My brother was an inmate at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional facility in Mt. Pleasant Iowa. I say was, because he passed away (cancer) on Christmas Eve, 2003. My brother 1st noticed something wrong with him in the fall of that year and as time went on he only got worse. His first symptoms (I believe) were in his left leg with the calf feeling numb. Later his toes on the same foot would curl up on their own, and he couldn't straighten them out without taking his hands and literally straightening them out that way. Next came the shaking of the foot (we later found out were seizures). The foot would shake (in an unnatural way) sideways. Next came the dragging of the foot and leg as he could not control it anymore. It was as if the leg had died. Other symptoms then developed up into his whole left side, his left hand and arm became numb and useless. His speech started to slur.

My brother asked to see the prison Dr. (Dr. Kilaru) on numerous occasions as his health was declining, and he was becoming ver frightened for his health.
He was in very good healt previously (age 42); walked 3-5 miles a day and played baseball frequently during the season.

Bryan submitted many "kites" to see the Dr. as this was going on, but in the beginning was only allowed to see a nurse. 1st he was told to exercise more, that he needed to eat more vegetables. When he did finally get to see the prison Dr. the final diagnosis before was "drop foot". As his symptoms progressed he asked to see the Dr. numerous times. He was no longer able to walk on his own without help, as he would trip and fall going upstairs.
He asked that he be allowed to use the elevator - he was DENIED. He asked if he could eat his meals on his unit.. he was DENIED. Thank God for other inmates who cared enough to help my brother get to where he needed to go and and to help feed him, as he could no longer feed himself.

Bryan asked for permission to lay down (as they can't without permission)
and he was DENIED on several occasions. Finally a nurse intervened and went over the Drs. head and allowed him a 1 hour lay down during the day
and (I believe) 1 hr. in the afternoon.

The last straw came to Bryan when this (so called) Dr. told Bryan that he thought Bryan was bringing a lot of his symptoms on himself.. ie: faking...
so he set up an appointment for him to see a head shrink. Cameras were set up to watch Bryan's every move.. to try to proove he was faking things.

In December of 2003, Bryan had an inmate help him outside to where the phones are (how cruel that they be out in the cold), so he could call his family for help, as the prison was doing nothing to help him. He was scheduled to go to the hospital for an MRI, but they couldn't or wouldn't tell
him how soon it was to be. Bryan called one of my sister's crying - so worried that he was going to die. Asking if we could help him in any way.
We wrote the warden, who basically shrugged us off, so we then had to involve an attorney to get something done.

During all this time, a nurse (not sure if it were the same one) went over the Drs. head and allowed him to use the elevator, so that he could go eat his meals. Also, over the Drs. head, he was given a wheel chair. In order for him to keep the room he was in, the wheel chair had to fit inside the room. His roommate would literally fold it up, lift it up and carry it over the beds to place it inside the room. Bryan's counselor tried numerously to get them
to do something for Bryan, and was told.. "when did you get your drs. degree?" His response was," It doesn't take a degree to see that this man
is failing - dying." But he too was ignored. Bryan's roommate was the
counselors eyes and ears and would report to the counselor about Bryan's health, so that they could keep an eye on him.

ONLY after involving an attorney did anything get done for Bryan. He was sent to the University Hosp. - and by this time, they didn't think he would even live long enough to make the trip. He was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer - he had a large tumor in his right bronchial tube - one in the lymph node between the breast bone, and his brain was literally covered with tumors; one huge mass and several smaller ones all over the brain.

I won't go into anymore detail, as this post is getting rather long, but I did want to share our experiences, and ask if anyone else knows of any medical neglect at the Mt. Pleasant prison? It is also interesting to note that the Dr. there is a foreigner, who cannot speak fluent (so we are told) english, and that his computer is set up in arabic and he also converses back and forth with the Iowa City hospitals in Arabic. Sound strange to anyone? That a Dr. would be allowed to practice (even limited) anywhere in this country, when he can't even handle our language? Something very wrong went on at that prison, and probably still is. Please, if anyone else has had similar experiences - would they share them?

Thank you so very much

Kayekaye

Kay, you have my most deepest heart felt Sympathies.

I checked your profile and I am positive that your brother is the man my son spoke of. My son was at Mt. Pleasant from 2/99 until 9/11/03. In 2003, he spoke of a man that had only a few short months to serve, he was dying of cancer, and they would not parole him to let him die at home. This was so barbaric to me I did not believe my son. I thought he was stretching the truth or down right lying.

You are speaking the truth when you talk of the "medical care". He said the doctor wasn't fit to be a doctor for a stray animal and you couldn't understand him anyway. Besides, the man was never there. The nurses, he said, weren't to bad, but there was only so much they could do.

My son spoke of men that had puss filled sores on their bodies. Some of the men's sores were as wide as a man's fist and maybe 1/2 -1" in height from what my son observed. These sores where painful. One man that my son knew had them up under his arms and in the arm pits. This guy would try to drain the sores himself. I asked how did he do this since I knew needles where not allowed and noone else would pop them for him. The man would kneel beside his bed, and the ones he could reach he would roll over onto the sore. The weight of his body on this sore would pop it and drain it. My son said the drainage was the consistency of yogurt. My son did get sores but they were the size of a half dollar maybe a little bigger. I saw them with my own eyes and I saw at least 3. He said there were more but he could not remove or unbutton his shirt to show me.

He also said there was an outbreak of hep A or B (the kind you get from not washing hand and then working with food) while he was there and the prison was not doing anything for these guys.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss, especial the way it happened and the way it was handled.

Hello Kay,

I am also sure that my brother is the man your son spoke of. We were finally able to get my brother transferred to the I.M.C.C. in Oakdale, where he spent his remaining time in the hospice unit there. We are very very angry that they couldn't see fit to let him out to die at home with his family. It wasn't like he had years left to serve, his discharge date was May 3rd of this year. My brother was well liked and had staff, guards as well as people on the outside trying to help get him released, but it all fell to deaf ears.

I've since heard from another inmates family member who told me that another inmate at Mt. Pleasant almost bled to death in his cell (after) my brother was there - she thinks that the only thing that saved this person was perhaps because the prison is on their guard right now because of how they neglected my brother and fear of what we - his family - might do.

Once we involved the Attorney, things changed big time. Not only in how they cared for my brother but also for us. One example is that we were allowed visitation every day (that visitation was allowed) when it is normally for a few hours, 2 times a week, and we could come and go as we pleased until visitation was up (at this time my brother had went through chemo and radiation and was doing a bit better). Sometimes they didn't even make us sign in. Now you KNOW yourself that those things just don't happen. it's not normal. We were receiveing special treatment. Another thing that does NOT happen is that they surprised us by serving us a hot meal at no charge. All this tells me is that they have something very terrible to hide and we want to expose it. We are in the process of trying to find a lawyer who will look at our case against the Dr., and the state (prison). It is too late to help my brother, but perhaps we can help others who might be in a similar situation. Inmates are NOT just a number, they are flesh, and bone and heart and soul, and they have family members who love them dearly. They have rights guaranteed them by our Constitution, and they should be given them. We treat animals so much better.

Thank you for sharing with me Lady, I appreciate all that you've told me and if youcan remember anything else, please would you let me know of it too. The more we can find out, the better our case.

Anyone else who reads this, please, if you have similar stories, please would you share them also. And to those of you who have loved ones inside the (prison) system, I hope and pray that this doesn't happen to your loved one/s. My guess is that this isn't just happening in Mt. Pleasant, but in all of the Iowa correctional facilities, and it must come to a stop. It is our hope to do just that.

Kayekaye

oops.. that's hello Lady..

Sorry, I am just new to this site and trying to figure out how to use
it.