Furious Seasons

December 12, 2006

Good Luck In Jail

The fine folks at the Treatment Advocacy Center had a recent post with which I actually agree. Namely, that inmates in Florida with mental illness must be treated, as a court recently ordered the state. I think TAC is on shakier ground when it asserts that antipsychotics are not mind-controlling. Perhaps "controlling" is too strong a word--something like mind-leveling might capture it better--but there's no denying that the drugs do alter peoples' minds and behaviors, and, where they work, they do so in a predictable fashion. Sounds like control to me. But, then, control is a big buzz word among anti-psychiatry folks, so I understand why they jump on the word.

Taking the situation in prisons and jails together with antipsychotics, I think an interesting ethical and legal quandary arises when you consider how antipsychotics are used on inmates. What if Zyprexa--or Haldol for that matter--is messing up an inmate's cognition or making them put on 30 pounds and raising all manner of metabolic issues? How does the inmate get a prison doctor to listen to their concerns? Does the state have the right to force to make someone take a med that is screwing them up in order to maintain the inmate's mental status? Can you inflict injury--diabetes, say--upon someone in order to restore their competency for trial? Can you medicate a prisoner into sanity so that you can legally execute them for a crime? (OK, we know the answer to that one.)

I ask the above in a speculative fashion.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at December 12, 2006 12:01 AM

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Comments

One unfortunate use of antipsychotics in prisons is to "restore competency." I say unfortunate because this is a logistic move, not clinical. Overcrowded jails (pre-trial)+ overbooked courts + overworked public defender = no chance they'll be ready to give the guy "a right to a speedy trial." So what to do? Ask for a competency exam and recommit (to jail) for 30-60 days while he is "given medications to restore him to competency." This can go on for a year. PRE-TRIAL.

Along with my other moves for wealth management should have been one of the most important: make sure you save enough for a good lawyer.

http://thelastpsychiatrist.com

Posted by: Alone at December 12, 2006 07:37 AM

As my name indicates, I'm a Correctional Officer at a Prison.
1. Haldol is only used if the inmate's psychosis is a danger to himself or others.

2. Most of the inmate population begs for such drugs as Haldol, Trazodone, Seroquel, and on and on I could go. When these individuals are on the street, they could give a rats behind about taking these medications, but once incarcerated they scream for them. These drugs enable them to sleep their sentences away.

Last but far from least/lethal.....

3. Weight gain. The diet is purposely selected so that the inmate gains thus being less aggressive. Diabetics are served balanced meals, but everyone tends to gain due to inactivity and eating regularly.

Posted by: Ofc. BlueShirt at December 12, 2006 11:01 AM