NEWS

January 11, 2008
Prisoners' prescription service improves

An Iowa prison official said they have instituted changes in the way they fill inmates' prescriptions on the farms outside the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison after complaints from inmates it took too long.

Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, acknowledged the problems when contacted by a reporter. He said the department instituted a new procedure in November when they noticed the process for getting prescriptions had the potential for breakdowns.

"We've cleaned that up and fixed that so now there should not be any delays in people getting their prescriptions filled or refilled unless ... they wait till the very last day to ask us to refill it," Scaletta said.

Jim Sanders, a former inmate from Ottumwa, said it took a week to nine days before his prescription was renewed after he was transferred from the state prison in Oakdale to Farm 3, which is one of the minimum security farms located outside the prison in Fort Madison.

"You wanted to make sure that you didn’t run out because they were awful slow about getting it," said Sanders, 55, who was serving time after a conviction for third-offense operating while intoxicated.

Sanders said that in other instances, prison officials got his medication to him on time, but inmates had to fill out a request form and wait, sometimes for a long time.

Scaletta said Sanders' prescription had been ordered properly but it appears there had been a lapse between when that happened and when the inmate received it. He said he knows of no inmate whose illness was compromised by not getting their prescription drugs on time.

"Nothing was told to me that there was any kind of situation that complicated the medical manner by not having the prescription filled," Scaletta said.

Under the new system, inmates' requests for prescription refills for common medications are kept in a binder that is transferred to the prison each day, Scaletta said.

Requests are then faxed to a private pharmacy, which sends the prescriptions overnight. Scaletta said some of those requests can be filled by the day after they are requested. He said they encourage inmates to request a refill when they are down to near a 10-day supply.

In the past, the system hadn’t been as organized as it is now, Scaletta said.

"Sometimes, there was a delay, and things didn’t get transferred every single day, where as now, every day everything gets transferred," Scaletta said.

There are exceptions for controlled substances, such as painkillers, and psychotropic drugs, which are distributed by the staff.

State Rep. Lance Horbach, a Republican from Tama who has been a key figure on prison issues during his time in the Iowa Legislature, is pleased the department has made changes.

"I think it's good that they’ve identified to the public that there’s a problem and that they’re going to focus on it," Horbach said.

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