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Ex-Tulsa Jail officials say inmates routinely denied meds

Posted at 9:30 AM, Jul 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-21 10:30:45-04

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Two former Oklahoma jail officials allege a physician routinely delayed or denied medications to incoming inmates.

The Tulsa World  reports that former Capt. Billy McKelvey and former Maj. Shannon Clark of the Tulsa Jail filed testimonies Friday in a former inmate's civil rights lawsuit against Armor Correctional Health Services.

The suit alleges "deliberate indifference" to the medical needs of 39-year-old Catherine Lee Freeman. Freeman says she suffered seizures and was put on mechanical ventilation after the Armour physician halted her prescribed medications in 2014.

McKelvey says the physician refused to prescribe psychotropic medications to inmates.

Clark says Armor's standard practice was to weigh an inmate's medical needs against the estimated length of time a person would be detained.

Armor says Freeman was monitored and prescribed medications to assist with withdrawal.

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