Jail dismissed doctor who told judge about conditions
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Posted 6:53PM on Saturday, January 11, 2003
DECATUR - A doctor at the state's largest jail who told a judge about ``substandard'' care at the facility was dismissed Friday. <br>
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Dr. Phillip G. Jackson said he told a judge Thursday that ``we were basically at a crisis point at the jail and the care we were providing to the inmates was substandard.'' <br>
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The DeKalb County Jail has been under a court order for nearly two years to improve inmate medical care. <br>
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Although Jackson had resigned effective Jan. 31, he said an official with Correctional Medical Services, the jail's contracted medical provider, told him his services were no longer required. <br>
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A CMS spokesman declined comment, calling Jackson's departure ``a personnel matter.'' <br>
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Jackson, who was responsible for clinical care, said narcotics are missing, nurses are undertrained and inmates aren't getting medication as prescribed. <br>
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The jail has been monitored since it settled a lawsuit filed by 15 inmates in 1999 who said they were brutalized and given poor medical care.