NJ Inmate Couldn’t Get Doc Visit, So He Cleaned Wound With Bleach

NEWARK, NJ — You’ll use anything to clean a wound when you’re desperate enough – even bleach, a New Jersey prison inmate's relatives say.

Recently, Jessica Ambrose of Piscataway and Carmelita Ambrose, a phlebotomist/toxicologist from North Plainfield, reached out to Patch in the name of their family member, who is incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. The 36-year-old has just over five months left to serve on his sentence, but he's dealing with serious health issues, including diabetes.

And until Wednesday night, they were afraid for his life.

Jessica Ambrose said she’s been trying her best to advocate for her spouse, who she asked not be named.

She's now “on a first name basis” with the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) ombudsman, and has been reaching out to other groups such as the ACLU of New Jersey. But Ambrose and her sister-in-law say they’ve been fighting an uphill battle and it’s wearing them out.

“We’re not in a Third World country here,” Ambrose lamented. “He’s supposed to have access to basic medical needs. This is neglect in the prison system.”

CLEANING A WOUND WITH BLEACH

According to the NJDOC database, Ambrose’s husband was charged with burglary in Ocean County in 2016. Authorities sentenced him to four years in state prison. He began serving his time at the Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Trenton, the first of several jails he’d end up getting transferred to over the next four years.

In 2018, Ambrose’s husband was sent to Northern State Prison in Newark. And that’s where the problems with his foot first happened, she said.

It started with a small scrape on the top of his left foot, possibly caused by the ill-fitting boots he was given by prison correctional officers, Ambrose said. Soon, her husband’s entire foot had blown up all the way to the knee and an ugly, open wound broke out. Despite the medical staff’s treatment of antibiotic ointment, ibuprofen and oral antibiotics, he eventually developed cellulitis and borderline septicemia.

Things briefly took a turn for the better in January 2019, when authorities transferred her husband to South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton. There, medical staff gave him two cycles of dialysis, eased him off antibiotics and offered regular checkups.

“They were the only prison that actually started taking care of him,” Ambrose said. “They were awesome – they would SEE him.”

But then, after her husband “got into trouble” with prison staff, he was sent to New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, where he currently resides. Since then, his health woes have returned with a vengeance.

“Pretty much on and off since he went to Trenton, he’s had problems with his left foot swelling,” Ambrose said. “They saw him a couple of times and prescribed antibiotics, but the swelling was still going up to his knee.”

Doctors tried to put him on water pills, but that didn’t work. They tried giving him a compression stocking, but that also failed. Meanwhile, the swelling kept creeping up his leg.

Things just got worse when his right side also started to blow up, Ambrose said.

“Last week, his right foot swelled so bad that it split the skin,” she told Patch. “Now he’s got an open wound there. And as anyone knows, an open wound on a diabetic’s foot is a problem.”

Her husband tried to bring his condition to the attention of prison medical staff. But after nearly two weeks of trying to get an appointment to see the doctor, he was still being ignored, Ambrose said Wednesday.

In desperation, he began re-purposing the supply of bleach he got to clean his cell, watering it down and using the diluted solution to clean his wound.

“I feel helpless ... defeated,” Ambrose said, her voice sinking.

The entire situation is heartbreaking and unacceptable, agreed his sister, Carmelita Ambrose, who has also been reaching out to prison authorities on her sibling’s behalf.

“I’ve yet to hear from my brother that he was properly seen by a nurse,” she said, alleging that his open wound still hasn’t been dressed, and all he’s gotten in the way of treatment is some ointment and a bandage.

“My brother is a diabetic,” she insisted. “He has hepatitis, he has cellulitis. And these are all conditions that are very serious.”

“I get that we’re dealing with a pandemic,” Ambrose said, acknowledging the unprecedented situation in the state’s prisons. “I’m on the frontline every day dealing with it face-to-face. I just don’t want my brother to wind up dead or to have to get his leg amputated.”

• See related article: Stuck In Jail During A Pandemic; Coronavirus Hits NJ Prisons

In an effort to learn more about the Ambroses’ allegations – and to make sure their loved one is getting proper medical attention – a Patch reporter reached out to the NJDOC with his name and date of birth at 5:09 p.m. on Wednesday. A prison spokesperson replied to an email within four minutes.

That evening, her husband finally got a chance to see the doctor, Ambrose said.

“They said they’re going to call him down daily to clean the wound and re-bandage it,” she reported.

Still, although her husband eventually got the treatment he sought, he might not be so lucky next time. And there are many other inmates in the same shoes who don't have family members able to fight for them, Ambrose pointed out.

CORONAVIRUS HITS NEW JERSEY PRISONS

In April, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that thousands of low-level offenders in the state prison system would be considered for release to home custody as a way to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

To be eligible, state prison inmates must face an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 because of their age or health status. Nobody convicted of a serious crime such as murder or sexual assault will be considered, Murphy said.

Jessica Ambrose’s husband was among the first wave of inmates who applied.

According to Ambrose, prison staff took her husband’s application on April 28. A parole officer from New Brunswick came to her house on May 4 and gave it a green light. But on May 15, her husband got a letter from prison authorities saying that they were sticking with their original decision to deny him parole back in September.

Ambrose hasn't heard back from them since.

She isn’t alone; other New Jerseyans have been experiencing the same frustrations. All over the state, inmates and their families have been reporting that officials are dragging their feet on the promise to release prisoners.

“An executive order from Gov. Murphy has led to the release of just a few hundred people from New Jersey prisons and jails, a fraction of approximately 3,000 eligible people,” the ACLU-NJ said last week.

As of Wednesday, the total inmate population in New Jersey’s state prisons stood at nearly 14,800, according to a NJDOC spokesperson. Out of those, 2,016 had tested positive for COVID-19, with 45 inmate deaths linked to the disease.

It’s the worst fatality rate among any U.S. state prison system, the ACLU of New Jersey says.

• See related article: Coronavirus Prison Deaths Rise In NJ: 'They Stole My Baby's Life'

On May 28, as Ambrose’s husband was disinfecting his wound with bleach inside his prison cell, a stirring rally to remember New Jersey inmates who died of the coronavirus took place in Trenton.

More than 450 cars gathered from across the state at the Trenton War Memorial for a “SayTheirNames funeral procession.” Bearing photos of deceased loved ones, the vehicle cavalcade served as a grim reminder that social distancing is a near-impossible task when you’re trapped behind bars.

According to the NJDOC, the state’s prisons are doing everything they can to prevent – and treat – COVID-19 among the inmates entrusted to their custody. (Learn more about their efforts here)

For example, inmates are reportedly provided with face masks, and are now being tested for the virus, an effort that Murphy called the “single-largest mass testing initiative by a state department” in the U.S.

• See related article: All New Jersey Prisons, Halfway Houses Will Test For Coronavirus

Prison staff and incarcerated people are screened for COVID-19 before entering a NJDOC facility, including a temperature scan and a questionnaire detailing recent travel activity and contact with anyone who tested positive.

Those efforts are far from a guarantee of contracting the virus, however. As of Wednesday, 768 employees in the department of corrections had also tested positive for COVID-19, state statistics show.

'I JUST WANT HIM TO COME HOME'

Ironically, the rush to protect inmates from COVID-19 is leaving them vulnerable to other medical issues, Ambrose told Patch.

“[My husband] was supposed to go for an ultrasound on his left leg to see if there’s a blood clot,” she said Wednesday. “But that’s been indefinitely postponed because of the coronavirus.”

A NJDOC spokesperson confirmed that some non-life-threatening procedures for inmates have been put on hold due to the outbreak. She wrote:

“The NJDOC works with a system of third-party medical providers who have suspended elective surgery and certain other non-life-threatening treatments in light of the pandemic. Critical medical services, such as chemotherapy and radiation treatments, have remained in place. As those services suspended due to the pandemic resume, they will become available to the offender population.”

Other medical services are available to all during the COVID-19 outbreak, the spokesperson added, noting that co-pays have been waived for inmates.

“Individuals can request medical attention via a JPay kiosk or by alerting a staff member,” she said.

But Ambrose insists that her spouse has been doing exactly that, and until Wednesday evening, he’s been ignored.

“He began this healthy – this has all happened since he’s been locked up,” she said. “I just want him to come home the same man he was.”

• See related article: Inmates Are 'Sheep For Slaughter,' NJ Prisoner's Wife Says
• See related article: Coronavirus Is Terrifying NJ Halfway Houses, Family Members Say

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