Zachary Tew is an incarcerated individual currently at FCI Jesup who has been denied his right to proper medical care and his right to exhaust the Administrative Remedy Process by the staff at FCI Edgefield, FCI Hazelton, and FCI Jesup.
Mr. Tew received surgery to remove a kidney stone in September of 2022. However, there were several complications during the procedure. Because Mr. Tew had urinary strictures (scarring that narrows the urinary tract), it made it difficult for the surgeon to access his bladder. After several attempts, the surgeon had to perform a suprapubic incision to insert a Foley catheter, a flexible tube that is inserted to help drain urine from the body.
A month after his operation, Mr. Tew developed an infection because of the lack of proper monitoring after his surgery. According to the National Health Service, a urinary catheter should be replaced at least every three months, but Mr. Tew went over nine months without seeing any doctor to have it checked or replaced. As a result, he has had a total of six infections to date. After 9 months, the on-site doctor at the institution he was at at the time (FCI Edgefield, South Carolina) decided to remove the Foley.
Ten days after the removal, however, Mr. Tew experienced major discomfort in his bladder. He had to wait for more than four hours until the compound health services arrived. The medical staff made several failed attempts to insert the Foley catheter again. This went on for two days until he was finally taken to the emergency room in Aiken, South Carolina. He had to then wait for another urologist, Dr. Andersons, to try and insert the Foley. When Dr. Andersons failed, his senior partner, Dr. Mack, used the same guidewires to insert the Foley catheter, which caused immense pain for Mr. Tew. They ultimately had to painfully force the Foley inside Mr. Tew, causing him extreme pain and mental anguish.
Dr. Mack suggested that Mr. Tew needs a urethroplasty, a surgery where scar tissue—that has formed from the initial surgery in September 2022, at the entrance of the bladder and closed up the urinary tract—will be removed. In order to have the operation, Mr. Tew has tried to transfer to another facility that could meet his medical needs—yet, he was denied a transfer several times when he was at Edgefield and Hazelton. Even at FCI Jesup (the institution he is at currently), none of the staff members have listened to his request to have the urethroplasty performed.
Mr. Tew has and continues to experience extraordinary pain. He has very painful bladder spasms that cause him to leak over himself uncontrollably. He is in extreme discomfort with the Foley catheter inside of him. He can barely get adequate sleep, nor retain focus on anything he does due to the pain and worry that he will have a bladder spasm. This condition has changed the way he lives and functions entirely.
Yet, although Mr. Tew has filed remedies to seek relief regarding his situation at both Hazelton and Edgefield, he has been refused them.
No one should have to suffer through immense pain and discomfort because of a lack of proper medical support. The institutions—FCI Edgefield, FCI Hazelton, and FCI Jesup—and their staff have all failed Mr. Tew. No one, regardless of their incarceration status, should have to undergo undue suffering for a medical condition. Specifically, no one should be denied a procedure that will improve their quality of life. Not only have these institutions refused to transfer Mr. Tew to a medical facility where he can get the appropriate operation performed, but they have also barred him from speaking out against this injustice by refusing to allow him the right to fully exhaust the Administrative Remedy Process. Until we get justice for Mr. Tew and others who also face similar injustices, The Remedy Project students will continue to advocate for those who have been wronged by the American prison system. We cannot, and must not, allow institutions to threaten the lives of people by barring access to adequate medical attention.
Zachary Tew is an incarcerated individual currently at FCI Jesup who has been denied his right to proper medical care and his right to exhaust the Administrative Remedy Process by the staff at FCI Edgefield, FCI Hazelton, and FCI Jesup.
Mr. Tew received surgery to remove a kidney stone in September of 2022. However, there were several complications during the procedure. Because Mr. Tew had urinary strictures (scarring that narrows the urinary tract), it made it difficult for the surgeon to access his bladder. After several attempts, the surgeon had to perform a suprapubic incision to insert a Foley catheter, a flexible tube that is inserted to help drain urine from the body.
A month after his operation, Mr. Tew developed an infection because of the lack of proper monitoring after his surgery. According to the National Health Service, a urinary catheter should be replaced at least every three months, but Mr. Tew went over nine months without seeing any doctor to have it checked or replaced. As a result, he has had a total of six infections to date. After 9 months, the on-site doctor at the institution he was at at the time (FCI Edgefield, South Carolina) decided to remove the Foley.
Ten days after the removal, however, Mr. Tew experienced major discomfort in his bladder. He had to wait for more than four hours until the compound health services arrived. The medical staff made several failed attempts to insert the Foley catheter again. This went on for two days until he was finally taken to the emergency room in Aiken, South Carolina. He had to then wait for another urologist, Dr. Andersons, to try and insert the Foley. When Dr. Andersons failed, his senior partner, Dr. Mack, used the same guidewires to insert the Foley catheter, which caused immense pain for Mr. Tew. They ultimately had to painfully force the Foley inside Mr. Tew, causing him extreme pain and mental anguish.
Dr. Mack suggested that Mr. Tew needs a urethroplasty, a surgery where scar tissue—that has formed from the initial surgery in September 2022, at the entrance of the bladder and closed up the urinary tract—will be removed. In order to have the operation, Mr. Tew has tried to transfer to another facility that could meet his medical needs—yet, he was denied a transfer several times when he was at Edgefield and Hazelton. Even at FCI Jesup (the institution he is at currently), none of the staff members have listened to his request to have the urethroplasty performed.
Mr. Tew has and continues to experience extraordinary pain. He has very painful bladder spasms that cause him to leak over himself uncontrollably. He is in extreme discomfort with the Foley catheter inside of him. He can barely get adequate sleep, nor retain focus on anything he does due to the pain and worry that he will have a bladder spasm. This condition has changed the way he lives and functions entirely.
Yet, although Mr. Tew has filed remedies to seek relief regarding his situation at both Hazelton and Edgefield, he has been refused them.
No one should have to suffer through immense pain and discomfort because of a lack of proper medical support. The institutions—FCI Edgefield, FCI Hazelton, and FCI Jesup—and their staff have all failed Mr. Tew. No one, regardless of their incarceration status, should have to undergo undue suffering for a medical condition. Specifically, no one should be denied a procedure that will improve their quality of life. Not only have these institutions refused to transfer Mr. Tew to a medical facility where he can get the appropriate operation performed, but they have also barred him from speaking out against this injustice by refusing to allow him the right to fully exhaust the Administrative Remedy Process. Until we get justice for Mr. Tew and others who also face similar injustices, The Remedy Project students will continue to advocate for those who have been wronged by the American prison system. We cannot, and must not, allow institutions to threaten the lives of people by barring access to adequate medical attention.
