Medical care at jail still 'unconstitutional' according to latest report

The Metropolitan Detention Center continues to provide unconstitutionally poor medical care, according to a recently released medical audit.

The report details poor staffing, long waits for detox, unreliable responses to medical emergencies and no framework to track patients' chronic conditions, medical history, medications and preventative care, such as vaccinations.

“The Court’s expert found that care is unconstitutional,” said Kate Loewe, an attorney representing those incarcerated at the Bernalillo County jail under a class-action settlement. “What that means in real life terms is that people are suffering.”

And that suffering has a name, Loewe said.

“What that looks like is Mr. (Ernest) Tafoya lying in the floor of his cell telling people he is dying and needs to go to the hospital hours before he died in August,” Loewe said. “What it looks like are hundreds of people every month sick from withdrawal because they are not being treated with Suboxone.”

On Aug. 16, Tafoya was booked into MDC on drug-possession charges; less than 48 hours later and before he could appear before a judge — he was dead.

And Tafoya isn’t the only one — 41 people have died in custody since 2020. Three people have died this year, two of them within one week in early February. The cause of death is yet to be determined in both recent cases, though one man died after attempting suicide.

MDC spokesperson Candace Hopkins said the jail is taking the audit "seriously and remains focused on maintaining a safe and secure environment for both staff and inmates."

Meanwhile, officials with the University of New Mexico Hospital, which took over health care at the jail more than two years ago, said in an email that their providers are meeting “nationally recognized health care standards” and that the settlement agreement “exceeds typical community standards of care used in detention facilities.”

Loewe disagrees and believes that UNMH has had adequate time and guidance to mend the jail’s broken health care system. Their inaction, Loewe said, is not only affecting incarcerated people but the doctors and nurses who treat them.

“I’m grateful for the committed physicians and nurses who show up every day,” Loewe said. “They and the people in the jail deserve a functioning system. The constitution and the court require it.”

The medical report written by Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar describes issues as largely systemic, citing that staff are “clearly motivated and committed” but have “insufficient support.”

Though staffing has improved, Anandkumar wrote, there is not enough permanent staff to cover shifts. The growing inmate population has further strained existing staff, the report details.

UNMH spokesperson Chris Ramirez also said that staffing is a concern, writing in a statement that the hospital “welcomes continued collaboration with Bernalillo County leadership to identify a sustainable path forward.”

Anandkumar wrote that medical providers aren’t receiving proper training for their roles. While visiting the facility in October, Anandkumar said he met with the nurse tasked with wound care who did not have adequate training in wound care.

Anandkumar also described workflow problems that cause prescription and lab orders to be significantly delayed. Without proper technological support, medical staff can't properly track chronic conditions, meaning that sick patients are going without medications they were already prescribed, according to the report.

Additionally, Anandkumar writes that communication between guards and medical staff is “inconsistent and unreliable” leading to “preventable medical emergencies.”

Though Anandkumar described the medical professionals in charge of the detox unit as a “skilled team,” he said that the unit remains understaffed and as a result waitlists are long.

Patients in the unit are not always receiving their doses on time, he wrote. Outside the unit, inmates in active withdrawals are often not flagged by guards for care, according to the report.

The jail is failing to uphold its end of the settlement agreement, Loewe said.

She and other attorneys have since asked a U.S. District Court judge to fine Bernalillo County for violating terms of the settlement agreement in an attempt to spur reform, according to court documents.

“Unfortunately, much of MDC’s population is made up of those individuals who are at greater risk for sudden death, including those struggling with substance abuse and unhoused and/or economically depressed individuals without regular access to medical care,” wrote Bernalillo County attorneys Kelsea Sona and Marcus Rael Jr. in a Jan. 14 response letter.

The court is yet to determine how to get the jail back on track, though a hearing is scheduled for mid-April.

Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.