Emergency motion alleges inmate's life is threatened by health care failures at Fluvanna prison - Richmond.com
Emergency motion alleges inmate's life is threatened by health care failures at Fluvanna prison - Richmond.com |
| Posted: 30 Apr 2019 10:03 AM PDT  Lawyers for an inmate at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women have filed an emergency motion alleging repeated and life-threatening mismanagement of the inmate's medication. Margie Ryder, 39, who is due to be released Oct. 15, suffers from terminal pulmonary arterial hypertension and is dependent for her survival upon the correct use of a medication, Remodulin, which is continuously delivered to her heart with a pump, according to her lawyers with the Legal Aid Justice Center, Wiley Rein LLP and the Washington Lawyers' Committee. "Since arriving at FCCW in early 2018, Ms. Ryder has suffered repeated emergency hospitalizations due to FCCW's failure to appropriately manage her Remodulin," her lawyers alleged. They added that she has been repeatedly hospitalized due to the prison's failure to treat her properly. Lauren Bedard, a registered nurse at the University of Virginia Hospital who cares for pulmonary hypertension patients and ensures the safety of patients prescribed Remodulin, said in an affidavit accompanying the motion that she was familiar with Ryder's case. "In the past year, I have cared for Ms. Ryder three times due to FCCW's failure to correctly administer her Remodulin. I believe each of these failures put Ms. Ryder at risk of death," Bedard said. The most recent incident was in February when Ryder was given a too-high dose of the drug and her pump turned off. Ryder was successfully treated, but before sending her back to the prison, the hospital sent a nurse to the prison to train the nurses there, Bedard reported. "I am glad that the nurses at FCCW have received some training in how to handle Ms. Ryder's medication; however, UVA has provided this training to FCCW nurses before, and it seems it did not solve the problem," Bedard's affidavit said. In her own affidavit, Ryder said she has been hospitalized four times since her arrival at FCCW. "I live in fear every day that a nurse will make a mistake in my medication, or a piece of equipment will break without a backup available and it will kill me," she said in the affidavit. "My sentence was to serve a period of time, not to die. I am not even 40 years old yet, but I am afraid I do not have much longer to live," she said. She added, "I desperately want to make it through the rest of my sentence so that I can be released back to my family before my time comes." Officials with the Virginia attorney general's office referred questions to the Virginia Department of Corrections, which did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Prison records show Ryder was convicted of embezzlement in Fauquier County Circuit Court and sentenced to 10 years with eight years suspended. According to an account in the Fauquier Times, she embezzled $80,000 from a Warrenton heating and air conditioning company. Shannon Ellis, an attorney at the Legal Aid Justice Center, said in a prepared statement Tuesday that "Ms. Ryder's suffering is a direct result of the Department of Corrections' ongoing failure to adequately address longstanding, well-known problems at FCCW." "Failures in funding, failures in staffing and a fundamental culture of disrespect and disregard for prisoner patients fuel a dysfunctional system that results in tragedy," she said. On Jan. 2, a federal judge in Charlottesville ruled that the Virginia Department of Corrections failed to live up to eight of 22 standards of health care established in a 2016 settlement agreement for inmates at FCCW. The inmates' lawyers argued that the Department of Corrections failed to hold the contractor providing medical care at the prison — Armor Correctional Healthcare Inc. — accountable to provide an appropriate level of care established by the 2016 agreement. Under the terms of the settlement, Ellis said FCCW is obligated to provide medications in a "timely, safe and sufficient manner." Among other things, her lawyers said the court ordered FCCW to conduct extensive re-training of the nurses employed there and to develop a new protocol ensuring that patients had access to appropriate medical care. "Unfortunately, the need for today's motion makes it clear that — months later — FCCW's medication failures continue, seriously endangering the lives of women like Ms. Ryder," Ellis said. The 18-page motion said Ryder's lawyers have been attempting to resolve the situation without going to court since July. It asks the court to order DOC to develop and implement a plan to safely administer Ryder's medications and ensure appropriate nurse training and oversight. It also asks to open communication at the prison between the medical staff and Ryder's lawyers to ensure that future situations are addressed as quickly and as cooperatively as possible.  |
| Describing and Managing Severe Pain - Pulmonary Hypertension News Posted: 12 Apr 2019 12:00 AM PDT
"Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst you ever felt." If I have learned one thing over the past few decades, it's that pain is almost guaranteed when living with chronic illness and pulmonary hypertension. I have been through a wide range of physical pain in the past 27 years. I deal with many "pains" while in pain. These include describing and rating my pain level, knowing the agony can get worse, staying on top of my discomfort and learning to manage it, and getting some type of control over my anger when I experience physical distress. It's difficult to find the right words to accurately describe pain. That being the case, doctors often ask for a number to rate it. Many do not realize that rating it is even more difficult than describing it. At age 18, when an ovarian cyst ruptured, I told the doctors, "This is the worst pain I've ever felt." I gave my pain a 10. By assessing what I have been through since that age, I would change that rating to a 6. Now when I experience a great amount of discomfort, I find myself questioning, "Am I comparing the pain to my worst ever? Even though it's not my worst pain ever, would giving a 6 get me the same care as saying a 9 or 10?" Another of my "pains" is that the suffering can get much worse. It can increase in severity, intensity, and duration. There was a time when I thought I wouldn't be able to physically tolerate much more. I didn't think pain could get worse … until it did. Now I know the pains of waking up after bypass surgery and not being able to move my neck. I know the pains of getting my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. I have felt the soreness of waking up with a PEG tube placed in my stomach. I have felt chest aches that takes my breath away. One thing is true for all types of pain: My body adapts to different levels. At some points, I feel like it even "normalizes" the discomfort. Agony is not something that anyone should have to get used to. When it started to become my "new normal," I had a hard time managing it and staying on top of it. When I had severe suffering, it was difficult to take pain medications prescribed by my doctors because I feared dependency problems. I feared the stigma around pain medication, and I was stuck thinking about the dangers of addiction to these substances. I've learned the hard way that managing severe pain by taking medication as prescribed is the right thing to do. Not only does pain impact the body and my physical state, but it affects my mental state, too. Suffering increases my anger, makes me externalize my inner struggles, and brings out the worst in me. I cry at everything and anything, take things personally, and feel as though my emotions heighten. Knowing this about myself, I give those around me fair warning: I'm honest about my mental health while managing hurt. My close friends and family know that the "Britt in pain" is not the same as the "real Britt." My body doesn't want to endure more physical stress than it manages every day. Fighting through chronic illness and pulmonary hypertension is enough to stick my body in a constant state of exhaustion. When pain is added to this, my body gives out warning signs that it's fighting too hard. My "pains" have taught me to be honest with my healthcare team about how great my hurts are. I'm learning to manage it without shame and fear. It's helpful to give my family and friends a warning when I am in distress because torment changes me. I remind myself that pain is not my fault. The body, like the mind, needs a break in order to heal. *** Note: Pulmonary Hypertension News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Pulmonary Hypertension News or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to pulmonary hypertension.  |
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