prisons would take the trouble to do, but who knows???
McCord
McCord
Mike said:would it be ok if the prison gave him the machine, but didn't ever check whether it were working / make re-adjustments as necessary? essentially, the same situation we civilians are in with our DMEs and doctors?
Sandra Ford said:Would that be legal? It woud be withholding treatment.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on
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Incarcerated individuals have, as a result of the liberal judicial, one of the best health & dental care benefit packages available. And it is FREE of charge to them.
24/7 access to medical professionals and no restrictions to prescribed medication, or procedures, all at the taxpayer’s expense. By law they can’t be denied any procedure deemed necessary by medical standards. *PAP is included in that list.
They don’t have to worry about forgetting to take their medications as the facility staff dispenses the meds as prescribed.
If during an exam, an incarcerated individual is determined to need a sleep study, he will get it or his lawyer has ground for a civil litigation, which will result in a major award to all the penal system’s inmates.
I have even seen cases, in which a convicted killer, on death row, has been given heart bypass procedures just to execute him within 2 years post.
And yes folks, we pay for this stupidity. We pay full price, un-negotiated, for these procedures. If these individuals were on Medicare, Medicaid, or VA benefits, they will not pay because these benefits are not available for incarcerated persons. The VA hospital system will not even accept, into their detoxification system, an intoxicated individual.
Remember, hug a lawyer, and remember all the good things they do for us. They are the ones who are destroying every right a law-abiding citizen has.
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I'm not advocating for expansion of prisoners' health care entitlements. i'm just finding it odd that if you just threw a prisoner a machine and mask and didn't check up on how well he were doing with it, it would basically mimic the standard of care that is common in this industry.
Dan Lyons said:Incarcerated individuals have, as a result of the liberal judicial, one of the best health & dental care benefit packages available. And it is FREE of charge to them.
24/7 access to medical professionals and no restrictions to prescribed medication, or procedures, all at the taxpayer’s expense. By law they can’t be denied any procedure deemed necessary by medical standards. *PAP is included in that list.
They don’t have to worry about forgetting to take their medications as the facility staff dispenses the meds as prescribed.
If during an exam, an incarcerated individual is determined to need a sleep study, he will get it or his lawyer has ground for a civil litigation, which will result in a major award to all the penal system’s inmates.
I have even seen cases, in which a convicted killer, on death row, has been given heart bypass procedures just to execute him within 2 years post.
And yes folks, we pay for this stupidity. We pay full price, un-negotiated, for these procedures. If these individuals were on Medicare, Medicaid, or VA benefits, they will not pay because these benefits are not available for incarcerated persons. The VA hospital system will not even accept, into their detoxification system, an intoxicated individual.
Remember, hug a lawyer, and remember all the good things they do for us. They are the ones who are destroying every right a law-abiding citizen has.
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