PEARLAND, Texas – A Pearland woman claims her fiancé is not getting the proper medication he needs in the Harris County Jail to treat his high blood pressure and prevent him from going into cardiac arrest.
Wilma Poole’s fiancé was booked into the jail facility on Feb. 2.
Poole said her fiancé needs to take his prescribed hypertension medicine daily. Poole also added that the man told her he’s been given a different medicine in jail, which is causing adverse reactions.
“He said he’s breaking out in cold sweats. He’s breaking out in hives. He’s having all types of side effects,” Poole said. “And when I try to reach out to anyone to show them his medical records, no one is answering the phone.”
She said she’s tried daily to share his medical records with jail staff over the phone but has not been successful. Poole said her in-person attempt on Tuesday yielded a similar outcome.
“They didn’t care. They wouldn’t even receive the information. Wouldn’t receive the medical records and then they gave me a generic number to call, which was the same number that I’ve been calling,” Poole said.
Poole said she fears her fiancé could have a heart attack, or worse, if he does not get the medication his doctor prescribed.
“He was saying ‘we just had a person die in here because he didn’t receive the medication,’ and he’s saying, ‘I’m praying that this doesn’t happen to me,’” she said.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office issued the following statement about their medication policy:
“Harris Health provides medications to people in jail. We do not accept any form of medications from outside sources because of safety concerns. We circumvent these risks by offering the prescribed and verified medication of choice from our pharmacy.
KOP (Keep on Person) meds for residents are received within 48 hours of incarceration. Non-KOP meds (Mental Health, Pain medications, etc.) are administered by a nurse or pharmacy staff within 24 hours of beings housed.
In the event an incarcerated person has missed a dose of medication (possibly due to a court visit, visitation, etc.), multiple attempts are made to ensure compliance with medication for therapeutic levels.
Further, we follow the TCJS Texas Administrative Code, Title 37, Part 9, Chapter 273.2 Health Services Plan.”
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