Getting an Aspirin Will Be Complicated Under Jail Policy

Health care officials trying to limit their exposure to medical malpractice claims at Orange County Jail said Thursday that they plan to establish a new policy Jan. 1 requiring inmates to consult a nurse before they can obtain aspirin.

A nurse now passes out aspirin four times a day to inmates requesting it.

Eileen Walsh, manager of the county’s Correctional Medical Services, said the new policy was suggested by the California Medical Assn., which recently released a preliminary review of the jail medical facilities for possible future CMA accreditation.

But inmates have complained about the new aspirin policy because under it they may have to wait for hours to get relief for a simple headache.

Walsh said the jail’s policy is to respond to an inmate’s health complaint within 24 hours, and she acknowledged that it could take several hours for an inmate to be examined.

“That’s life in the jail,” she said.

Grievance Filed on Issue

Thomas Maniscalco, an inmate who has been at the Orange County Jail about 4 years awaiting trial on charges of a triple murder, said that he has been taking aspirin for a toothache and that he has filed a grievance about the difficulties the new policy would cause him.

Apparently by mistake, a jail nurse denied Maniscalco aspirin earlier this week, telling him he needed a doctor’s prescription. Maniscalco was later given the aspirin without a prescription after Walsh said the policy is not in effect yet.

“When a person is miserable with a bad toothache or some arthritis, you’re not in a mood to go down there and sit on a bench with a bunch of sick people for several hours just to get an aspirin,” Maniscalco said. “You have no idea the everyday things in this place that are designed to just wear you down.”

Maniscalco, who is also a lawyer, said the new policy on aspirin violates court rulings on the amount of “unnecessary pain” the jail conditions cause inmates awaiting trial. He said there is a different standard for discomfort regarding the rights of convicted criminals.

Walsh said one of the reasons for the new policy is that aspirin can be dangerous to people with certain medical conditions. She said, for example, that many inmates have liver problems caused by alcoholism or repeated hepatitis and that aspirin can aggravate those conditions.

The CMA has recommended to county jails that they document the distribution of aspirin to inmates and that the medical history of prisoners be checked before the medication is given.

“Other jails have had some bad experiences” with inmates suffering side effects after receiving Tylenol or aspirin, Walsh said. She declined to comment on whether any county inmates have had negative effects from aspirin or Tylenol.

Walsh and officials from the CMA and the state Board of Corrections said the aspirin policy was not sparked by a particular court action against a jail.

But the officials said there is a potential legal liability when county nurses distribute medication that proves to be harmful.

“The difference is that if you have a headache on the street and you take an aspirin, you’re taking the responsibility,” Walsh said. “In here, people are taking medication, and they’re getting it from our staff.”