Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Copyright: 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Contact: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28 Author: Carlos Campos, Staff MEDICAL REPRIEVES ILL PRISONERS PAY DEARLY FOR FREEDOM Eric Todd Taylor was given a two-year prison sentence for cocaine and marijuana possession. But after just seven months, he was sent home. Pancreatic cancer had imposed its own, harsher sentence. Taylor, 45, was allowed to leave Augusta State Medical Prison on May 26. He died 11 days later at his mother's home in Kingsland, a small town near the Florida border. "I wanted him to come home," said his mother, Helen Taylor. "I didn't know it was going to be that short." Taylor is one of a handful of inmates freed by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles under what is known as a medical reprieve. Only 54 of Georgia's 47,000 inmates are free under the program. They include six murderers, five armed robbers, two child molesters and others convicted of felonies such as arson, burglary and drug trafficking. The driving force behind the releases is the cost of caring for the inmates, which can be astronomical. Thirty-seven inmates whose medical expenses were classified as "catastrophic" cost the state Department of Corrections $4.1 million. One inmate with lupus, diabetes and kidney failure cost taxpayers $340,000 last year. She died in prison. With medical costs spiraling upward and the number of inmates rising, corrections officials say the number of prisoners released is likely to increase. "If a patient-inmate is requiring a great level of care and they're not a public risk, what point is it to keep them incarcerated at taxpayers' expense?" said William Kissel, state corrections director of health services. Medicaid, which is taxpayer-funded, almost always picks up the tab for the inmates. Releasing an inmate frees up a bed in the crowded state corrections system and relieves the department of the $17,500 average annual cost of caring for a prisoner. The bar for getting a medical reprieve is high, officials say. The vast majority of inmates who suffer accidents or acute illnesses are simply treated and returned to prison. Some are held at prisons designed for disabled or chronically ill inmates. And a medical reprieve is not a ticket out. The majority of those released go home or to a nursing home or hospice to die. Bobby Hayes, 65, was released to the custody of his wife in Cobb County, just 19 months into a 10-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. Hayes, who has congenital heart disease and suffers from continual strokes, spends most of his days in a wheelchair or a bed. Hayes takes 19 medications a day, including a $300 per month heart pill. He estimates his medical costs at $60,000 to $75,000 per year. Hayes, who uses a portable oxygen tank, said he'd gladly go back to prison - "as bad as that place is" - in exchange for good health. Like all inmates on medical reprieve, Hayes is monitored by a parole officer. If an inmate's health improves, or he violates the conditions of his release, he is returned to prison to finish out his sentence. A woman released because she was dying of AIDS was returned to prison after getting arrested for prostitution in Savannah, said Mike Sullivan, director of clemency for the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Inmates who become terminally ill or who cannot receive specialized care while incarcerated are identified by prison doctors as possible candidates for release. Corrections officials then offer a report on the inmate's behavior in prison, one of the considerations for a release. The file is then sent to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, which ultimately weighs the inmate's medical condition against the risk to public safety. Board members also check whether victims of the inmate's crimes object to a release. Such objections have led to denials. The board has the authority to grant or deny any request for a medical reprieve, regardless of Corrections' recommendations. Mike Light, a member of the Parole Board, said members have to carefully weigh the circumstances of the inmate's crime and the medical condition. Light said the first thing he looks at when he is handed a medical reprieve application is the summary of the inmate's crime. "I've got to look at the crime first and foremost and then weigh everything against that," Light said. "There are some horrible people who should die in prison no matter how sick they become." Often, family members initiate a request to have an inmate released. Farris Davis, 58, in prison on a life sentence since 1990 for murder and aggravated assault, was denied a medical reprieve in June. Davis' family lobbied for the release after he had surgery following an abdominal aneurysm. Davis, who suffers from poor circulation, high blood pressure and other health problems, had his leg amputated below the knee and has limited use of his right arm. The Corrections Department's chief medical officer, Dr. Joseph Paris, recommended Davis for release. But in his recommendation to deny Davis' request, the Board of Pardons and Paroles hearing examiner who reviewed the case wrote, "Due to the nature of the subject's offense and that death does not appear to be imminent, I do not recommend the reprieve be granted." Davis said he is sorry for shooting Bradford William Thomas during a drug deal in Dalton, and maintains he is not a danger to society. "The way I am now, I'm just stuck with somebody else taking care of me," Davis said from his hospital bed at Augusta State Medical Prison. "If I was out there, I wouldn't be no expense for nobody. In here, all I'm doing is costing the state money." Davis' daughter, Tammy Cross, said she will continue fighting for a medical reprieve. She acknowledges that her father has gotten better in recent weeks, but still wants him home. "I want to make sure that his recovery is full and complete," Cross said. "I don't want him being in there where I don't know if they're taking care of him." But Light said Davis still needs to be punished for killing a man during a drug deal. "He's only served 13 years. The crime is still relatively fresh and there's some time still to be served here." [sidebar] WHO WAS RELEASED? The state Board of Pardons and Paroles has the authority to release seriously ill prison inmates under the medical reprieve program. Some key facts about the program: Number of inmates out on medical reprieve:...........54 Crimes committed by those on reprieve: Drug violations:..........16 Murder:....................6 Armed Robbery:.............5 Burglary:..................5 Robbery:...................4 Voluntary manslaughter:....3 Aggravated assault:........3 Arson:.....................2 Child Molestation:.........2 Theft by Taking:...........2 Other:.....................6 The following costs and medical conditions reflect the 10 most expensive in 2002 among individual inmates in the Georgia prison system. The inmates' names were withheld. $450,839...............Respiratory failure $340,423...............Lupus, diabetes, renal failure* $259,450...............AIDS, pneumonia $172,470...............Stroke* $159,989...............Rectal prolapse, surgery $153,342...............Peritonitis, acute renal failure* $149,679...............Bladder cancer* $130,529...............Cirrhosis of liver* $131,844...............Lung cancer* $118,888...............Aortic aneurysm *Deceased Denied a medical reprieve. *Paroled, August 1999 Source - State Department of Corrections, state Board of Pardons and Paroles - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake