The Times Union should be congratulated on its excellent coverage of the poor quality of prison health care in New York. There is another aspect of this problem that is often overlooked. Inmates of New York prisons and county jails are routinely denied access to medications that are highly effective in the treatment of addiction.
This problem is twofold: First, when someone enters prison or jail addicted to an opiate-based drug, a medication like methadone would address withdrawal and could be the most important first step toward recovery; and second, when someone is incarcerated who is already taking such medication, the abrupt withdrawal of such medication can be life-threatening.
Sadly, we have a documented case in a county jail where an inmate died of acute withdrawal. This finding was stated in a written report from the State Commission of Correction.
If a patient entering a prison or jail was denied medication for heart disease, high blood pressure or cancer and died as a result, the media and the public would justifiably be outraged. We should have no less outrage when someone dies because they were denied access to an addiction medicine.
Henry M. Bartlett,
executive director, Committee of Methadone Program Administrators of New York State Inc., Albany