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August 1, 2008

Second inmate dies after jail release

Brownlow: Effects of prolonged drug use now being seen in inmates with poor health

By Art Lawler Cedar Creek Pilot

Like Debra Lee Newton, Donna Carroll, 49, of Mabank was released from jail on a personal recognizance bond a few days before she died earlier this month.

The cases of the two women are similar in some respects.

Both were handled by area police on drug charges. Both became ill while in the Henderson County Jail. And both were released on $5,000 personal recognizance bonds once it was determined they needed major medical attention.

Both also died within several days of being released from Henderson County Sheriff’s Department custody.

While Newton’s body was disposed of without an autopsy being performed, Carroll’s body was autopsied.

The difference?

Carrol’s death was “unattended” at her home in Mabank. State law requires that all such deaths undergo autopsy.

Newton died at ETMC as a patient of the hospital.

Are these deaths, less than three months apart, cause for alarm about inmate healthcare in the county facility once an inmate becomes ill, or as outgoing County Sheriff Ronny Brownlow suspects, are we seeing the end product of what some health officials predicted could happen five years ago?

In 2003, the county went through an epidemic when methamphetamine labs were so high in number, the sheriff’s department lacked sufficient resources to deal with them.

“We were told several years ago, ‘We have no idea what the medical extent from the use of meth will be down the road,’’’ Brownlow said.

The consensus of those people was, the long-range psychological and physical health impact could be disastrous.

“In my opinion, we’re beginning to see the effects, Brownlow said Tuesday afternoon. “I think this is just the beginning.”

Drug users often run afoul of the law and wind up in county jail. If they’ve been using for years, their immune systems are often compromised, and they may have further endangered themselves by using dirty needles, which often lead to HIV, or hepatitis.

With financial help from the state, the Henderson County Drug Task Force was formed with law enforcement agencies around the county offering manpower and other forms of assistance.

What followed was a record year for lab busts in the county.

In fact, Henderson County led the state in such busts, exposing 36 of them during a 12-month period.

But getting the lab situation under control — temporarily anyway — only addressed one phase of the problem.

Brownlow said he had meetings with state health officials, as well as MHMR representatives at the time.

“They were gathering stats, nationwide, statewide, by county and within Texas,” Brownlow said.

“So many of the people we were handling through mental health MHMR, and the Andrews Center, appeared to be suffering from problems related to meth use.”

Brownlow said Smith County is launching a Health Court just to deal with mental patient cases, partly because of the continuing effects of meth use.

“It rots teeth. It’s poison,” Brownlow said. “Absolute poison. They take lithium out of batteries, and we started to see it leaking from sores on people who had used meth for a period of time.”

Cause of death for Newton is listed on her death certificate, but such records are not available to the public, unless a family member or her attorney gives its permission to be released.

But a preliminary report received by Pct. 5 Justice of the Peace Tommy Barnett from the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science in Dallas leaves little doubt that Carroll’s death was the result of chemical abuse.

The external examination revealed that the woman died of liver disease due to Hepatitis C and chronic alcoholism and also from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and smoking.

If the cause of Newton’s death turns out to be similar, Brownlow’s fears may have some validity.

And if it’s true, the recent television stories about jail inmate deaths may be mild by comparison to grim stories waiting to be told about Henderson County residents in the late stages of drug addiction.

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