services
MEDICAL rrom page 1
and Human Services System.
One of the arguments in the
ombudsman’s report is that Cherry testi
fied on June 17,1999, to having lost his
hospital privileges at Lincoln General -
where he had a private practice -
because four patients of his had died.
He regained his hospital privileges
after further practical training by a sur
gical critical care fellowship. His next
job was at the Department of
Corrections, he testified.
James Davis, assistant ombudsman,
said Cherry’s employment at the institu
tion exemplified the system’s outlook
on prison health care.
“When they are ex-communicated
from the community, they can come
work here,” Davis said.
Pedersen, familiar with some of the
reports, said he will encourage the
group today to “not leave any rocks
unturned” by talking to inmates, former
inmates and former employees of the
correctional facility.
Clarke said he was pleased to pre
sent the information for discussion, but
he and his staff were put in a defensive
position because of the report.
“(The ombudsman) is making a lot
of allegations and accusations that are
not correct, and we want to respond,”
Clarke said. “I want my staff to stand up
and tell the task force what they do on a
day-to-day basis to tell what they do to
care for offenders.”
Davis said the reports were not
opinion but based on inmates’ medical
cases and complaints. Lux agreed and
said the report was made out of concern
for the inmates; it wasn’t slanted
“It would have been simple for us to
ignore this, but it was the right thing to
do,” he said.
Lux said he welcomed the task
force’s investigation because four of the
five members are doctors and have
medical expertise, something his inves
tigation lacked.
Augustine said the task force has set
Feb. 25 as a tentative date to investigate
the health care facilities.
The creation of the task force was
not the only result of the report. One
doctor, who was the whistle-blower that
sprung the report, claims the Nebraska
Department of Corrections retaliated
against him.
The disciplinary action would per
manently affect Fraisal Ahmed’s record,
said Ahmed’s attorney Eric Brown, of
Polsky, Cope, Shiffermiller & Coe.
Brown said the department accused
Ahmed of not getting along with other
staff members, mischarting an evalua
tion of a patient and taking documents
from the facility. A charge that he was
negligent in the care of three patients
was dropped.
All of the charges came after
Ahmed spoke out against the system;
Ahmed had a spotless record before,
Brown said.
The charge that Ahmed didn’t get
along with staff members stemmed
from an incident in which Ahmed yelled
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at nurse Jenni Stoner when she did not
place an important machine - a car
diorespiratory arrest emergency -
inside the room where Robert Zolper, a
former inmate, wus suffering from a
heart attack, Brown said.
Zolper died on Sept. 10,1998, dur
ing attempts to save his life, and Ahmed
was put on six months probation for
yelling at the nurse, Brown said.
On Nov. 22, 1999, in a complaint
against the Nebraska Department of
Correctional Services, the Nebraska
State Personnel Board ruled that Ahmed
had been retaliated against and disci
plined unjustly for yelling at the nurse in
the Zolper incident. The six months of
probation was vacated, Brown said.
The institution gave Ahmed six
months probation when Ahmed was
accused by the institution of mischart
ing a patient’s tnedical record. The
board found there was just cause to dis
cipline Ahmed. Brown said the ruling is
up for appeal.
Ahmed was also suspended for tak
ing documents out of the facility, even
though he was taking them to another
doctor, Brown said. The board never
ruled on the suspension because it was
not part of the claim before the person
nel board, Brown said. He said they
were awaiting a decision on the case.
Also cited in the report is when
Rowland Linemann was struck by an
automobile before being incarcerated at
the Nebraska State Penitentiary in
February 1998. Pins placed in his hand
were removed before incarceration, but
those in his hip were removed at the pen
itentiary.
Linemann refused to allow Cherry
to remove the pins on April 29, 1998,
because he feared Cherry was going to
use maintenance equipment, the report
said. Davis said Linemann also said he
would rather have the procedure done at
Lincoln General Hospital but was told it
would cost him $2,000 to $3,000.
The report said that in Cherry’s
records, a motion was signed by him on
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Marshall Lux
Nebraska ombudsman
April 29, 1998, stating “refuse(d) pin
removal.” Also dated the same day was a
physician’s order stating “please obtain
drill and wrench from maintenance.”
Cherry performed the procedure
and said he was instructed to “remove
the pelvic pins on (Linemann) and (that)
the only criteria he recommended (was)
that (Cherry) use a drill with reverse,”’
the report said.
Since the procedure, Linemann,
now released from prison, said he expe
riences difficulty in mobility.
Lux said the report has already
stirred changes in the facility’s care, but
he is somewhat concerned that the
changes are superficial.
“It’s like a rusty car. You can’t spray
paint over it and still not have prob
lems,” Lux said.
Clarke disagreed and said the quali
ty of care is constant and more than ade
quate. The care will not change when
the task force visits.
“If an offender is in our care and
needs medical care, that medical care
needs to be provided while that offender
is with us,” Clarke said.
But Rosalie Buggart, an inmate at
the Nebraska Correctional Center for
Women, who has a history of breast
cancer in her family - a history that was
relayed to the prison’s medical depart
ment in May 1998 - discovered that
what she was told was a fibroid cyst
while she was incarcerated, was actually
a tumor.
She is awaiting biopsy results, she
said in a complaint to the ombudsman.
Brown said he is working on a civil
suit against the Nebraska Department of
Corrections for Ahmed, who is still
working at the correctional facility.
Groups ask
UNMC for
information
UNMC from page 1
University, Penn State University,
Northwestern University and the
University of Rochester in New
York.
Vicky Cerino, assistant coor
dinator of the public affairs office
at UNMC, said Bartee had
received the letter. She said he
hasn’t had a chance to respond to
it.
Bartee was unavailable for
comment Thursday.
Tom O’Connor, associate
director of public relations at
UNMC, said he did not have a
chance to talk to Bartee about how
he would respond to the letter.
Under the Freedom of
Information Act, government
agencies are required to produce
records to those who request
them, said Amy Miller, interim
executive director of the American
Civil Liberties Union in Lincoln.
If the institution does not pro
vide the requested documents or
records, it has to state the reason,
Miller said.
Schmit Albin said she and the
others want the answers before the
Judiciary Committee meets on
Feb. 23 to discuss LB 1405.
The bill would ban the use of
aborted fetal tissue in research
done in Nebraska.
The answers about the
research will be important in dis
cussing the bill, Schmit-Albin
said.
The answers given by universi
ty officials to state senators and
others to dispel myths about
research at UNMC have been
given in the form of a fact sheet,
Schmit-Albin said.
She said she sees the sheet as
part of a public relations campaign
intended to “smooth over” issues
UNMC has been questioned on.
“We’re not going to be satis
fied with that,” she said.
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