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URGENT ACTION FOR MUMIA
Prison Radio
11 Sept 2015
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Please see below message from Mumia’s lawyers circulated by Prison Radio. On 4 September, Mumia's cell was searched and his property packed up in his absence, a violation of prison procedures. There are suspicions the prison authorities intend to transfer him away from family and other supporters; a move could jeopardize his already fragile health. Mumia is still being denied the medical treatment he needs by prison authorities.
Write or call to urge the PA Department of Corrections (DOC) to act in Mumia’s best interests and refrain from transferring him. Press the DOC to give Mumia, and the 10,000 other PA Prisoners with Hepatitis C, the cure they need.
John Wetzel, Secretary of Corrections, Pennsylvania Phone: (717) 728-2573
John Kerestes, Superintendent, SCI-Mahanoy prison: Phone: (570) 773-2158
From: Noelle Hanrahan
[mailto:prisonradio=gmail.com@mail56.wdc01.mcdlv.net] On Behalf Of Noelle Hanrahan
Sent: Wednesday, September 09,
2015 3:49 PM
Subject: Mumia's Lawyers on
Medical Update
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Dear
friend-
The
injunction we filed seeks a court order for immediate lifesaving
treatment to Mumia.
The prison administration
continuing to deny Mumia all treatment. Like hundreds of thousands
of other prisoners, Mumia is suffering from a damaging disease
for one reason only: the Hepatitis C cure is controlled by Gilead, which is profiteering off the pain
of prisoners and at the expense of the nation’s public
health. They are charging $1,000 per pill. Correct Care
Solutions (PA Department of Correction's health contractor)
makes money off denying prisoners health care.
Our legal
suit is challenging these inhumane corporations. This fight is for
all of us.
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Summary of
Medical Crisis of Mumia Abu-Jamal
From Mumia's
Lawyers Robert Boyle & Bret Grote
The following is a summary of the medical issues currently
confronting Mumia Abu-Jamal, now a prisoner at SCI Mahanoy in Pennsylvania.
A detailed presentation of his issues is contained in the papers
filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of
Pennsylvania in the case of Abu-Jamal v. Kerestes
and will be made available upon request.
Mumia Abu Jamal is suffering from “active” hepatitis C, a
serious liver disease. Tests performed over the last several
months show that Mr. Abu-Jamal’s liver likely has “significant
fibrosis” (scarring) and deteriorated function. The
disease has also manifested itself in other ways. He has a
persistent, painful skin rash over most of his body.
Our
consulting physician, who visited Mr. Abu-Jamal has concluded that it
is likely a disease known as necrolytic acral erythma, a
condition that is almost always associated with an untreated
hepatitis C infection. Mr. Abu-Jamal has been diagnosed with
“anemia of chronic disease”, another common consequence
of hepatitis C. He has sudden-onset
adult diabetes, a complication that led to an episode of
diabetic shock on March 30, 2015. Most recently, he has begun to lose
weight again.
Mr. Abu Jamal’s hepatitis C can be cured – and the
painful and dangerous consequences alleviated– if the
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) would administer
the direct acting anti-viral medication that has now become
the standard for treatment for hepatitis C infections.
According to the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease
(AASLD), this hepatitis C treatment “results in sustained
virologic response (SVR) which is tantamount to virologic
cure”. The AASLD protocol has been adopted by the United States
Bureau of Prisons.
Under
that protocol, Mr. Abu-Jamal is a candidate for immediate
treatment.
The DOC has known of Mr. Abu-Jamal’s hepatitis C infection
since 2012- but never conducted a complete hepatitis C workup
until recently. His skin condition, which had been intermittent
for several years, worsened and became constant in August 2014.
His health had deteriorated to such an extent that he was admitted
to the hospital in May 2015. Over those eight days numerous
tests were conducted that ruled out many conditions, including
some cancers.
Those tests led the doctors to conclude that the symptoms were
likely caused by the hepatitis C. In June 2015, after Mr.
Abu-Jamal’s release from the hospital, his
attorneys demanded that a complete hepatitis C workup be
conducted and treatment administered. But it took several weeks for
those simple blood tests to be taken.
They concluded that Mr. Abu-Jamal does, in fact, have an active
hepatitis C infection. Notwithstanding that determination, and
Mr. Abu-Jamal’s continued suffering and deteriorated
health, he has not been given the anti-viral drugs.
As our
consulting expert had concluded, “failure to treat Mr.
Abu-Jamal’s hepatitis C will result in serious harm to his
health, as his current-hepatic symptoms will not be cured, and
he faces an increasingly serious risk of suffering from fibrosis
and cirrhosis, liver cancer, complications of his diabetes, and
eventual death.”
A motion for an injunction seeking treatment is pending in federal
court.
However,
the treatment, as our medical expert has stated, should
begin “immediately”. Given the overwhelming and
undisputed evidence that Mr. Abu-Jamal is suffering from an active
infection, treatment should not await a determination by the
court. It must begin now.
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Mumia May Face
Retaliatory Transfer
September
7, 2015. Two days ago, prison staff boxed-up all Mumia’s
personal effects from his cell while he was in the prison infirmary
trying to recover from the prison’s medical malfeasance and
neglect that nearly killed him.
The handling of prison property in the absence of a prisoner is a
violation of prison procedures. After signing the forms required
when prisoner property is placed in storage, Mumia asked if he was
about to be moved to a different facility, since the boxing up of a
prisoner’s property usually precedes a transfer. An officer
assured him that he would not be transferred; but this all seemed
really strange to Mumia.
A
retaliatory transfer to some other prison would be a new blow
against Mumia’s health, and would steep him and his family in
greater fear and uncertainty. Take action now!
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Luchando por la justicia y la
libertad,
Noelle Hanrahan
Director
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