Judge alleges medical neglect

PALMER -- A District Court judge has released a prisoner from Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility after the Department of Corrections allegedly failed to give him proper medical care. A spokesman for the department denied the charge.

Judge Ethan Windahl approved Shirley Parrish of Anchorage as court-appointed third party for her son, Robert, during a court session Tuesday.

Robert Parrish has diabetes and appeared ill during arraignment in District Court on Monday. Public defender Carmen Spiropoulos said Parrish has an insulin pump but jail personnel allowed the insulin to run out.

"He looks not well to me," Spiropoulos said.

"If he has an insulin pump and there's no insulin in it, it appears the Department of Corrections isn't doing its job," Windahl said.

The judge stopped Monday's arraignment and ordered that Parrish return to MSPTF for medical treatment. He vowed to release Parrish if he hadn't gotten treatment by Tuesday.

"We haven't convicted the Department of Corrections yet but the burden is on them," Windahl said.

Parrish faces a charge of misconduct involving a controlled substance with intent to deliver. He was arrested June 8.

He has his own blood sugar monitoring kit and checks himself regularly when not incarcerated, but said the Department of Corrections wouldn't allow him to use the device.

Parrish has an ongoing insulin prescription at an Anchorage pharmacy, and his mother said she offered to bring insulin and tubing for her son's pump to the jail but Corrections officials denied the request.

"They told me no," Shirley Parrish said under oath.

On Tuesday, Parrish appeared before Judge Windahl again and still looked ill. Later, during a telephone interview, he said a jail nurse gave him some insulin shortly after 6 a.m. on Tuesday and again at noon that day. However, the amounts were too small to reduce his blood sugar to a comfortable level, Parrish said.

"I was basically out of it in court that day," he said.

Assistant District Attorney Bob Collins suggested that a history of drug use, not jail policy, was responsible for Parrish's appearance. "I am sure DOC will see to his medical needs," Collins said.

The biggest problem, according to Parrish, is that jail policy prevents him from testing himself often enough to administer required dosages of insulin.

He had his testing kit with him when arrested and it was taken to MSPTF, but it remained locked up throughout his incarceration, Parrish said.

Meanwhile, Alaska Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Burnett said Wednesday that a quick investigation found nothing wrong at MSPTF.

He consulted with the department's primary physician, Dr. John Robertson, who checked into procedures being followed.

"Dr. Robertson reviewed Mr. Parrish's charts and he is confident the department did the proper thing," Burnett said. "We have every reason to believe the department gave responsible medical care."

In releasing Parrish to his mother, Judge Windahl said, "This is a bit unusual but I'm concerned that he gets the help he needs. Then he'll be able to assist the public defender better.

"I just don't think he should sit here until the Department of Corrections gets itself organized."

Parrish's next court appearance in Palmer is set for today at 2:30 p.m.

Shirley Parrish cried during a break in Tuesday's proceedings. She said Robert has been at Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility in Anchorage and Wildwood Pre-Trial Facility in Kenai without any insulin problems. She said MSPTF officials should have known his condition because he'd been there a week.

Once during incarceration in Palmer, Robert's blood sugar registered so high it was off the testing machine's meter, according to Shirley Parrish.

"I don't want to make trouble," she said, "but I don't want to lose him."