Summary
CHICAGO, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Chicago man who is HIV-positive was detained for seven days last year in the Bureau County Jail and denied access the prescribed medications to manage his condition. The facts of this mater are laid out in a letter that the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois sent this week to Bureau County Sheriff John Thompson, asking the Sheriff to provide adequate training and services to ensure that the situation is not replicated in the future. The letter was sent on behalf of Arick Buckles, who was detained in the Bureau County facility from September 29 through October 6 of 2010. Despite his repeated requests to see a doctor and get access to his medications, Mr. Buckles received no medication during his seven day detention.
Mr. Buckles, who works in Chicago as an HIV/AIDS counselor, was detained by Bureau County officials on an outstanding warrant for a non-violent crime. He was taken into custody as he was clearing up another outstanding matter in DuPage County - part of a process he undertook to clean up his life and take responsibility for past criminal activity. When he was processed into the Bureau County Jail, Mr. Buckles notified staff, including a nurse, that he was HIV- positive and needed medication for his treatment. He explained in detail that these medications were life-saving and that it was extremely harmful to interrupt his HIV treatment. He repeated this request each day. A friend, a minister in Chicago, and Mr. Buckles' partner called the jail and spoke to officials asking for him to be provided HIV medications. An official from an HIV/AIDS program in Chicago faxed the Jail a list of prescriptions as well as the name of Mr. Buckles' doctor and his office phone number.See the full content of this document
Extract
Care; Policy Changes Demanded
According to records obtained by the ACLU of Illinois, it appears that Bureau County officials were motivated not by concerns over Mr...
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