FWST: In Texas jails, deaths from failure to give proper medication are shrouded in secrecy
March 3, 2023
The No. 1 complaint received about state jails by inmates and their families is that incarcerated people are not given the medications they were prescribed prior to being detained, said Krish Gundu, executive director of the Texas Jail Project. The nonprofit advocacy group based near Houston works to ensure incarcerated Texans are being cared for properly.
Topics: 2023news
The No. 1 complaint received about state jails by inmates and their families is that incarcerated people are not given the medications they were prescribed prior to being detained, said Krish Gundu, executive director of the Texas Jail Project. The nonprofit advocacy group based near Houston works to ensure incarcerated Texans are being cared for properly.
His parents feared Myers didn’t get his medicine and that he wasn’t checked on frequently enough. Their fears were confirmed a year later when the Texas Rangers released an investigation that revealed two jailers lied 20 times about checking on Myers. The jailers were criminally charged.
Jail staff act as gatekeepers to medical care, and their first response to any request for medical care is to allege that the incarcerated person is ‘faking it’ and to keep denying until sometimes it’s too late
That type of set-up makes it difficult for families to hold one particular agency or group responsible for their loved one’s care. Gundu said there’s already no recourse for families because the state commission on jail standards “has no teeth to enforce any of their minimum standards.”
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