(Host) The death of several inmates in state custody has prompted the Department of Corrections to change its policy for treating prisoners who are undergoing withdrawal from drug addiction.
The policy change came after negotiations between the state and a Vermont disability rights organization.
VPR’s John Dillon reports:
(Dillon) Over the past several years, four inmates died after suffering health problems associated with drug withdrawal.
A.J. Ruben is a lawyer for Disability Rights Vermont, a non-profit organization that investigated the deaths. He says people undergoing withdrawal from addictive drugs require monitoring and medical treatment.
(Ruben) "And we found in the four cases that we investigated that those detoxification protocols were not followed in some cases by both correctional officers and medical providers. And in some cases just by the medical providers."
(Dillon) The physical illness that results from drug detoxification can be debilitating, and in some cases, deadly.
A Disability Rights report paints a harrowing picture of a disabled man who was severely ill from opiate withdrawal yet he got little medical treatment while in prison. The inmate, Robert Nichols, died in 2005 while he was held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. The report says corrections officials and medical staff failed to adequately check on Nichols’ condition.
In the last few years, three other inmates have died while undergoing drug withdrawals. The investigative reports on those cases are confidential, since the families did not want details released.
Ruben says the new agreement requires that the department regularly monitor inmates who are detoxing from drugs.
(Ruben) "The department for the first time that we’re aware of is going to actually assess what level of detoxification acuity each facility is able to handle. We think that’s important because in some of our correctional facilities there aren’t really adequate personnel or space for someone who’s going through acute withdrawal to be monitored effectively."
(Dillon) Ed Paquin is the executive director of Disability Rights Vermont. He says if the inmate is too sick to be treated at the prison, he or she should be transferred to get the appropriate care.
(Paquin) "If somebody needs medical treatment and it needs a level that can’t be provided, it’s incumbent on the state to provide that, whether it’s for detoxification or a heart attack or cancer or any other medical condition."
(Dillon) The agreement was reached after a mediation session between the state and Disability Rights Vermont. Kurt Kuehl is an assistant attorney general who represents the Department of Corrections.
(Kuehl) "I think the department is satisfied and is committed to ensuring that all inmates, including those who are going through detoxification and withdrawal, are treated humanely and appropriately."
(Dillon) The agreement calls for the Corrections Department to audit its compliance with the detox protocol – and then share those reports with Disability Rights Vermont.
For VPR News, I’m John Dillon in Montpelier.