Just consider, if COVID is on the rise now, [Post-COVID may follow] when we are all outside, then come fall 2022/2023 (when we are all inside in enclosed spaces (like prisons), it is anyone’s guess. The next more medically challenging question is, when and not if, will there be a treatment for the Post-COVID inmate/patient.
Should Post-COVID reflect your client’s current past medical history sometime over the past 30 months, the opportunity could be in place for either a downward departure or alternative sentencing. Why, because prisons are just not prepared to provide the required Post-COVID medical care. Additionally, corrections staff may just not be able to deal with sequelae of symptoms that they will encounter.
While hard to conceive, these efforts alone could also go a long way in relieving some of the life-altering fears your client and their families are going through. If you like what you are reading, send it to friends, ask them to subscribe using the button above, and consider engaging us.
The Post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC), can include a wide range of ongoing health problems which can last weeks, months, or years. It is this author’s opinion that the sequelae and current treatments are constantly being adjusted in order to keep up with the ever-changing variants. This, unfortunately, compounds our efforts to gain the public trust in the science, while countering the pervasive misinformation.
It is still my belief that no jail, prison, or detention center (state or federal) has the: staff, in place training, time, supplies, or finances to provide this quality care. Why, because if our current hospital systems are still in the ‘research and study’ mode, this likely has not been part of their mission statement as it is still being studied. I’ll let the rest speak for itself.
4/2022 | UC Davis Post-COVID Clinic | 2 years into the pandemic, pulmonologists are still trying to understand the syndrome, and this is just one hospital research system among many nationwide. Mark Avdalovic, is a pulmonologist, vice-chair for the Department of Medicine, and director of the Post-COVID-19 Clinic at UC Davis Medical Center. As one of the first health systems in the U.S. to create a clinic for Post-COVID patients, studies revealed that:
- One-third of COVID-19 patients will have one or more symptoms three to six months after their diagnosis – or, as the US reaches 80 million infections, ~26 million Americans could potentially experience some degree of long-COVID. How many wind up in our prisons and jails? They probably do not even know due to our lack of comprehensive testing since its inception in 2019/2020.
- Rehabilitation treatment is officially identified as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 and is abbreviated as PASC. Bradley Sanville, also a pulmonary and critical care physician who specializes in exercise physiology, “Imaging of their lungs, lung function, and cardiopulmonary testing are often very normal. It’s still a mystery, but at this time, most of the available evidence is pointing away from it being a lung problem.” Sanville generally prescribes inhalers for those who are short of breath, but for those who can tolerate the exercise, he prescribes heart or lung rehab.
- 4-2022 UC Davis Post-COVID-219-Clinic, Nontraditional approaches: the UC Davis Integrated Medicine team — which includes acupuncture, mind-body medicine such as meditation, and special diets — are used together for a forthcoming clinical trial.
