With Dave's life slipping away and the ambulance staff insistent, they were eventually allowed to stop briefly to get blood before continuing to Memphis. (Hearing this, I wondered if the hospital had a drive-through for blood transfusions, where the ambulance pulls up and says to a box, "Two units of type X" then drives to the second window for pick up.) Keep in mind that these medical decisions were being made by bureaucrats - federal prison employees - not doctors or paramedics or any medical professional. Prison guards are making life-and-death medical decisions.
JB: What happened then?
JW: In Memphis, Dave was admitted to ICU in critical condition with a ruptured ulcer that tore out a blood vessel in his stomach. He was in shock and bleeding to death. During the next six days, Dave was given last rites, "brought back" twice, received nine pints of blood, and had two emergency surgeries to save his life.
JB: Where was his family in all this? Were they at least able to be by his side?
JW: The harsh cruelty of the BOP - Dave's family was never contacted by anyone with the BOP. They were never notified of Dave's hospitalization, never told about his condition, never given the opportunity to be with Dave as he fought for his life. They knew something was wrong - bad wrong - when they didn't hear from Dave, and when they heard from other prisoners that Dave had passed out, lost lots of blood and had been taken away in an ambulance. As his family frantically called the prison, desperate to find out what had happened to Dave, they encountered the stone wall and stony hearts of BOPers who refused to tell them anything at all.
The BOPers refused to even tell them whether Dave was dead or alive, and they coldly ordered Dave's family to stop calling the prison asking about Dave. For six long days and nights, they did not know what had happened to Dave or where he was. The only thing they knew was that he had untreated cancer and had been carried out of the prison unconscious in an ambulance.
JB: Heartless sadists!
JW: What if that was your husband or father or brother or son? The BOP does nothing to "maintain family ties"; they don't even allow the family to know whether the prisoner is dead or alive.
But Dave was not alone during what could have been his last days. Throughout his six-day stint in ICU, he was shackled and chained constantly with two federal prison employees guarding him at all times. And rather than Dave's family making medical decisions for his benefit through the authority of a valid power of attorney, which Dave's son has, BOPers made those decisions. It should be obvious that they have a conflict of interest and are in control to cover up their own negligence, medical malpractice, and malfeasance.
JB: What are you saying, Judy?
JW: Think about it. The BOP refuses to provide medical care and treatment for known life-threatening conditions including cancer, choosing to experiment and gamble with prisoners' lives. But they are perfectly willing and happy to spend a small fortune to pay for two round-the-clock federal prison guards to keep a critically-ill 72-year old man chained with two guards while he is near death - a man who should have already been out of the prison and, if he survives, will be free in ten weeks, released without receiving the medical treatment he desperately needs. The BOP has huge exposure to liability, and if Dave was no longer alive, the risk of being held accountable and having to pay for what they have done would be dramatically reduced. And when prisoners do die, prison employees are known to refer to it as "escape by death."
JB: So, what happened to Dave? Is he still alive, despite the BOP's best efforts?
JW: The rest of the story is that even though he was in the hospital within mere feet of the operating room where his tumors could have been removed, the BOP refused to authorize the surgery they have known for months that Dave must have in order to begin treatment of his cancer.
Last Thursday, Dave - shackled, chained, complete with his cancerous tumors and very sick with additional serious medical conditions - was returned to the prison.
That was also when his family learned he was still alive. Not because the BOP ever notified them, though. They found out only because Dave lived and was able to let them know.
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