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July / August 2009
Bar Resistance
by Paul Wright
Getting your HIV meds on time while doing time
If you are HIV positive, you know you have to take alL your HIV meds on
time, every time, or risk developing resistance and illness. But if
you’re living with HIV/AIDS behind bars, you also know that getting
health care in prison can be a challenge. POZ receives letters almost
daily from positive prisoners saying their prescriptions aren’t
refilled on time or their pills are withheld. These tips will help you
get your meds.
Get to Know the Medical Staff.
Learn the names of prison medical
personnel. That way, queries and complaints about missed meds can reach
or name the appropriate person. Treat medical staff politely and
courteously so they will want to help you (and to avoid any charges of
unruly behavior).
Advocate for Yourself.
You need your HIV medications now—not in six
months—but prison grievance systems are often slow. So start with a
simple approach: Ask your unit staff to call the medical department to
retrieve your meds. If the prison won’t follow the doctor’s orders,
complain in writing to your treating doctor; write to the prison warden
and medical officers too.
Keep Copies.
Store a copy of your prescriptions in your cell or on
your person. Learn the medication schedule and stick to it so no one
can blame you for missed doses. Keep copies of every letter or
complaint you write and the replies you get. In any future grievance or
litigation, these will prove a pattern of “deliberate indifference” to
your serious medical needs.
Get outside help.
A phone call to the prison from someone outside—a
parent, partner, sibling or friend—demanding to know why you are not
getting your meds may produce results. These calls let prison officials
know that they are being
observed. You and your family can also write to legislators, state
medical commissions and city, county and state health departments to
bring attention to systemic problems in medication delivery.
File a grievance.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 mandates
that you go through all levels of the prison grievance system before
filing a federal lawsuit. Learn your prison’s grievance process and
keep a supply of the required forms in your cell to use if other steps
fail. Your grievance should be clear and concise: State your medication
needs, who prescribed the meds and how the prison is denying you access
to them. Be polite and direct, but be firm about your rights. Your
letters and grievances may wind up as court exhibits for a judge or
jury. Make sure they show you at your best.
Go to Court as a Last Resort.
If, despite your best attempts, the
prison is just too incompetent, overcrowded or poorly run to deliver
your doses, consider filing suit. You’ll need to show a court that the
prison did not provide prescribed medication as required. Medical
lawsuits are hard to win, and remember that you first have to go
through the prison grievance process (except if you are suing for money
damages after you are released).
For more tips, get “Protecting Your Health & Safety” ($10 plus $6
for shipping) from Prison Legal News (2400 N.W. 80th St. #148, Seattle,
WA 98117; 206.246.1022; prisonlegalnews.org).
Paul Wright was imprisoned in Washington state for 17 years. He is the
cofounder and editor of Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine on legal
and political developments involving the criminal justice system.
Search: prison, HIV, medication
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