You never want to hear the word “cancer” when you are talking to a doctor, and you really don’t want to hear the word when you are talking to a doctor as a prison inmate. It’s bad enough to face the disease when you are a free person who can access good hospitals, doctors, and nurses. But, when you are behind bars, you are at the mercy of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the State Department of Corrections. Neither have a good record when it comes to inmate health care.
Having something simple like a cold is absolutely brutal when you are locked up. You don’t have access to over-the-counter medications, so you can’t just pop some Tylenol Cold & Cough when you start to feel under the weather. To make things worse, you have access to limited amounts of toilet paper, so you have to budget what you use to wipe your nose because boxes of Puffs aren’t an option.
When you get sick in prison, you have to fill out a form to see a doctor. No matter if you have a cough or if you are bleeding everywhere, you must fill out a form and go to “sick call.” In my experience during incarceration, once you filled out the form you had to wait for your housing unit to be called to medical for sick call, and then you would have to wait in line (first come, first serve) for sometimes another hour or two to be seen.
No matter what your complaint, the first thing they will “prescribe” for you is ibuprofen. Then, if you don’t get better after taking those pills for a few days, you go back to sick call to see a doctor again.
In some states, seeing a doctor will cost you. So, if you don’t have three or four dollars, you are screwed. And remember, most inmates are paid about $5 to $10 a month for their full-time jobs. You have to be good and sick if you are willing to pay a large percentage of your monthly income just to see a doctor.
It’s miserable enough having a simple virus for a few days, so what happens if you get cancer in prison?
In this blog post, I will cover the following topics:
- Can you get chemo in prison?
- Are inmates nicer to inmates who have cancer?
Can you get chemo in prison?
When a doctor believes an inmate may be facing a cancer diagnosis after they conduct the basic lab tests in prison, the inmate is usually transported to a local hospital for a biopsy and numerous other tests. I should note that it usually takes a long time for a prison doctor to even consider a cancer diagnosis because of inadequate evaluations.
Once a prison doctor does get to the point where he or she believes an inmate needs to go to the hospital for further testing, the prisoner might have to wait for weeks or months for their appointment, as the prison is never in a hurry and the doctors don’t seem to communicate very well with anyone.
When you eventually do get transported to the hospital, you are always in handcuffs. If you are in any kind of pain, you will only get ibuprofen because inmates (as a rule) are not allowed to take any kind of narcotic.
I should stop right here and make it clear that an inmate with a cancer diagnosis is not rare. The BOP and the various state DOC’s have had plenty of opportunities to put together a protocol for inmates with cancer.
A 2009 first-ever study published in the American Journal of Public Health examined the health standards of all prison and jail inmates nationwide, finding high rates of serious illness and poor access to care.
Lead author Andrew P. Wilper, MD, MPH, Chief of Staff at the Boise VA Hospital, Idaho, said the researchers found that more than 800,000 inmates—about 40% of the nation’s prison and jail population at the time—reported a chronic medical condition such as cancer, an illness rate far higher than other Americans of a similar age.
“More than 20% of these sick inmates in state prisons, 68.4% of jail inmates, and 13.9% in federal prisons had not seen a doctor or nurse since their incarceration,” said Dr. Wilper.
Once an inmate makes it through the long and tedious process of getting a cancer diagnosis, the medical treatment they receive will vary based on the facility they are in and whether it is a state or federal prison.
Yes, some inmates with cancer receive surgery and chemotherapy, but it takes a long time and there are a lot of hoops to jump through. It is also very difficult on the inmate because they have to leave the prison to get their chemotherapy if they are being housed in the prison sick ward, and that means being cuffed for transport, which is a horrible process.
Are inmates nicer to inmates who have cancer?
Inmates who are battling cancer are usually housed in the sick ward at the prison. If they need extra care, they are kept at the hospital or in hospice care. This means that the inmate is not housed in general population and they have limited contact with other inmates.
The other inmates they do come in contact with are also sick, or they have a job in the sick ward or hospice, so they are generally treated well and with respect. If the inmate is older, and they are an OG, then they definitely get the respect of other inmates.
Just like in the real world, most people behind bars who have cancer receive compassion from othersㅡboth inmates and officers. After all, people behind bars are regular human beings.
Do you think inmates with a terminal illness should get a compassionate release? Let us know in the comments below.
Sources: Cancer Care in the US Prison System https://www.ascopost.com/issues/november-10-2018/cancer-care-in-the-us-prison-system/ How I Survived Cancer In Prison https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/07/26/how-i-survived-cancer-in-prison
Yes ma’am I think they should so they can spend their last days with their family. I am a firm believer of that because Cancer is a very devastating condition and it ends your life in no time.
Yes I believe they should be released early to be with there family, specifically to be with a mother that’s been sick waiting for her son to come out,if he gets cancer and he has only months to live,he should be released sooner specially if they only have 6 more months till released time,my mom has been sick she’s 86 and she desperately wants to see my brother ? he has a huge lump on his neck that’s giving him trouble to breathe at night and trouble eating,his release time is in 5 more months I pray they let him go sooner so he gets to see our mother and all our family members, praying that it’s not cancer ? God help him
Doesn’t matter – some of these criminals have destroyed the lives and generations of many – some of 20yr sentences trying to get out 1 year in due to cancer – judges are pretty smart so such criminals die in prison as they should – alone from family and friends.
Some are in prison for addiction and they need the medical care period!
Would you feel the same way if it was your sibling, child or spouse with cancer and in prison?
i have a friend with obvious skin cancer above his eye that is bleeding and spreading and they are doing nothing to help him. Is there anything I can do?
Yes I do. My boyfriend is in prison here in Florida and he has cancer and wears a bag on his side to poo poo. Plus he is around all this Covid inmates sick around him. How can I get him our of there? Please help
Take a hostage and bring them to the prison and ask for your boyfriend to be moved to a cleaner environment once they do it just leave and keep the hostage.
Yes, especially if it’s like pancreatic cancer. Due to that being a quick spreading cancer. If person is sentenced to 2years but has a fast growing cancer and they catch something, a sickness such as covid or the flu… they could die. Like being sentenced to death. Which 2years is way less then someone’s life. It’s in humane and who are we to short people life span.?
Does anybody know if you still go to prison/jail if you currently have or recently had cancer.
I may have cancer and i am 22 I may one day end up in jail. and It scares me to know that one day i might very well Be stuck in jail not sure if i will live or die… So yes It would be a true gift to be given freedom even for 1 year, to try and enjoy what little life someone has left…Because at the end of the day no matter what crime you commit unless its like 200 Murders and rapes… then err maybe not but if its like idk theift accidental murder robbery Pedofilpha then yes I belive that person should enjoy there last time free at a beach or something Heck drop them off at a dessert island LAmfo. I would be happy to die on a dessert island before cancer takes me
No they shouldn’t be released, but they should at least receive what any normal person would deem appropriate care. If the illness is terminal, then they should perhaps dedicate an area for terminally ill inmates, away from genpop, and give them more frequent access to visits from loved ones.
Absolutely. Give them the signature to die with family and friends.
Not going out like that lm fixing to run if I get caught I will kill my self