
Yeah, it's sad: this video is disturbing....
more info:
Cuyahoga County in Ohio passed Sean’s Law, named after singer
Sean Levert, who died in jail from benzodiazepine cessation, which is a policy to protect those on benzodiazepines. Levert, 39, was jailed on March 24, 2008 for owing nearly $90,000 in child support to three children from previous relationships. He died after being
denied his prescribed anti-anxiety medication, Xanax, the entire time he was in jail. A coroner’s report said Xanax withdrawal contributed to Levert’s death. The widow of Sean settled her lawsuit against the county and the company that oversees medical care in the jail for $4 million. Other counties have no policy or unfavorable policies, regarding the potential danger of abrupt benzodiazepine cessation by way of denying inmates their medications of which they are dependent. These variations in policy from one jurisdiction to another make the jailing of iatrogenically dependent benzodiazepine patients an unpredictable risk for both prescribers and patients. For this reason (and many others),
informed consent is essential at the time of initiation of benzodiazepine treatment so that the patient can fully access their risks.
“Sean’s Law”
A Plain Dealer review showed the Cuyahoga County Jail did not have a formal policy for deciding if inmates should get their prescription medications shortly after arrival. Decisions were made on a case-by-case basis, with many prisoners having to wait up to three days before being evaluated. Some inmates had to wait up to two weeks before seeing a doctor who would decide if they should be given medicine they had been prescribed. Benzodiazepine damage can occur within hours or days.
As a result, the jail adopted a policy in 2010, exactly one year after Levert’s death, saying that inmates taking anti-anxiety drugs should be given those drugs once their prescriptions are verified. If the prescription can’t be verified, the inmate should be scheduled to see a psychiatrist that day or the next.
“Sean’s Law,” named for the singer and sponsored in the Ohio General Assembly by State Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Cleveland Heights, would require every county jail to give each inmate a medical, dental and mental health screening on arrival.
It seems the law was ignored.
Joseph Arquillo, 47, an inmate in the same facility as Sean Levert, died in 2019 under the very same circumstances.
Another inmate,
Richard T. Andrews, was paid $300,000 in 2017 for suffering Xanax withdrawal symptoms and seizures, resulting in several surgeries after sustaining bilateral shoulder fractures and dislocation.
In 2020,
new legislation was announced by Ohio State Senator Nickie J. Antonio, requiring Ohio’s jail system to have protocols in place when admitting inmates who are at risk of withdrawal from drugs, alcohol, and/or other prescription benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Ativan and Valium.
Go to jail. Die from a benzodiazepine prescription. There is an alarming trend happening in correctional institutions. Prescribed benzodiazepine-dependent patients, often incarcerated for minor infractions, are dying. After being denied...
www.benzoinfo.com