Earl McEntire
The Hippocratic Hypocrisy: In Memory of Earl McEntire
By Shon Pernice
The incarcerated are supposed to receive the same type of medical care as those in the general public. That is not the reality. A person who is in the country illegally will receive better care at any clinic or emergency room. Moreover, a prisoner of war is entitled to receive better medical treatment under the Geneva convention. The voice of the incarcerated is obsolete when it relates to illness, disease, and death. I have witnessed many cases of medical neglect inside of the Missouri prison system. However, the story of the most recent casualty of the health crises on the inside must be told.
Earl McEntire was a U.S. Army veteran who served during the war in Vietnam. I first met Earl in the Missouri Veterans Program at the Moberly Correctional Center. With his bushy gray beard with matching long hair that was always a bit frazzled, Earl resembled a smiling little troll doll standing at 5’4”. He had spent thirty years in prison and was on his final stretch to go home to his family. Earl was quick to help others, volunteer for extra duties, and had a laugh that was infectious. His quick wit and warm personality made him well liked among his peers and many staff members who worked at the institution.
During the summer of 2021, Earl began to complain of nausea and weakness. He did have a massive umbilical hernia that was protruding from his abdominal wall. The prison doctor had only prescribed a waist wrap to resolve that issue. But Earl [k]new that something else was wrong with his body. He filled out multiple Health Service Request (HSR) forms to see a doctor, but was only instructed to “drink more water.” Over the next several months, we watched Earl’s health deteriorate as if he was giving a death sentence. He lost a massive amount of weight, began to get confused at times, and became incontinent. The men in the Veterans Wing complained to staff members and correctional officers. Phone calls were made and staff attempted to intervene, but the medical department is contracted from outside of the institution. By November, Earl’s body resembled a person in a concentration camp. Bones were protruding from the sack of skin that covered his frame. In November, a nurse was called to the housing unit, again, for Earl being short of breath. Just like the previous times, he was asked if he had been drinking enough fluids. His pulse was faint and his blood pressure was unreadable. He was finally sent to an outside hospital and there it was discovered that he had stage 4 cancer that had metastasized throughout his frail body.
Earl was going to die soon so the warden sent a request to the Missouri Parole Board for medical parole due to his terminal diagnosis. His original release date from incarceration was going to be in May 2022. Medical parole was approved on December 10, 2021 for his release on December 14th. Earl passed away in the prison’s infirmary around 1:40 a.m. on December 11th. He did in the arms of another incarcerated veteran who had volunteered as a hospice worker.
Stories of medical neglect and mistreatment are everywhere in the American prison system. How can someone behind the prison walls file a medical malpractice claim? It never happens. Men and women who have been sentenced for a crime are being sentenced to death without the public’s awareness. This could happen to your friend, a family member, or someone who was wrongly imprisoned. The incarcerated have no voice on the inside and medical neglect will continue as a means for private companies to bolster its profits.
