Something needs to be done regarding health services here at USP Atwater. The BOP is trying to save money and so is taking everyone off the Sublocade injection (for addiction treatment) and placing us back on the sublingual strips. That’s fine with me, if I could at least get the strips in a timely fashion. The problem is that now we can’t see the doctor to get the strips on a timely basis, and so everyone is going without the medication.
For example, this morning I was on the callout to see the MAT provider, but it was very foggy outside so they didn’t have any inmate movement. Why can’t they do a count, pull us all out who are on the schedule and get us to our appointment with the doctor? It’s foggy here all the time, so this happens a lot! Fog should NEVER stop us from getting health care, but that is exactly what’s happening. We are all going days without our medication and thus going through withdrawals. My meds help me cope and keep me grounded. I’m starting to feel withdrawal effects, including sleepless nights, loss of appetite, and hot and cold sweats. Plus my anxiety is through the roof!
In addition, the days when we can see the doctor are limited. For example, if I was due to get my injection today, I wouldn’t get the strips until at least Thursday (since the doctor only sees people on Wednesdays).
And then there is a supply problem. There’s about 80 guys who just started the MAT program and are right now going without their strips for the second week in a row because staff aren’t keeping enough inventory in the pharmacy. There are guys who were due for their injection 10 days ago!! If they decided to change our medication BOP-wide, then it should have been planned a lot better.
Update (1/15): I finally saw the doctor today. I had been on the highest-milligram shot and she is starting me on the lowest milligram strip. What sense does it make to switch a person who’s been on 300 mg of Sublocade a month for two years to 2 mg of suboxone strips? The doctor justifies it by saying I have seven months of Sublocade built up in my body. But my body eats that shit up very fast. But after being on the injection for awhile, I have a higher tolerance than someone just starting the program. A 2 mg strip is nothing compared to what my body has been getting the past two years. Are these people trying to make me flip out and start cutting my wrists? Because that’s what’s about to happen. I’m not eating or sleeping.
I’m in prison for robbing CVS pharmacies for OxyContin and I was using 25 oxy 80s a day. I have a very high tolerance. I researched this and she could have at least started me at 4 mg. I have no energy. I’m not working out. I have no appetite. And there are still guys going without right now.
Update 1/18: Everyone is withdrawing and some have started using again. I didn’t get the first strips until late last night. I can’t believe that I’m having to resort to using fentanyl just to control my urges.
Update 1/25: The doctor told me that everyone’s starting out on the 2 mg strip, no matter how long a person has been on the MAT program. But today, I watched a guy go from the 300 mg shot to an 8 mg strip…Why didn’t I get that???? I want to kill myself.
Update 1/31: I was finally raised to 4 mg, and on Monday I will transition to 8 mg. Last night was the worst night I’ve had yet: throwing up, tossing and turning, hot and cold sweats. I had to change clothes twice during the night. When I got up this morning, I did my best to find the energy to clean the showers, which I did with a lot of determination.
2/10: I’m on the 8 mg strip now. It works, but for a short time only. I really need 16 mg I think. But I don’t know when my next doctor’s appointment is because they all were cancelled last week, once again due to fog! Note: This is the fourth day that they have been out of the 2 mg strips, which is the starting dose for people new to MAT. There are also still a few guys who were on high-dose injections who have been left on the low-dose strips.
3/4: The pharmacy has been out of 8 mg strips for three days now. Fifteen of us in the RHU have gone without their suboxone. Since 4 plus 4 equals 8, why not give me two 4s?
3/5: According to the computer system, I was due for a chart review on Feb. 28. But that didn’t take place, and my prescription was set to expire on March 3. Then, on March 2, the pharmacy ran out of 8 mg strips (they didn’t arrive until March 4). The bottom line: Since then, I have been off my meds for four days.
Yesterday, a Health Services person was passing out suboxone strips and had the pharmacy tech check if the doctor had responded to the request to renew my prescription. She hadn’t, so I went to medical and filled out a request form regarding this issue. A nurse emailed Dr. Gill AGAIN, and he pulled me aside to show me the exchange: He had written, “Mr. Cooke has been without his 8 mg suboxone for four days now; his prescription is expired and he is in our waiting room now. Would you like to see him today ?” She responded, “No, I don’t need to see Mr. Cooke, but I will review his chart and renew his meds.” I had wanted to talk to her about my need to be on a higher dose!
There is this other guy who transferred in almost two months ago and he is STILL going without his meds! Dr. Gill ordered blood work and said she wanted to wait until she saw the results until she orders him his meds. But then another doctor, who is not in charge of MAT, called the guy into his office and disregarded everything Dr. Gill said. He a looked at the guy’s file and saw that he had blood work done just six months ago. He said, “I don’t know what she’s doing.” And he prescribed the meds.
Later that day, I went to see the captain and said, “So, you don’t want me to get me my meds? Then I will make you all work today and swallow razors. That’s the only thing that seems to get you to act.” I put them in my mouth and got a glass of water ready. Some HSA people came in and gave me strip. They said Dr. Gill had renewed my prescription, but to never threaten anything again or it wouldn’t be good for me. But the VERY next day, I went to get my meds at lunch time and the pharmacy didn’t have it! I walked out came straight to my cell and grabbed some razors. Our treatment specialist in the RHU and the unit manager then called Psychology and I was taken to the visitation holding cell while they had a meeting about me. It was an intense one; the psychologist was livid how this had happened a second day in a row. The next day at pill line, the HSA announced that we have a new provider, but if u try to divert your strips, you will be kicked out of the program for six months. Everyone was like “Damn, Cooke, you got the doctor fired!” The psychologist informed me that “they fucked up with you and everyone in this prison knows about it.” But, bottom line: My meds are renewed now for 90 days!