Michael Kaplan

NEW CASES OF COVID-19  LOMPOC FEDERAL PRISON: 310  REST OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTRY:1   An incarcerated physician describes his  chilling experiences with healthcare at  Lompoc Prison. The medical staff was rumored to be staffed by Doctors Mengele and Kevorkian, recruited from Africa after their clitorectomy practice dried up. They supposedly emerged at Lompoc where they learned they would be inoculated against civil litigation. When you enter prison, the world leaves you behind. You quickly realize that your life is inconsequential, and your medical problems are of little import. In my case, I needed a prostate pill that I had taken for years which was not on the formulary of drugs provided by the clinic. The formulary held a grand total of about one hundred types of pills to cover a gamut of medical illnesses. As long as your condition could be treated by one of those few pills, you were in good shape. If not, you had to request an appointment to see Dr. K...

Disgraced rapper R. Kelly now resides in Chicago MCC, a guest of the BOP as he awaits his trial on racketeering and sexual misconduct charges. Like other well-heeled he inmates he has attempted to await further disposition in home confinement. The facility where he currently resides is home to over 700 other men. Obviously, social distancing is nonexistent at MCC, but in addition, there is a paucity of toilet paper. There is hand sanitizer, but only for use by the staff. With underlying medical problems that put him at greater risk, the rapper has a reasonable expectation of being placed in an environment that is not potentially deadly.

The 2,300,000 people who are incarcerated in the United States are extraordinarily vulnerable to Covid-19.  Prison is a perfect breeding ground for the virus. There is no practical way to separate inmates. China has admitted to over 500 deaths in their prisons from Covid-19, primarily involving prisons in Shandong, and Zhejiang. Because of the combination of virulence and close living quarters that inmates experience, some countries have moved to release prisoners, as much as practical. While fortunately, 80% of cases of Covid-19 appear to be mild, 15% are severe, requiring hospitalization, and another 5% are deemed critical. Those at greatest risk are the elderly, and inmates with hypertension, diabetes, and lung disease. Sadly, there are a great number of inmates who fall into these vulnerable categories.