Only when prisoners become very sick or experience a medical crisis or emergency are they taken from prison to see a "real" doctor and even then, it is a doctor chosen, contracted and controlled by the BOP. And paid by our tax dollars, money that is wasted by taking a patient-prisoner to a doctor while refusing to allow the doctor to perform the very tests necessary to diagnose a patient's medical condition.

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Background: Gary White was a county commissioner in Jefferson County, Alabama. Good friends with Les Siegelman, he introduced Les's brother, [former] Alabama Governor Don Siegelman to Richard Scrushy, a local Republican businessman. Because of this, White became inextricably intertwined with Siegelman, who was one of the biggest targets of the Rove-directed, heavily politicized Department of Justice [DOJ].

Scrushy and Siegelman were later indicted and convicted on charges stemming from that relationship. According to affidavits provided by Gary [and Judy, who was also in the room] White was asked to perjure himself before a Grand Jury in order to make the case against Siegelman and Scrushy. White refused and the very next day, the DOJ started delivering subpoenas to build a case against him. White is serving ten years and is currently in a facility in Montgomery, Alabama. [BOP is Bureau of Prisons.]

This is installment #34. [Links to entire series at end of article*.]

My guest today is frequent OpEdNews contributor, Judy White.

JB: Welcome back to OpEdNews, Judy. This is an anniversary of sorts for you, isn't it? Please tell us about it.

JW: Thank you, Joan. Gary's imprisonment date was September 29th, not an anniversary to be celebrated, but a somber marking of a tragic date and the passing of another year stolen from us. Every minute of every day we live with the absolute knowledge of Gary's innocence, the pain of loss that never ends, and now five years of the most outrageous abuses imaginable.

To make matters even worse - as if that is possible - Gary is now missing. I haven't heard from him since Tuesday, prison "anniversary" day, and he is not at the prison. Rumor has it that he has been hospitalized with some medical crisis.

JB: How nerve-wracking! What do you mean?

JW: Late Tuesday, Gary was summoned and ordered to report Wednesday morning at 5:30 to be taken for testing to determine if he has cancer. I know it's been a while and all the dates and details get muddled so to remind you, the BOP wrote in Gary's prison medical records well over three years ago that they believe he has cancer, then they promptly and persistently did nothing, exhibiting deliberate indifference and committing medical abuse of Gary. Three months ago, when we did the last installment, Gary had begun passing blood and blood clots in his urine, a clear medical emergency for which they refused to provide or obtain appropriate necessary medical attention. After our discussion was published, they then did.... something. In true BOP-fashion, it was bizarre.

Gary was taken to a urologist in Montgomery, accompanied by a thug prison guard. He was so hopeful and relieved, thinking he was finally going to receive the medical attention he has so desperately needed for all these years. But when Gary was called to see the doctor, the doctor was outspokenly irritated - with the prison guard. After looking at the BOP paperwork, he addressed the guard scoldingly, saying (paraphrasing): "There is no authorization for testing, no authorization for a CT scan. I've told you before that I can't assess without testing but you keep bringing them without authorization for testing. How am I supposed to do anything without testing or authorization?" Clearly, the BOP is in the habit of sending prisoners to a doctor while tying the doctor's hands, refusing to authorize medical tests necessary to assess, diagnose and treat medical problems.

JB: That sounds insane.

JW: Keep in mind, Joan, that very few prisoners are taken out of prison to see any doctor. Only the most critically needy ones are taken. Federal prisons have "medical officers" who are supposed to take care of prisoners' medical needs in prison. Only when prisoners become very sick or symptomatic of a critical illness or disease or experience a medical crisis or emergency are they taken from prison to see a "real" doctor and even then, it is a doctor chosen, contracted and controlled by the BOP. And paid by our tax dollars, money that is wasted by taking a patient-prisoner to a doctor while refusing to allow the doctor to perform the very tests necessary to diagnose a patient's medical condition. Obviously, such doctors' findings would go a long way toward proving medical abuse and deliberate indifference by the BOP, IF they were allowed to perform tests. The doctor did do something helpful for Gary, though. He confirmed that the medication the BOP has been giving Gary does, in fact, skew PSA test results, making the result artificially low and hiding cancer, a fact included as a warning on the medication's insert that has been directly denied by the prison medical employees. In fact, the doctor told Gary that with his medical history he should not be taking that medication at all.

With nothing meaningful allowed to be done to address Gary's medical emergency, the prison guard took Gary back to prison. Gary called me immediately and was very upset, his hopes for medical help dashed. When I contacted the regional office to complain, they snappishly told me Gary was, in fact, receiving proper medical care and that he had been taken to a doctor, as if being taken to a doctor does anything at all when they refused to allow the doctor to do anything. It's like being told he isn't hungry, he was just taken to a restaurant while disregarding that he was not allowed to order anything or eat. Totally outrageous and abusive.

Some time later, Gary was taken out of prison again, not to see a doctor but to an imaging facility for tests, the results of which were withheld from Gary until I contacted the imaging facility directly seeking the report and learned the report had been sent to the prison doctor. They refuse to give Gary anything in writing - too dangerous as evidence of medical abuse and deliberate indifference - but after I let Gary know and contacted the prison and regional office, then Gary began to make efforts to get the results, Gary was summoned and told the prison "doctor's" opinion that he did not have cancer. Unfortunately, as we learned, the tests ordered by the prison doctor to be performed by the imaging center do not and cannot assess bladder cancer, which would be a primary concern with blood in his urine. Standard medical protocol is to perform a bladder scope, which Gary pointed out and was told they would begin paperwork to get approval. Have I mentioned medical emergency? If Gary had been taken to the emergency room as he should have as soon as he began passing blood, all the correct tests would have been performed, he would have received a reliable diagnosis and any needed treatment would have been initiated.

JB: So, what happened?

JW: Instead, three months later, Gary was told he was going to be taken for a bladder scope, a test that takes 15-20 minutes. Since he had been ordered to report at 5:30 a.m., before the prison telephones are turned on at 6:00, he would not be able to call me that morning. But he assured me he would call as soon as he was able, expecting to be back at the prison within a few hours, no later than mid-day. I felt so sorry for him, again having to face such medical issues without the presence and support of anyone who cares for him, but to instead be accompanied by a sociopathic prison guard who would undoubtedly enjoy his suffering.

But Gary didn't call. He still hasn't called. He has not been returned to the prison. He has been hospitalized - or worse. I am his wife, his attorney-in-fact, his medical proxy, yet I am not allowed to participate in my husband's medical care or make his decisions while he is obviously incapacitated, incompetent or unable to do so. Prison employees have a conflict of interest in that they have no interest in Gary's health or survival. Gary and I are being denied and deprived of the mutual support we both need right now.

Yesterday a friend told me not to worry, that if anything was wrong, surely I would have been contacted. A friend who has been with us since long before prison, one who has listened to enough of the true-life horror stories about our prison experiences to have known better. But like so many others who find it impossible to believe the level of abuse American prisoners and their families are subjected to, a friend who ignored the reality apparently hoping encouragement would overcome the harsh cruelty of prison medical abuse in practice. I had to recount the experiences of so many other prisoners, including one in Forrest City whose bleeding became so profuse, he lost consciousness and had to be revived twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, where he was admitted, given 10 units of blood, and stabilized then returned to prison, without treating his cancer. We also learned about the Atlanta prisoner who died on a Tuesday but no one notified his wife, who showed up to visit him the following Saturday morning, only to be told by the prison employees that he was "not there" then, ultimately, at the prison visitation check-in where she had gone to visit her husband, she was informed he was dead. Imagine her drive back home.

As I have shared these incidents and others, especially the horrible ways in which Gary and I have been mistreated, reactions have varied from shock and disbelief to disgust and outrage, with more than one response being that we - America's prisons - treat terrorists better than this. I don't disagree. I remember public outrage when members of our military have been shown to abuse terrorists. They were held accountable - some lost their jobs and were prosecuted. No one in the BOP is held accountable; they freely abuse prisoners and family members however they want with no consequences, instead often getting promoted to higher positions with higher pay. Yet the damage they do is incalculable. Not just the harm to prisoners and families, but such destruction to "truth, justice and the American way" that no Superman could fix.

Of course, I've called and contacted the prison, regional office and even the Washington office, encountering only one semi-human who would tell me only that Gary was not dead while acknowledging some kind of medical crisis. But then another prison employee - "Williams" - at the prison flatly lied to me, saying, "He's still here." When I explained that I was aware he was NOT there and that I had been directed to the medical services department at the prison to obtain information, he refused to transfer me, saying smugly, "They're not going to tell you anything. Have a good day." Then he hung up. To be very clear, the Washington office and the regional office both told me to call the prison's "health services" department, and the case manager at the prison told me that was who I needed to speak with then said she was transferring me. The Washington office even gave me a direct telephone number. Yet "Williams" refused to allow my call. I'm left knowing my husband is in distress in some kind of health crisis, and I only get more abuse, lies and injustice.

No one should be so badly abused. Not even prisoners and their families. More and more often in so many ways, our government engages in terrorism against its citizens.

JB: Quite a saga, Judy. Thank you for sharing such personal aspects of your life with us at OpEdNews. Let us know when you hear from Gary again. I know it's a platitude, but, in the meantime, please try to hang in there.

JW: Thank you for your ongoing interest and support, Joan. Gary and I appreciate it.

***

Breaking news: Judy spoke to Gary right before this interview was posted. All we know at this point is that he had been hospitalized and has now been returned to prison. Obviously, many questions remain.

***

* Judy White series, in its entirety:

Judy White Fights For Incarcerated Husband's Access to His Prescriptions October 13, 2010

The Feds and the Prisoner's Wife - Do Unto Others... as You Please October 27, 2010

Come and Get It! Prisoners Served Expired Food, "Not for Human Consumption" November 10, 2010

Judy White's Giving Thanks for Prison Visit: It's All Relative November 29, 2010

No Heat in the Cooler: More Tales from Edgefield Federal Prison December 16, 2010

The Devil's in the Details: More Tales from Edgefield Federal Prison , January 11, 2011

Hello Kitty Mysteriously Disappears from Prisoner's Mail at Edgefield , January 24, 2011

Edgefield Prison's Commitment to "Maintaining Family and Community Ties"? March 6, 2011

Winter in July? Trying to Stay Warm in Edgefield Prison July 6, 2011

Neglect at Edgefield Federal Prison Causes Inmate to Lose Toes September 27, 2011

Bureau of Prisons "Disappears" Federal Prisoner Just In Time for His Birthday December 29, 2011

Magic Behind Bars: The Case of the Disappearing 600 Pound Chicken February 22, 2012

Are Federal Prisons Finding it Hard to Let Go? April 24, 2012

Happy Father's Day! and the Justice Department's War On Families June 16, 2012

Federal Prison's "Camp Cupcake" - Putting the Fun[ny] in Dysfunctional August 14, 2012

Gary White and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week , November 29, 2012

Scrooged! Millington Federal Prison Camp's Version of Christmas Spirit , December 24, 2012

The Bureau of Prisons, The Flood and Your Tax Dollars At Work , January 27, 2013

Revenge of the BoP: OpEdNews Censored in Two Federal Prisons , February 17, 2013

Warning: Incarceration in US Prison May Prove Hazardous to Your Health , February 23, 2013

Battling Injustice: the BOP and Corrupt Judges , June 18, 2013

Ties that Bind: How the BOP Undermines Families, Part One , July 27, 2013

Ties that Bind - How the BOP Undermines Families, Part Two , July 30, 2013

Anti-Crimson Tide Discrimination? September 15, 2013

Inmates Stick Their Necks Out to Cast Light on Recent Prison Death November 11, 2013

Forrest City FCI: Where Visitors, Civil Rights and Human Dignity Are Unwelcome December 14, 2013

Forrest City Federal Prison: Where Prisoners Don't Have a Prayer January 7, 2014

Here They Go Again! Watch BOP Make Up Infractions On the Fly February 22, 2014

Inside the Polygon of Club Fed - Where Severe Weather and Sadistic Federal Prison Employees Are a Nasty Brew April 30, 2014

BOP: Not Only Cruel and Unusual - Insensitive, Vindictive AND Just Plain Ridiculous June 6, 2014

Is BOP Using Our Tax Dollars to Sever Family Ties? June 15, 2014

BOP: 'Til Death Do Us Part? August 1, 2014

Federal Bureau of Prisons - Is There a Doctor in the House? July 10, 2015

Authors Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html

Authors Bio:

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.



Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.


When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.

While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"


Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.