The Structural Violence of Hyperincarceration - A 44-Year-Old Man with Back Pain.

Abstract

Mr. M., an uninsured, 44-year-old Puerto Rican man with chronic back pain, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and a history of incarceration presented to a free clinic with acute exacerbation of back pain triggered by carrying heavy loads of trash at work. A premedical student acting as his health care advocate accompanied him. Mr. M. was hesitant to seek health care because he had no health insurance and mistrusted institutions as a result of his extensive negative experiences with the criminal justice system. He was visibly nervous in the unfamiliar institutional environment of the clinic, which had no Latino staff and was located in a middle-class neighborhood far from his home. The advocate reassured him in Spanish that the doctor was trustworthy and urged him to speak frankly about his health problems, including his challenges in obtaining medication. Embarrassed, Mr. M. reported that during recent back-pain exacerbations he occasionally resorted to purchasing one or two 5-mg oxycodone tablets in the open-air drug market operating on the inner-city block where he lived. The physician gave Mr. M. ibuprofen and a prescription for five 5-mg oxycodone tablets, enrolled him in the clinic’s diabetes and hypertension programs, and scheduled a follow-up visit. Mr. M. never filled the prescription and did not return to the clinic, despite repeated entreaties by the advocate both in person and over the phone. Mr. M.’s pain had eased, and he claimed to be managing his diabetes, hypertension, and asthma by splitting medication with insured family members. To stretch their supply, they rationed their doses for use only on the days when they “felt symptoms.” Finally, 8 months later, Mr. M. admitted that he had not dared fill his prescription or return to the clinic for fear of being rearrested after admitting to the doctor that he had purchased oxycodone illegally.