Cook County Jail

Medications

Interview with Jason, Kat, DavidP, keke, Teabag, Crystal, Edward, isaac, Lucky and Laydie

JM: Did you always have access to necessary medications?
Jason: No
Kat: No, and they don't give you water to take meds and they didn't admin them correctly.
DavidP: When you first come in, you're processed initially. They talk about your health, and so on, and you tell them what you've been receiving prior to coming to jail, or what you need at the jail. Then they check with your pharmacy and your doctor. Those people are going to know. It's kind of embarrassing, but they can't take your word for it, so they check with the pharmacy and the doctor to see how often they prescribe it, and the pharmacy to see how often it's filled and how to provide it. The jail does give it, but most of the time, they won't give the exact manufacturer of the drug. They give a generic generic, but if something new comes up, it's very, very difficult to have a new prescription prescribed. They don't go out of their way to help you. The doctor that's there, they're there all day, 12 hours. Nurses are there 24 hours, but if you want something new, there's one doctor that serves 300 people, and they don't work fast when they want to work. It's difficult to get new prescriptions if something comes up, whatever it may be. In my case, it was really tough because I have gout. It's a condition that swells up, and you can get it in different areas. You can get it in your toes, and it's the most painful thing. I've had broken bones, I've had a lot of things from sports that I've played, and there's never been any pain as great as this gout, and it comes on in a moment's notice, and within one hour, it's 0-10, and when it's a 10, it's like a women giving birth. It's tremendous. Anyway, it came on when I was there, and it comes on from poor food, and a lot of sodium can cause it. Anyway, it came on to me when I was there, and I couldn't even walk. I literally couldn't walk. I had to have a cane and a wheelchair and crutches. They wouldn't give me a thing. They didn't care - they wouldn't give me a thing. It's difficult to get anything new, other than what you're prescribed.
keke: hell no you could put in a sick slip and be called to the nurse 2weeks later
Teabag: NO
Crystal: No they were withheld, generics substituted and I became ill.
Edward: no,the officers and in house doctors would tell you nothings wrong with you
isaac: yes
Lucky: yes
Laydie: yes

JM: How did you get your medications?
Jason: Once during booking from a nurse, for blood presure
Kat: Nurse who did not wear gloves even when giving eye drops before giving me my meds. Disgusting!
DavidP: The nurses come around three times a day. For me, I only needed it twice a day, so I only saw them twice a day, but three times a day, they come to your area with a cart with all of the drugs and medicine in a cart. Most of the time it's already put into little Dixie cups with your name on it prior to them coming to your area. They just call your name out and give you the cup that has your pills inside, so they don't pour it out there, They've already taken the time to do it. It's already ready, so they bring it to you. They made you swallow while you're there. You can't take the cup and walk away. There's even a guard there with the nurse to make sure no one causes trouble, because a lot of guys try.
keke: please
Teabag: You would have to put in request slips with the Social Workers whom would come every 2 weeks. The request would then POSSIBLY be processed where you would be sent to see a doctor at the dispensary and then if approved would be sent to the hospital wing to be examined etc etc and get the medications you needed. If you were (prior to incarceration) prescribed psych medications there was a 80% chance that if you spent 1-2 months in the county jail fighting your case that you would not receive the medications that you so desperately needed.
Crystal: Nurse gives them and you must swallow them in front of the nurse.
Edward: after being sick and showing signs of being sick sometimes you could get proper meds.
isaac: nurse
Lucky: nurse
Laydie: by asking the guards respectfully,and informing them of your need for different kinds of medicines

JM: What types of punishments were incurred for abuse of drugs?
Jason: Na
Kat: Don't know
DavidP: There's a lot of shenanigans. A lot of guys get pain pills and stuff, and they sell them in there. They try this all the time, so the guard is always there. They bring it to your area. I just kept it nice and easy - I didn't want any problems. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. So again, you don't want to cause any problems to get you screwed up.
keke: none they tell you to throw it away you got crooked officers
Teabag: If you were a known Heroin or Cocaine user prior to incarceration and you complained that you needed medication or wanted medical attention that the request slips you submitted would be thrown into the trash by the Corrections officers. Officers would call you a HYPE or generally mistreat you if you were dope sick!
Crystal: NA
Edward: dont know
isaac: beaten
Lucky: never saw any drug abuse