Beginning around the summer of 2002, doctor’s at Leavenworth and other federal prisons began taking inmates off of Gabapentin in an effort to curb drug abuse. For those who were allowed to remain on the drug, no long could they carry the medication back to there cells. If the wanted their pills, they had to go to “pill-call” or med-line three times daily and swallow them in front of a nurse, or at least that’s what policy said they must do. The fact of the matter is, not only does a glass window separate staff and inmates at med-line (which makes monitoring medication swallowing difficult for staff), but many nurses can careless what the inmates do with their pills, making it very easy to “cheak” them( i.e., hide them in their mouths).
In 2003 I was transferred to USP Lewisburg and was surprised to learn that doctors in that prison were still prescribing Gabapentin to certain inmates. Because I previously had back surgery, and do suffer from chronic pain, I was able to ask for and receive Gabapetin without a problem. However, I did stop using them. You see, at Lewisburg, guys were paying $5 for 1800-milligrams of Gabapentin, and that’s what I got in a day. So I began cheeking the pills myself and selling them, turning the anti-seizure medication into a $150 a month hustle.
Eight years and four federal prisons later, I ended up at a prison in Indiana (at which I still reside) that prescribes to inmates Neurontin rather than Gabapentin – for chronic pain, for diabetic nerve pain, for Bipolar Disorder, for seizures, and for just about anything. But that too is about to come to an end. According to one inmates who has been on Neurontin for psychological reasons, his dose was reduced last week because they are taking him off entirely.
“They’re taking everyone off the stuff and giving some people Simbalta and others nothing at all,” said the inmate. “From what they told me, there wont be giving Neurontin out anywhere in the BOP by summer.”
A.J., who has been on Neurontin/Gabapentin for the entire 10 years that he’s been incarcerated, says that he’s getting out just in time.
“No bullshit, I couldn’t live in here without the shit, “A.J. said. “And when I go home next week, you best believe the first thing I’m gonna do is see a doctor and stay on Neurotin. I enjoy the high and my P.O. (probation officer) can’t catch me dirty on them, ’cause they don’t show up dirty in a piss-test.”
John, not his real name, said over the years he’s made a comfortable living selling his Neurotin.
“Too many stupid motherfuckers are getting caught with the stuff,” he said. “No wonder they’re taking them away.”
In fact, while a medical staff member did confirm to me that they are discontinuing Neurontin in the next coming weeks, that person said it had more to do with budget cuts, not abuse.
“I have faith in guys in here,” says the medical care-giver. “I’m sure they’ll find something new on our formulary that will get them high. They always do.”
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Article Appeared @http://www.gorillaconvict.com/2016/04/big-pharma-prison/