He was denied medication while jailed

By MONIFA THOMAS

A South Shore man claims he was denied HIV medication for a week while he was imprisoned in a downstate jail last year, a case that advocacy groups cited as an example of a hidden problem in correctional facilities.

Arick Buckles, 39, was detained in the Bureau County Jail in Princeton last fall after learning he was the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant for forgery charges.

Buckles said he “stressed to every jailer I came into contact with” that he was HIV-positive and needed to take antiretroviral medication daily. But he did not receive medication or see a doctor during his weeklong stay at the jail, the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a June 20 letter to Bureau County Sheriff John Thompson.

Buckles, who said he experienced severe diarrhea after his release, described his time behind bars as terrifying, because “I didn’t know what the offset of my not having those medications would be.”

“I often wonder, if I had been a diabetic, would I have been denied medication,” he said.

Jail officials allegedly told Buckles they could not give him his medication because of the cost of the drugs, a justification the ACLU letter called “inappropriate and unconstitutional.”

Thompson declined to comment on the allegations Wednesday, saying “I have not had a chance to review the complaint.”

The Illinois Department of Corrections is investigating Buckles’ case, a department spokeswoman said.

State administrative code requires county jails to ensure the prescription of medication.

Both the ACLU of Illinois and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago said they have received periodic complaints about HIV-positive inmates being denied potentially life-saving drugs.

A formal study of the issue hasn’t been done, but in the past year, there have been at least 16 federal lawsuits filed nationwide in which HIV-positive inmates claimed they were denied treatment, said attorney John A. Knight, of the ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Foundation.

In addition, a former inmate sued the Cook County Sheriff’s Office last year, claiming his viral count worsened after he was denied HIV medication in the county jail.

That’s likely the tip of the iceberg, Knight and others said.

“[Buckles] had really good friends and family members on the outside who documented this problem and were able to advocate for him,” said John Peller of the AIDS Foundation. “Most people who this kind of thing happens to, it’s a hidden problem that nobody finds out about.”

For now, Buckles isn’t seeking damages, just changes at the jail.

“I just want to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” he said. www.suntimes.com