D. M.’s Story

“I am writing because I am concerned about the way that the Penobscot County Jail has treated my son. My son, [...] was arrested [...] in [...] 2019 and is still in jail. They set his bail at 10K knowing that he would not be able to pay it.  The day he was taken to jail he told them that he could not feel his entire leg and that he was dizzy. Eventually they took him to EMMC in Bangor where he stayed for a few days. He had an MRI while hospitalized and they saw two spots on his brain. The doctor said it could be MS or scarring for traumatic injuries to his head. [He] feels its MS because he read up on it and he said that he has all the symptoms. Anyway, the jail was supposed to take him for a follow up MRI and Lumbar Puncture to see if there was inflammation on his brain. 3 times my son has not been taken to his appointment for the MRI and has not been scheduled by the jail for a spinal tap. [He] needed Ativan for the MRI because he is claustrophobic. He is 6’8 and weights about 250 and he is too snug in the machine and he freaks out. Instead of giving him Ativan, they gave him Vistaril and so [he] refused to go for the MRI. Vistaril is similar to Benadryl and would not work for calming someone down for an MRI. The hospital also gave him Metformin because they say he is pre-diabetic. Carl told me that his kidneys really hurt bad and when he told the medical staff they told him to drink more water. Carl said his urine looked like chocolate milk so he stopped the metformin and they wont take him to get something different. The medical person at the jail said the he is acting like a 12 year old. She was very rude and when my son asked her if she treated all of her patients that way she replied, “your not a patient, you’re an inmate”. My son has fallen three times while in jail. One time he just blacked out and the jailer said that his heart was racing. They had some off duty EMT’s there who took his vitals but did nothing about it.  His cell mate said that he just rolled his eyes and fell. The two other times he struck his head both times. He is so afraid of not getting treatment that he plead guilty so that he could get out of PCJ and go to the prison in hopes of getting medical treatment. He has a court appointed attorney who didn’t give him any hope for winning his case when he decided to take it to trial. She encouraged him not to even though he had several witnesses.

Is there something I can do for him?

Thank you!”

– D. M.