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Politics & Government

County Will Investigate Prison Bacterial Infection

Complaint of inadequate inmate medical care, MRSA complications heard by county council.

For the second time in two years, MRSA appears to be a problem at .

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a bacterial infection, and at it's affecting some inmates at the prison, Stephanie Freeby, a concerned citizen, told county council Thursday night.

Freeby said she had been contacted by an inmate about the issue, but did not identify the inmate due to medical privacy laws. She had taken her concerns to state Sen. Lisa Boscola, who recommended she go before county council.

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“The people within these walls still have basic civil and human rights that are...being ignored,” she said. “There is also the looming threat of public contamination of MRSA.”

Freeby said inadequate medical oversight led to medical complications for more than one inmate from MRSA infections in the past few months.

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Inconsistent use and insufficient doses of antibiotics has led to the threat of one inmate facing the possible amputation of a foot, she said.

In another case, an inmate suffered “unbearable” withdrawal symptoms on more than one occasion when he wasn't given his medication for a psychiatric condition, she told the council. The medication is addictive and regular levels of the drug must be maintained in the blood stream.

In addition, necessary blood tests to ensure the drug wasn't causing organ damage and that the right levels of the drug were being maintained were never carried out, Freeby said.

County council members and administrators said the complaint was the first they'd heard of any new problems concerning the issue. In 2009 by 34 inmates sued the county for inadequate care in combating the highly contagious infection.

“We've had cases of that in the past. Nothing recently, in the last year,” County Executive John Stoffa said. “It can be a deadly thing.” 

Stoffa said he will be looking into the issue, and expects to make a report back to the council at its next meeting in two weeks.

Freeby asked the county to consider

According to the National Institute of Health's website, "Staph. aureus is a common type of bacteria. In about 1 out of every 4 healthy people, the staph germ lives on the skin or in the nasal passages, but it does not cause any problems or infections.

"About 2 out of every 100 people carry a strain of staph that is resistant to these antibiotics... Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type (strain) of staph bacteria that does not respond to some antibiotics that are commonly used to treat staph infections."

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