The suicide death of a 37 year old Aboriginal woman Tracey Inglis in a Queensland prison following a lengthy denial of access to pain medication has prompted the Queensland Coroner to conclude urgent changes are needed in prison medical and pain services. ABC Radio’s AM program reported recently that Ms Inglis, who had suffered chronic pain for several years following a car accident (as well as tooth abscess and depression), was denied appropriate pain medication and resorted to pressing against the cold cell block wall  in an attempt to numb the pain.

The treating prison doctor did not believe Ms Inglis suffered from chronic pain, based solely on the doctor’s assessment that the various severe orthopaedic injuries Ms Inglis had suffered over the years would have healed completely. No inquires were made to confirm this view. The doctor also wrongly believed Ms Inglis never complained about inadequate pain relief during previous periods of imprisonment. In fact Ms Inglis made numerous written and oral requests for more medication and complained on numerous occasions to her cellmates that she was in severe pain.

The case has prompted the coroner to call for:

• urgent changes to policies relating to prisoner access to medication;
• faster verification of prescriptions; and
• the right to telephone Queensland’s Health Quality and Complaints Commission.

The original AM report can be accessed here and the transcript of the coronial inquiry here. You may also be interested in endorsing the Declaration of Montreal, which seeks to ensure the recognition of the intrinsic dignity of all persons and that the withholding of pain treatment is profoundly wrong.