Saturday, August 23, 2003
The prison board may hire nurses to oversee the distribution of medicine.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- Mercer County officials are concerned that some county jail inmates may not be taking their prescribed medications.
There also may be a problem with documentation in the drug distribution system used by the jail, said James Epstein, Mercer County district attorney and president of the county prison board, which oversees the jail.
Epstein said he doesn't know yet if a problem exists, but a sheriff's deputy recently uncovered a possible flaw in the delivery of medicines from corrections officers to inmates.
He wouldn't be specific but said the issue revolves around possibly inaccurate documentation of medicines given to inmates.
There's no indication of any contraband or any theft of drugs, he stressed.
Special session
The prison board met in special session this week to authorize an examination of the distribution process. It directed the jail warden to develop a plan to hire registered nurses to distribute medicines in the future, he said.
As it stands now, all prescribed medications are prepackaged for each inmate by the jail's medical staff, but they are actually distributed to inmates by corrections officers.
The inmates are handed a paper cup holding their pills and must step to a drinking fountain to take the medicine and then open their mouths to show that the drugs were ingested.
Epstein said there is a concern that some may not be taking their medications.
"It's something that should be monitored very, very closely," he added.
The drugs disbursed are all nonnarcotics. There are no painkillers distributed, Epstein said.
Health screenings
Inmates already may be taking prescription drugs when they enter the jail but each is given a health screening by a physician who may continue or alter that prescription, he said.
Three investigators from the district attorney's office and one from the sheriff's office will examine the distribution program to see if there is a flaw that needs to be corrected, Epstein said.
gwin@vindy.com