Our other practice areas
A lot of our readership is NC based and they often email me asking when we'll post something dealing with prison misconduct or malpractice. Those are our other two major practice areas and we are currently involved in police and prison misconduct lawsuits as well as malpractice lawsuits here in NC.
While we would like to keep this blog focused on products liability to the exclusion of these, we will, from time to time, post on prisoner rights issues and other legal topics of interest.
For example, I read an article from the Fayetteville Observer discussing Cumberland County's Detention Center and its recent outbreak with MRSA. The article can be found here, and more discussion of this news is on the flip. MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is a serious and potentially life-threatening bacterial infection which is sometimes lumped into the present day definition of "super-bug". More often than not, MRSA is found in populations of people who are either in hospitalization, dialysis, or recently released from surgery. These people have weakened immune systems and are easy prey for the "super-bug" or MRSA.
According to the Observer article:
Detention centers, prisons, colleges, universities, boarding schools and high schools, are a rising problem for "community associated" MRSA or, CA-MRSA. Outbreaks of CA-MRSA in these settings is becoming increasingly common. There have recently been outbreaks of CA-MRSA in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, as well as several state run prisons in Anson Co. a few years ago.
It is very important for the community as whole to know more specifically how these inmates became infected, what steps, standards, or procedures does Cumberland County Detention Center follow when antibiotic resistant infections occur, and finally what additional measures will CCDC take in the future to prevent outbreaks?
Just saying we're giving them stronger antibiotics isn't good enough, especially when one considers that these detainees are typically in jail for only a short period of time and then released right back out into the community. Are detainees currently scheduled for a near-date release being tested for MRSA before their release? If this is CA-MRSA, it would seem to us to be a very important question.
Our law firm routinely handles prisoner rights issues, and though this area of the law is growing, there are still many new areas to explore. What rights do you, as a community member have, in order to make sure prisons and jails are not releasing inmates without adequate medical care into the general population? It's a tough question but one that needs to be answered as outbreaks like this are bound to increase.
While we would like to keep this blog focused on products liability to the exclusion of these, we will, from time to time, post on prisoner rights issues and other legal topics of interest.
For example, I read an article from the Fayetteville Observer discussing Cumberland County's Detention Center and its recent outbreak with MRSA. The article can be found here, and more discussion of this news is on the flip. MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is a serious and potentially life-threatening bacterial infection which is sometimes lumped into the present day definition of "super-bug". More often than not, MRSA is found in populations of people who are either in hospitalization, dialysis, or recently released from surgery. These people have weakened immune systems and are easy prey for the "super-bug" or MRSA.
According to the Observer article:
Two inmates at the Cumberland County Detention Center are being treated for staph infections, according to county health officials. [...]
The infected inmates, who were diagnosed 14 to 21 days ago, are now taking stronger antibiotics, Raynor said.
“The two inmates are not an imminent health threat to the detention center population, and there is no need for inmate quarantine,” Debbie Tanna, spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement.
Detention centers, prisons, colleges, universities, boarding schools and high schools, are a rising problem for "community associated" MRSA or, CA-MRSA. Outbreaks of CA-MRSA in these settings is becoming increasingly common. There have recently been outbreaks of CA-MRSA in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, as well as several state run prisons in Anson Co. a few years ago.
It is very important for the community as whole to know more specifically how these inmates became infected, what steps, standards, or procedures does Cumberland County Detention Center follow when antibiotic resistant infections occur, and finally what additional measures will CCDC take in the future to prevent outbreaks?
Just saying we're giving them stronger antibiotics isn't good enough, especially when one considers that these detainees are typically in jail for only a short period of time and then released right back out into the community. Are detainees currently scheduled for a near-date release being tested for MRSA before their release? If this is CA-MRSA, it would seem to us to be a very important question.
Our law firm routinely handles prisoner rights issues, and though this area of the law is growing, there are still many new areas to explore. What rights do you, as a community member have, in order to make sure prisons and jails are not releasing inmates without adequate medical care into the general population? It's a tough question but one that needs to be answered as outbreaks like this are bound to increase.
