At 26 years old, Larry Darrell Douglas died after 13 days in Potter County Jail in Amarillo, Texas. He died on March 10, 2022, of unknown causes. The custodial death report includes details on the medical treatment he received in the jail.

 The Texas Commission on Jail Standards consistently reports that the topic of greatest complaint in Texas county jails is medical care. Cases of medical neglect do not appear as a result of annual jail inspections, though one exception is when the neglect is directly related to restraints. Documentation, including electronic records, indicates whether inmates in restraints are being checked on every 15 minutes, as required. But if a person is sick and doesn’t get the medical care they need in a timely manner, it doesn’t seem to have a way of showing up through the only means of oversight, which is jail inspections.

Texas isn’t the only state in which county jails are accused of medical neglect of inmates. The following are details from the last few months with regard to a county jail outside of Texas.

An Inmate Speaks Up About Medical Neglect

A former inmate of a county jail outside Texas has made it known that he did not receive treatment for a perforated stomach. He says that he lay on the floor of his cell in excruciating pain for four days. He further described a debilitating condition he suffers from that is known as eosinophilic gastroenteritis. For treatment of the condition, he is required to take medication daily. He has been granted disability through Social Security because of the severity of his condition.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and this continuing series.

This website does not mean to suggest that anyone or any organization has been a participant in misdeeds. The purpose of posts on this site is to help county jail inmates in Texas.

–Guest Contributor