Anarchist Prisoner Brian McCarvill denied medical care

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Saturday November 29, 2003 00:40

by Thomas - APS

aps at anarchistps dot org

http://www.anarchistps.org/index.shtml

Oregon prison system tortures inmate

Brian McCarvill is a radical social prisoner who was recently involved in taking the Oregon Department of Corrections to court challenging their censorship and rejection of anarchist publications for prisoners with his cell mate Rob Thaxton. By winning the court case he forced the Oregon prison system to allow anarchist materials into its prisons.
Brian (51) has terrible problems with his health and following his victory in the court case, he is being punished by the authorities for taking a stand.

brian mccarvill

Brian McCarvill is a radical social prisoner who was recently involved in taking the Oregon Department of Corrections to court challenging their censorship and rejection of anarchist publications for prisoners with his cell mate Rob Thaxton. By winning the court case he forced the Oregon prison system to allow anarchist materials into its prisons.
Brian (51) has terrible problems with his health and following his victory in the court case, he is being punished by the authorities for taking a stand. They each got a hundred and twenty days in the hole and Brian was transferred to another facility TRCI where there are no chairs with any back support whatsoever. APS Dublin wrote a letter to the ODOC (Oregon Department of Corrections) demanding that Brian received adequate medical care. We were surprised to get a reply and even more surprised to later find that it was a pack of blatant lies. Simply compare the ODOC statement to Brian's account and something doesn't add up. Scott Taylor, Assistant Director ODOC wrote, "I can assure you that the Health Services staff at Two Rivers Correctional Institution is appropriately addressing his medical concerns." A letter from McCarvill later told us that this couldn't be further from the truth. This is a statement Brian asked us to post on Indymedia. " I want to thank you for writing the ODOC director on my behalf. I am kind of upset at the director's reply to you assuring you that my health was being taken care of. That is not the case at all- They have done nothing for me, absolutely nothing.
What is going on is that I have 2 issues with my back;
1. I have a wedged disk (slipped disk), which is extremely painful and requires that I have back support. There are no available chairs with back support here at TRCI- ever, anywhere. This has resulted in aggravation of the wedged disk, swelling and pressure against my spinal cord which is causing numbness and tingling in my arms and legs that is gradually getting worse. The ODOC director and all of ODOC knows this;
2. I have arthritis along my spine due to old trauma (fractures).
TRCI tried to remove all of the paper work associated with my wedged disk from my medical file. I replaced it with documents from outside the prison. TRCI mysteriously "found" the wedged disc documentation after that. However, the problem is ongoing where ODOC staff, at all levels, refuse to acknowledge the wedged disc situation, if they did they would have to provide me with back support and pain relief. Interestingly, it was ODOC personnel who first diagnosed, x-rayed and found the wedged disc problem, ODOC does give me mild anti-inflammatories to treat the arthritis. What they are doing is recognising the arthritis, but refusing to recognise the slipped disc. What are their reasons for doing this? They are wanting to torture me is the only reason. ODOC here at TRCI attempted to remove all information associated with the slipped disc from my medical file. I was able to restore the “disappeared” portions of the file with documents I had stored outside the prison. They knew that there were no chairs or means of back support here at TRCI. They knew that they were condemning me to an isolation unit prison with no available jobs or activities. They did this because I am the one that sued them and this is their response. I am daily in much pain and numbness".
“Please continue to demand that I receive back support. I am in greater pain daily without it and risk permanent damage”.

Brian has not made a big fuss about his case and asks only for adequate medical care, something all prisoners are supposed to receive. At the end of his last letter he told us that the prison officers had told him “sometimes it is better to sit and wait quietly than to raise a ruckus”. Please write to Brian McCarvill at:
Brian McCarvill,
TRCI 11037967,
82911 Beach Access Road,
Umatilla OR 97882,
USA

And write to ODOC Interim Director Ben De Haan and demand an end to retaliation against Brian, his return to OSP and a guarantee of adequate medical care.
ODOC Interim Director Ben De Haan,
Oregon Department of Corrections,
Central Administrations Office,
2575 Center Street,
NE Salem,
OR 97310-0470

Get information on the original court case here http://www.breakthechains.net/btcconference/mccarvill.html
And check the APS website at http://www.anarchistps.org/index.shtml