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WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Heather Idoni, 59, who had a stroke two weeks ago, disclosed to LifeSiteNews that she is a victim of gross medical neglect at the D.C. jail, which has failed to administer essential medication for her heart while falsifying her medical record as she awaits sentencing next week for taking part in a traditional pro-life rescue.
READ: BREAKING: Jailed pro-lifer denied essential heart medication following stroke
Idoni said she received three stints above her heart for three major arteries. While she was prescribed several medications, some of which she has been given, she has been denied one essential medication prescribed by the doctor to be taken once a day to lower her blood pressure.
“It’s just the metoprolol that I’ve had a difficult time with,” she said. “I haven’t even been given one dose.”
Idoni said she has raised the issue with jail personnel several times. After her first complaint, it took six days before someone looked into it. Jail nurses then told her that whenever they checked, the jail records indicated she had already been given her daily dose. Idoni told LifeSiteNews that if this is so, someone at the jail has been falsifying her medical record.
Idoni said it has been 14 days since she was supposed to begin her daily dose for the heart medication and that she was worried because her doctor had told her not to miss a single dose.
She was also told that her next doctor’s appointment was not scheduled until July.
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Idoni suffers from diabetes, and when admitted to the D.C. jail, was told that one of the medication she had previously been taking for it was not available at the jail’s pharmacy.
Idoni, who has been transferred to a total of six different jails since last fall for several charges the DOJ has brought against her for “FACE violations,” said she “had no trouble at the other six jails with getting the medication … no problem at all. But they say, well, our pharmacy doesn’t have it. We don’t offer it.”
With the jail’s pharmacy not offering her normal diabetes medication, Idoni said that one of the doctors wanted to change her prescription from what she had been taking, which left her uneasy. So, she refused to do so before taking a second opinion and, as a consequence, was left without a prescription for her diabetes.
“So, my blood sugar numbers are a hundred points higher than they normally should be,” she said. “My numbers have been perfect at all the other jails. But here, it’s really way off because he wouldn’t prescribe it … My numbers are a hundred points higher than they should be. My blood sugar is up high. And this was my seventh facility. In all of the other six, I had no problem. They were very happy to help me keep my blood sugar normal.”
“I also had a say in how much insulin I would get,” she continued. “If I felt I could do with a little less one night, I could say that and go down a few units. If I felt I needed a little bit more, I could go up a few units. This jail will not change the amount that I get no matter what. It’s very backward medically from what the other jails were.”
Idoni also revealed that toward the end of April the cell in which she was kept had no heat despite a freezing 40-degree chill inside it. She had only one sheet and one blanket and was refused any additional bedding, clothing, or heat when she requested this of jail personnel. “It was so painfully cold,” she said in the interview.
LifeSiteNews also spoke to Heather’s husband Jim, who said she had to wrap a towel around her neck to try to stay warm. The D.C. jail is “notorious” for its maltreatment of inmates, Jim affirmed.
Heather’s husband also said that when she suffered a stroke and was hospitalized two weeks ago, he and the rest of their family did not know her whereabouts for eight days. He lamented that her family and loved ones were not notified immediately that she had been hospitalized.
He added that, in yet another instance of neglect, when Heather first arrived at the D.C. jail, it took three days before she was given any insulin for her diabetes, with the result that her blood sugar shot excessively high.
Idoni, who said during today’s phone call she was suffering from fluttering of the heart, terminated the interview after saying she would request a trip to the hospital. LifeSiteNews reporter Louis Knuffke then called the Command Center at the D.C. jail to make sure the staff did not ignore her. After failing to get through to jail personnel, both Idoni’s lawyer and an emergency dispatch were contacted with an assurance from 911 that the dispatch was being sent to the jail.
Idoni’s lawyer said that if the doctor declares her condition was due to negligence in medical care, the marshals at the jail would be civilly liable.
Complaints of freezing cold conditions at another jail, the Alexandria Detention Center, were raised by Jean Marshall, 74, who contracted pneumonia last fall while in custody and was left untreated for three weeks.
Last fall, Idoni was placed in prolonged solitary confinement for 22 days and deprived of sleep with the lights of her cell kept on continually. In March, the mother of five and adopted mother of 10 was forced to appear in full shackles in federal court for a pre-trial hearing on FACE charges in Michigan, in a manner usually reserved for dangerous or violent criminals.
The DOJ is threatening Idoni with more than 40 years in prison and over $1 million in fines on charges of violating FACE in two peaceful traditional rescues of the unborn in Tennessee and Michigan in addition to the charges brought in Washington, D.C. While awaiting sentencing in Washington, Idoni suffered a stroke just two weeks ago and had to be rushed to the hospital. It is as yet unknown whether her mistreatment in prison contributed to her hospitalization on that occasion.
Withholding urgent medical treatment, needed medication, proper housing and clothing from an infirm 59-year-old woman, resulting in a potentially life-threatening situation just after a recent stroke and surgery, would all constitute physical abuse and medical neglect on the part of the jail.
In addition to American domestic law, the international norms set forth in the Nelson Mandela Rules state that every prisoner must receive needed medical care and that medical decisions made by a doctor “may not be overruled or ignored by non-medical prison staff.”
Idoni’s sentencing date is currently May 21, 1:30 pm.
Sentencing of the other pro-lifers who took part in a traditional rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, where late-term abortions are committed, begins tomorrow, May 14.
Fr. Fidelis (Christoper) Moscinski and many of the January 6 political prisoners are also incarcerated at the DC Jail.
LifeSiteNews’ extensive coverage of the D.C. Face Act trials can be found here.
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