FOR THE SECOND TIME
by Sharon Rondeau
(May 18, 2017) — In a letter received on Thursday, Tennessee state inmate Grenda Harmer reported that beginning on Sunday afternoon, three prescription medications which were inexplicably discontinued approximately three weeks ago were dispensed.
Shortly after arriving at SCCF from another CoreCivic-operated institution on April 5, Harmer reported that his medication supply was running low. He documented his request to see a physician for a checkup for his three medical conditions as well as medication reauthorization.
Harmer was told that it would take two weeks to schedule an appointment with a doctor but has not, to the best of our knowledge as of press time, seen one.
Mail between The Post & Email and Tennessee prison inmates generally takes 3-5 days to arrive.
On April 7, Harmer wrote that his prescription eyeglasses and another doctor-recommended medical device were taken by medical staff and not returned. The Post & Email has not yet learned whether or not those have been or will be restored; a letter sent to Warden Cherry Lindamood last month about the confiscated items received no response.
After his medications ran out, Harmer filed a number of grievances using the procedure outlined in the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) Administrative Policies and Procedures manual, copies of which he provided to The Post & Email.
On April 27, Harmer was accused by staff of “possible attempt to intimidate,” an allegation which is not listed in the TDOC manual, and placed in solitary confinement on “pending investigation” (PI) status.
After arriving and spending hours on “a cold piece of steel,” Harmer was charged with possessing a pair of boots not on his property list. He refused to sign the disciplinary report.
The charge was dismissed once he showed proof that the boots were purchased and documented properly. However, the boots and other clothing were taken from him and then stolen. In Thursday’s letter, Harmer said he has discovered who the thief is.
Although told that segregation would last “a week,” Harmer was not returned to the general population until May 11. He reported deepening medical symptoms from the lack of his medications.
During his time in segregation, Harmer reported “no hot running water” in the cell and what he believed was black mold in the shower area. He said he began to experience pain in his joints as a result of going without the prescription Naproxen for degenerative joint disease. He described additional side effects from the absence of Prilosec for acid reflux disease and Terazosin for a necessary bodily function.
On May 6, a charge of “Defiance” was leveled against him in the customary three-page disciplinary report which in Thursday’s letter, Harmer said was also dismissed.
On Tuesday of last week, The Post & Email contacted the same spokesman for the prison’s private medical provider, Correct Care Solutions (CCS), who we reached in March when Harmer was deprived of his medications at TTCC. The spokesman, Jim Cheney, responded to our email and said he would inquire about the situation, as he did before.
Not having received a response by Friday, The Post & Email sent a second email to Cheney, who contacted only after TDOC Communications Director Neysa Taylor failed to respond to our email sent on May 1.