No-Med from p 14 rolling for that.” In the past, the source recalled staying past their shift to ensure medication was distributed. “Because it’s an essential thing,” the source said. “It’s not like — ah, the next shift will get it. No. You have to do med pass.” But one current detention officer who spoke to New Times stated that missed medications had become routine. When New Times brought up the figures refer- enced in the report — 38 times in three months — the officer said, “I would’ve thought that it was more.” At one jail, med passes were missed “once a week,” estimated the officer, who maintained, “It’s definitely gotten worse over the last year and a half. It’s just how CHS has operated for a while.” The county disputes this, saying that in May, only one small group of people in a missed, nursing staff was stretched so thin that they were forced to start delivering prescriptions in the early hours of the morning — 1 a.m. or even later. “It’s bad when they miss it, but I think it’s even worse when they do it so late that it’s very close to the next one,” Walker said, recalling a time when the evening medication was delivered at 3 a.m., and the next dose was given just a few hours later, at 7 a.m. The full impact of these missed medi- cations and late doses in Maricopa County is not yet clear. But experts say it could be dangerous — and it certainly flies in the face of accreditation standards for health care in jails. In other parts of the country, inmates have died after missing a medica- tion dose in prison, including one recent case in Oakland, California, where a man held on $2,500 bail died shortly after he missed a shot of antipsychotic meds. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Christopher Consales. single jail experienced a missed medica- tion pass — a significant improvement from the dozens of missed passes in the winter. “CHS is committed to continuous improvement with a goal of no missed passes,” Bohn, the assistant county manager, wrote to New Times. Accounts from people in custody in Maricopa County indicate that the severity of the issue differs from jail to jail — but that it has continued in recent months. In all, six people, including Smith, said they had experienced missed doses of medications at least once. Several said they had witnessed a missed dose sometime this spring. Christopher Consales, 47, currently incarcerated in Watkins Jail awaiting trial on drug possession and money laundering charges, told New Times that he had missed medications frequently when he was at Lower Buckeye Jail, but that things had improved since being transferred. Danielle Walker, 37, who is currently at Estrella Jail, estimated she had noticed a missed med pass “20 times” in the 10 months she had been at the jail. Walker recently pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, and is awaiting sentencing. Multiple people in custody also said that, even when medications weren’t Danielle Walker. “Some of the conditions that are espe- cially prevalent among incarcerated populations really require not missing dosages of medication,” said Alexander Testa, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who studies public health in correctional settings. “You get really high rates of things like HIV, hepatitis C, and you get really high rates of mental illnesses, ranging from depression to more severe forms of psychosis,” Testa said. And when it came to medications like antipsychotics, Testa said, missed doses “can be really conse- quential,” with the potential of severe side effects. “All This Time, I’ve Been Sitting With This” The report on Maricopa County’s correc- tional health found other key failures as well. Requests for medical attention — which inmates can submit electronically or on paper — were being neglected for weeks, despite standards that require a response within 24 hours. “A report from nursing staff was that numerous health needs requests were found in a desk drawer – ‘weeks’ after they were completed and filed by the inmate,” the consultants wrote. >> p 18 17 Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES JUNE 2ND– JUNE 8TH, 2022
