Editorial: A system sorely lacking in care

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

Centralizing the state prison system's pharmacy service has resulted in sick inmates at the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Center going without medicines they need to stay healthy and, in some cases, to stay alive.

In a Las Vegas Sun story Tuesday, prison officials told reporter Molly Ball that all pharmacy services for the state's 12,000 inmates have been moved to the system's Jean campus. This has caused disruptions in delivery of medicines. Prison officials say they are not overly concerned and that the system's kinks are being worked out.

But some of these women are facing serious illnesses for which they are not receiving adequate care. One 48-year-old inmate told the Sun she had not received medication in at least two days for her ailments, which documents show to include bipolar disorder, asthma, arthritis, a thyroid condition and constant pain from a car wreck that broke her neck, which was then fused.

The woman also suffers from peripheral arterial disease, which causes life-threatening artery blockage. A medical examination suggested she needs medication and possibly surgery to reopen the arteries, but neither has been provided.

This is the kind of situation that no longer was supposed to happen after the Nevada Corrections Department took charge of the North Las Vegas women's facility in 2004. The prison previously was managed by the private Corrections Corporation of America. The state did not renew the company's contract because of problems that included inadequate medical care and food quality.

During a June 2004 visit to the North Las Vegas facility, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, told the inmates, "You are our wards. We have an obligation to make sure you stay healthy."

Twenty months later, that sense of obligation and responsibility seems to be sorely lacking. It is barbaric to trivialize these women's health concerns, no matter what they did to end up behind bars.

Without proper medication, those who have psychotic conditions can be a danger to other inmates and prison staff. Those who are released back into society with serious health issues that have gone unchechecked will be more costly to treat in an already burdened public health care system. These women are under the government's care, and they should be receiving adequate medical attention.