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Care provider testifies in inmate mental health suit

Montgomery Advertiser - 1/5/2017

Jan. 05--Roughly a month since a class action lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections first began, a mental health care provider testified to a lack of consistent medical records within DOC facilities.

The suit, brought on behalf of all 25,000 disabled Alabama inmates, was filed in June 2014 by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

It alleges egregious neglect and deliberate indifference toward all disabled inmates, but this phase of the trial focuses solely on the mentally ill.

"Prisoners with mental illnesses or serious psychological problems are entirely denied mental health care or provided only with medication with little or no medication management, follow-up, or concern for side effects, some of which are debilitating," the complaint reads.

Brought against ADOC, ADOC Commissioner Jefferson Dunn and ADOC associate commissioner of health services Ruth Naglich, part of the suit hinges on the involvement of MHM Correctional Services, which is contracted by ADOC to provide mental health care in ADOC facilities.

According to the complaint, the contract between MHM and ADOC provides for a part-time psychologist at Donaldson, Bullock, Limestone and Holman and a full-time psychologist at Tutwiler. No psychologist is provided for the remaining 10 facilities.

Anna Walker-Davis, an MHM Correctional Services, testified that an Easterling -- a prison with 195 inmates on its mental health caseload -- had 23 patients with past-due labs. Forty treatment plans were outdated or requiring review. Gaps in record keeping were not uncommon.

"Corrective action is imperative by senior management," Walker-Davis wrote in an email to higher-ups at MHM.

But Walker-Davis could not specify whether the gaps should be attributed to a lack of keeping accurate records, or a failure to provide care.

The plaintiffs' attorneys point to "systemic underfunding" of medical care in the facilities as one of the root problems. In part, the defense argues that such underfunding makes Dunn not liable for many of the woes the plaintiffs argue plague ADOC's health care.

John Smith, an attorney for the defendants, contended that the some of the changes the plaintiffs want made to the prison system go beyond his scope of authority.

"If (Dunn) does not in his official capacity have the ability to affect these changes, I don't see how he can be found deliberately indifferent," Smith said.

The trial is expected to continue for at least two more weeks.

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